Our final day of cycling in the Perigord
involved a fairly simple ride from Les Eyzies back to our starting point of 4
days ago, Lalinde. It never ceases to
amaze me just how much you can see from a bicycle and over this time we feel we
have experienced so much of the French countryside in a relatively short space
of time.
Today the abnormal run of warm sunshine
finally broke and it sprinkled rain all day with the mercury barely rising over
5 degrees. Yes we were a little cold,
but still having a wonderful time and riding along the river and through
forests in the rain brings on a whole different perspective. Of course those little pit stops at the café
for a hot chocolate also came very welcome.
Two of the towns we took in today included
Limuel, a safe haven and port for heavy barges in centuries gone by situated in
a strategic location at the confluence of the Vezere and Dordogne rivers and Tremolat,
with it’s 12th century Romanesque church. My favourite today was Le Bugue with it’s
bustling little main street we stocked up on some cold meat, bread and pastries
for lunch. Again the little interactions
you have with each shopkeeper are magic, whether or not they speak English they
speak to you as if you are long lost friends, they are happy to serve you
whatever you want and for 10 euro you can feast like a king.
Just 6km from the finish we sat under a
tree by the river in Mauzac to eat our lunch and then finished the ride on a tiny
little road that was barely doubletrack with the river on one side and
vineyards on the other. Arriving back at
Les Magnolias, Robert of Aquitaine cycling was there to meet us and after a
quick debrief, we retired to our warm room, showered and took a 2 hour nap. This evening we walked around the town and
along the river and then ate the best Chorizo pizza ever, from Ayrton
Pizza. A tiny little outlet operated by
husband and wife we watched as they made our pizza, then we ate it in the
desserted town square. Quite a way to
spend Easter Sunday!
Tomorrow we begin the 3rd phase
of our holiday, hiring a car and heading south to Provence and the Luberon
Valley. Mont Ventoux awaits!
Keep riding
Mike
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| Leaving Les Eyzies |
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| Le Bugue |
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| Ho hum, yet another medieval farmhouse |
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| Tremolat |
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| View of the Dordogne from high above Tremuil |
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| Country Roads |
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| Mauzac on the Dordogne |
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| Dordogne is the home of many Swans. We watched them float down the river with the current feeding on the bottom and then, fly back up stream |
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| Lalinde |
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| Jean Claude our Pizza maker of Ayrton Pizza |
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| Country road and a sprint finish for Sarah back into Lalinde |
Mike
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