The brutally hot weather has finally broken, at least for now. After reaching around 40 more than once there’s since been a couple of fierce storms – lightning, rain and lots of wind.

Since it’s not quite so hot anymore we went for a lovely ride one morning – it’s so much more pleasant riding when it’s sunny and warm rather than sunny and blistering hot.

We had a nice visit with Tony and Joyce one afternoon on our way home from shopping in Ruffec – they’re so nice and don’t mind when we just pop in unannounced.

We’ve applied online to get ‘photography passes’ for the Tour of Burgos and was it ever a frustrating experience. We got a response very quickly after sending an email, and were asked to fill out a form and send a couple of photos and some ID. OK – no problem, except nothing worked right. First of all I saved the form as a PDF, but when it was saved all of the info I’d filled in disappeared. Then the photos – mine were jpg, but Colin’s phone put his into a different format that the lady (Teresa) couldn’t use. So we re-filled the form on Colin’s laptop and I took a photo of it with my i:pad – all was resent to Teresa and we’re now waiting for approval. All together it was about 3 hours of frustration and I was ready to scream – I had a glass of wine instead.

Another day we had to go down to Angouleme to get a carriage for Mo – Colin had ordered one online but it hasn’t shown up yet and we’re about to leave for Spain. The carriage is made to seat 2 kids in it and be pulled by a bicycle – the young folks that helped us in the Decathlon store thought it was great that it was for Mo.

Assembling the carriage was another exercise in frustration – it came with no clear instructions so Colin looked at some youtube videos which were somewhat helpful. Again it took far longer than expected but finally we had success – we celebrated by putting Mo in her Mo-bile and taking her down to the pub for a drink. No more listening to 80’s music and being bribed with a sausage for her while we go out for bike rides!

Had a nice shower in the morning before leaving at a decent time. We headed north back past Cahours to once again avoid the Bordeaux area and ended up at a larger campground on the River Lot.

There’s a really nice beach with lots of folks enjoying the water, swimming and paddling, etc.

We were very hungry so ended up each having a nice piece of quiche at the beach bar in the shade overlooking the river before being driven to return to the campervan by the chain-smoking Germans at the next table.

Later in the evening we walked up to the restaurant for dinner – I took a chance and ordered the ‘caesar salad’ which, as a salad wasn’t bad, but wasn’t even close to any caesar salad I’ve ever made. It had chicken, which isn’t out of line, but also had tomatoes, olives, onions, and red-leaf lettuce in place of romaine. It did have parmesan cheese, however, as well as tiny croutons so it wasn’t a complete fraud.

The next morning before heading back to Mansle we took a little side trip to the picturesque village of St-Cirq-Lapopie just up the road. It’s perched up the side of a very steep hill and has been given a new life in the form of ‘artisan studios’ and lovely little restaurants and shops.

It was a bit touristy, but was a nice change from some of the almost empty villages with nothing but derelict buildings and shuttered shops that are so prevalent in some areas now.

We walked around and up and down, then chose a bar to have a rest and refreshing drink in. It was starting to get pretty hot so we left the village and hiked back up to the car-park.

There were wonderful views of the village and valley below, with the river Lot flowing through the middle. We took smaller back roads generally north, and stopped in the village of Livernon for lunch. Colin had noticed a restaurant that was actually open and had people in it so we parked and went in.

It was blazing hot out and we endeavoured to find a place to sit out of the sun. We both got the plat-du-jour which was rabbit, and was it ever good. I haven’t eaten rabbit in a long time and it was just delicious.

Back on the road we headed up to Rocamadour, which has a medieval village climbing up a mountain – it’s also on yet another camino, and is an important pilgrimage destination.

Luckily there’s a funicular that you can take partway down and back up. The place was crawling with people, and reminded me a bit of San Marino with all of the somewhat tacky shops.

It also had an abundance of restaurants, and we chose one to have a thirst-quenching drink in. I should also mention that not all of the shops were tacky – there were also many selling local specialities such as nut oils, foie gras, and soaps.

We didn’t stay too long before taking the funicular back up and continuing our journey – air conditioning blasting.

We arrived home a little late, having stopped so many times, but it had been a great little road trip.

We had a bit of a sleep-in, then went for a nice walk after breakfast. We walked along one side of the river, past some cute goats, then around past the string of campervans. We saw large GJ on the road in several places – we tried to figure out which rider it was in honour of when I finally realized it must be for the ‘Gilet Jaunes’ protests, and it is in yellow.

