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Friday 19th June 2015 Angoulême to St Aigulin Breakfast at the IBIS Budget hotel was actually ok, better than I was expecting for 6 euros. I got away from Angoulême about 8.50 and once again the weather was kind, more blue skies, warm temperatures and the odd white cloud to stop me from burning. As usual on the quiet roads I began to neglect checking the GPS and wandered off course by a mile or more but was able to jury-rig an amendment and got back on course with just maybe a mile added to the overall total for the day. I entered the Dordogne department today and spent several minutes trying to photograph myself with a statue of three horses I came across and annoyingly seemed to chop myself out of the picture each time.
Around the 12.30 mark I came to the fringes of a village called Aubeterre Sur Dronne. The actual village centre was off to one side of my route and down a steepish slope. I wondered whether to go and have a look or just press on and not have to subsequently slog back up to the road. In the end, however, I decided to make the effort and rode down to find a lovely village with a tree-lined square packed with pavement cafes way above the expectations for such a small place, and all were doing good business.
I had attributed yesterday's tiredness to a cumulative lack of decent food so I parked the bike, took a seat and had, guess what - a cheese omelette and chips and a cup of tea, and I followed it up with a glacee. I expected the latter to be an ice cream but it was actually a sorbet. Still, not to worry. About three quarters of the customers at the cafes were English - detracts from the spirit of things really when you're looking to experience foreign places. A lot of the English folk seemed to know each other so they must either have been on holiday together or more likely it was an enclave of ex-pats. Forcing the house prices up for the locals no doubt.
Anyway freshly stoked with the welcome fodder I pressed on. Most of the route was on brown roads (coloured brown on the map) but there was a 7 mile stretch of 'red' road which wasn't easy to avoid. Fortunately the road surface was excellent, a lot of that stretch was downhill or flat and I was able to bowl along at a rate of knots. Just flew along that bit but fortunately the traffic wasn't too busy anyway.
The final few miles to La Roche Chalais seemed to drag on a bit - a fast road and a bit of traffic to make it slightly uncomfortable. When I got there I found one 'hotel restaurant' closed down and thought I was in for another Ruffec experience but according to my notes there was a B&B in town. I looked at the street map in the town centre and tracked down the B&B but it was locked up. I rang at the door and was turning away when a woman appeared on the balcony above. She told me to come back at 5.00 - it was about 3.15 by now. Bugger that, I thought morosely and rode out of La Roche Chalais to the neighbouring town of Sainte Aigulin, just a mile away, where I didn't find the two hotels I was looking for but, following a sign, came to a slightly run-down hotel restaurant which offered me a room for 45 euros. Fair enough. Basic again, and once again there was neither a sink plug nor a hair-drier. Still better than the IBIS though.
I had a slight laundry back up so I dunked the bits in the sink as usual but was able to hang them out of the hotel window in the hot, westering sun which soon had them all dry. At 7.30 I went down to eat. I'd told them I was a vegetarian and the bloke did do his best for me. An egg starter with some 'sorrel' flavoured sauce, a bowl of spaghetti with some vegetables in it, and his speciality dessert - a cherry tart made from local cherries picked only a few miles away. He was obviously quite proud of it which somehow seems to make something nicer. The hotel was called the 'L'Art dit Vin'. Bike computer: not recorded GPS: 48.3 miles 10.4 mph avg 31.5 mph max 3543 ft ascent English miles: 117.8 French miles: 571.9 | |||||||
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