One Norwegian couple had an adorable little JR up on their table – he seemed very interested in us but the lady had to admit that – no – he was only interested in the cheese in her sandwich – ha ha!

A great many cars had gone up the road during the night and more in the morning, and then finally the road was closed – we’re just a few km past the village of Arthez d’Asson.

We struck up a nice conversation with some fellows from the UK.

About 2 hours before the race arrived two vans of VIP’s pulled up in front of the house across the river – they setup tables and everything and had champagne served to them, followed by a sit-down lunch. Luckily they left shortly after they’d eaten so wouldn’t be getting in our way.

The caravan was great, as usual, and we did very well again with the loot. Just before 3:00 the breakaway of about 15 riders arrived just 3 minutes before the main group.

We laughed when comparing it to yesterday’s stage – arriving the evening before and getting over eight hours of racing enjoyment in all, then today when it was over in about 4 minutes.

We took the time for a quick bite to eat before heading back north – I read out live updates on the race’s progress as we drove, so we knew who conquered the Tourmalet.

About 1 km from where we’d been we came across a sight that the british fellows had told us about – a farmer had hung two large dead sheep up with a sign protesting about the wolves. They love to protest over here, and farmers are very upset about wolves these days killing their sheep.

When we stopped for gas there was a small field next to the station with 3 cute donkeys in it – there was a couple there feeding them bread and I tried to tell them it likely wasn’t good for the donkeys but they didn’t seem to care. I went back to the campervan and got some carrots, which the donkeys loved – much better for them than bread.

We got as far as Rabastens-de-Bigorre before stopping at a small campground for the night.

The morning of the ITT was beautiful – the almost-full moon was still up and mist was rising on the hilltops as the sun rose. Some of our fellow campers had partied until very late – I doubt they enjoyed the morning as much as I did.

I was amazed by how many more campervans and tents there were since last evening – I’m happy for the farmer.

There’s a giant chicken near the gate to the field, and they’ve set up a small stage, a couple of food trucks and a display of vintage cars.

Hundreds of people have walked up and down the road in front of us – we’re partway up the largest hill on the course.

We did pretty well when the caravan came through – it was much earlier than expected and we had to run for it as we were exploring at the time. There’s a women’s race on – not a time trial, however, and they had passed us once when the caravan came again. It was actually the second half of the caravan, and the women did five circuits in all.

Right after the women passed for the last time several of the men came on their recon rides for the ITT.

The first racer arrived around 2:30 and the last passed us at 5:47 – a long, but entertaining day overall.

And Ricardo – our friend from Spain – showed up with some friends! They’d been a little further up on the course and had made their way down to us – they found us by our flags. We had a short little hello – I gave them all water, then they were on their way again.

As soon as Alaphillipe passed we started to take down the flags and prepared to leave. We headed directly to our next stop at the bottom of the Col du Soulior in the Pyranees.

We passed a line of campervans on the left side of the road and rounded a tight s-curve over the river – right on the other side was a space just big enough for one campervan, right next to a field of lamas – or maybe alpacas – not sure which, and they weren’t talking.

Colin and Neil went for a bike ride one morning while Mo and I stayed home and did yoga – having done it so rarely lately I’m pleased that I haven’t lost all my flexibility.

Then they made some progress towards installing the roller-shutter door in the basement, and Neil also replaced a part in the fridge of the campervan so it will run on gas or battery again.

The next day we said goodbye to Neil – he’s leaving for England before we get back – and got on our way by mid-afternoon. In order to avoid Bordeaux we headed southeast rather than southwest and just past Cahors found a nice little campground in the village of Cabrerets – after being once again mis-directed by Miss GPS. I knew we’d been misled when we crossed a bridge and turned onto a very narrow dirt road. Luckily there was a wide turning space after about a mile and we were able to back-track to the correct road.

There was an older fellow on a bicycle at the campground reception – he told us he was just leaving but we could park wherever we wanted and if he didn’t see us in the morning before we left we could just leave some money in the ‘honour box’.

It was right on a small river in a narrow valley with steep cliffs on either side. Many of the houses were made of the stone from the cliffs and almost looked as if they were built into them.

We found out that the fridge isn’t fixed after all – just barely enough to keep things a bit cool if we don’t open the door often. The drive south to Pau the next day was very pretty – we took small back roads and there was hardly any traffic.

Once again we found that we were on one of the many Camino de Santiago routes.

We went a bit past Pau and picked a spot on the time trial route. An enterprising farmer had opened one of his fields to campervans and a girl was collecting ten euros from each vehicle that entered.

We settled in, got the flags up and watched as more and more people joined us in the field. One campervan got stuck so the farmer came over on his tractor and pulled them out.

After another good breakfast at the hotel we left Rochefort and headed up to the Ile de Re which is just past La Rochelle. There’s now a large bridge connecting the island so you don’t have to take a ferry anymore.

We really liked the island – we drove up the south side to the Phare de Baleines at the northwest tip. Along the way we kept marvelling about all of the bikes and bike paths we were seeing – they’re everywhere and lots of folks are taking advantage of the lovely weather and flat terrain.

The lighthouse wasn’t quite what I expected – well, the lighthouse itself was as expected, but the area in front of it was a bit of a surprise. First of all, the very large parking lot was quite busy, and then you walk about 500 meters to a bunch of shops and restaurants.

The shops are selling mostly local goods – at least a couple have the ‘ass milk soap and skin-care products’ that I’d read about, and several shops sell various versions of little stuffed donkeys with the trousers that the local donkeys are famous for wearing.

The lighthouse is quite nice, although we didn’t pay to go in but just walked around it and then along the seawall on the other side. The tide was out and there were dozens of people walking around and even having picnics.

There are hundreds of small towers that people have made by piling up the beach stones – the first few might have been cute or funny, but so many copycats kind of ruin it for me.

We walked along a bit, then went back to the car and drove to the very end – the road ended so we back-tracked a bit to get on the road that goes east along the island’s north coast. We stopped at the town of Saint-Martin-de-Re which is right on the water.

We parked the car and walked towards the village centre along narrow cobbled roads. The sidewalks are also cobbled and very uneven, with different kinds of surfaces every few meters – walking was not easy. We passed an old church that seemed to be in ruins but actually was still in use with only the roof in ruin. I went inside and had a look at the stained glass windows which were ok, but the place itself had the faintly musty smell that I’ve noticed in a lot of old stone churches.

We found the main ‘square’ of the town that was, as in so many towns, ringed by restaurants, cafes and bars – only this time the centre of the square was actually a marina.

We chose an outside table at one of the restaurants for a late lunch and settled in for some people-watching. The place was very crowded with people milling about but what kind of bugged me was the cyclists everywhere that were riding through the crowds instead of getting off their bikes and walking for a bit. It’s nice that they’re out getting exercise but I was sure someone was going to get run over – luckily we didn’t witness any accidents.

My fish soup was delicious – it came with croutons and cheese, as well as a small ‘fondue’ to dip my bread in. We both got the same main course, which was lightly-breaded white fish on a bed of baby potatoes and mushrooms – also very tasty.

After eating we walked around a bit along the ramparts – the entrance to the marina is fairly narrow and boats had to take turns coming in and going out. There were some girls jumping off the cement and swimming inside the walls – don’t know if that would have been my preferred place, and I bet it was pretty cold.

We got back to Mansle in the early evening but didn’t bother with dinner as we were both still full from the lovely lunch we’d had.

After a nice breakfast at the hotel we walked via a different route to the area the market had been in. There’s another series of nice parks along the way, and a couple of statues and displays.

We intended on getting another Lavazzo coffee but that cafe wasn’t open so we went down another road to the main square in front of the city hall.

It’s got a fountain with statues on top and the large square is ringed with cafes – we chose one and had a coffee there.

It wasn’t Lavazzo, but was a different Italian kind so was still pretty good.

Walking back down to the river we stopped at another cafe and had a drink – there’s a dog at the cafe that’s really cute – he reminded me of Snoopy from the Penalty Bar. He’s got a nifty haircut – done by the owner herself – and is very amorous towards Mo, who couldn’t care less. Charlie had to be brought back inside several times.

Down at the river the barricades had been removed so we were able to enjoy strolling along the river path. I had been completely wrong about which way the river was flowing – it actually does a large loop around the town so was going in the opposite direction of what I’d thought.

We reached a marina right near the hotel, and there’s a nice looking restaurant on one side.

Once again we watched the day’s Tour stage on tv before going out for dinner. We went to the restaurant on the marina and it was a good choice – I opted for their burger with fries. The fries were especially tasty – they were cut in rounds and were nice and crisp on the outside – perfectly cooked and not soggy or mushy.

It was a good thing we’d gotten there fairly early as by the time we left the place was packed. It was so nice sitting outside on such a lovely evening and enjoying an excellent meal.

After leaving Mansle around 9:00 we arrived at Rochefort at about 10:30. The room wasn’t ready for us as we were early, so we parked the car and went for a walk. The receptionist had given us a map with a few things marked, and we headed first to the market that was setup along Avenue Charles de Gaulle.

It was quite a large market, and most stalls were local produce, cheese and meats – not very many of the ‘made in China’ junk that can be found in some places.

We walked the entire length, stopping along the way so I could get a stylish new sun hat – it has an inner band so it doesn’t scratch my ears, and a chin strap so it won’t get blown off. At the far end of the market we found a nice cafe and had a coffee – it was actually Lavazzo – an excellent Italian brand.

On the way back to the hotel we went down to the river and saw the Hermione – a replica of the frigate that was sailed by general La Fayette to America in 1780 to assist in dislodging the British.

There’s another ship there as well, and this one is a ‘climbing attraction’ – they attach a rope to you and you get to clamber around on rope ladders, etc. The kids looked like they were enjoying themselves a lot.

We wanted to walk along the river back to the hotel but all paths were blocked – they’re setting up barricades in preparation for festivities tonight in honour of Bastille Day. It’s actually the River Charente, which, as is passes through Mansle, isn’t that large, but here in Rochfort is very wide – also very muddy from the effects of the tide.

When we finally made it back to the hotel the room was ready so we checked in and watched the day’s Tour stage on tv. We hadn’t had lunch but snacked just a bit before heading out for dinner. We walked back to the area where the market had been and chose an outside table at a nice-looking restaurant. I started with an appy plate that was excellent – several different tapas in a slightly vietnamese style. For my main dish I had chicken on a bed of mashed potatoes – also very tasty.

After eating we wandered back to the large park where some of the festivities are happening. There were food booths and tables setup in a large courtyard in front of a stage so we sat down and listened to a live band. The four fellows looked fairly young, and they played some pretty good music.

There was going to be fireworks, but we didn’t stay for them – I’d been wearing my contacts all day and I’m not used to them anymore as I usually wear my glasses/sunglasses instead. As we left the area more and more people were arriving to watch the display, but we continued back to the hotel.

I was still up reading when the fireworks started – Mo was dozing on Colin’s bed and made a few half-hearted barks at the noise but wasn’t really serious about it. She jumped between the two beds a couple of times during the night, spending about half of it snuggled under my left arm. I still miss my kitties very much and I think Mo knows it so she offers comfort when possible.

We had a couple of really good rides over the last few days, although nearing Goue on our way home one day we both almost got clipped by the machine that a tractor was pulling – he had the wings facing out instead of in and it must have come within an inch or two of my left shoulder. The sunflowers are going crazy.

One night the bar had fish and/or scampi and chips dinner so we went down to partake. Most of the local brits were there so it was well attended and we had some good company. I actually got the dessert for once and as I took the first bite of my ice cream bar I felt something weird on one of my teeth. It turned out that the right tooth next to the front one had broken about ⅓ off vertically! I’ve named it The Fang – it didn’t hurt and there’s no nerve pain but to my tongue it feels like a giant gap.

I got all of the deck rails painted black and Colin got almost all of the wooden slats sanded – when it’s finished it’s going to be beautiful. Mo is always interested in what we’re doing but has to be kept inside at times so she doesn’t get covered in paint or dust.

We’ve been watching the Tour on tv every day – there’s been some good action and I’m getting excited about going south to see a couple of stages live. The first three stages were in Belgium, the home of the great Eddy Mercx, and the crowds were fantastic.

It’s been several days of varying weather – from very stormy (especially at night) to blazing hot. We’ve gone on more than one really nice ride, including one day to see the ‘Dolmens’ which are burial mounds from about 2,000 years ago.

The next day Colin was out with the local cycling club while I took Mo down to the bar and visited with Peter (one of the brits). We saw a firetruck go by with sirens blaring and lights flashing, then a police car or two, and some utility trucks. As we looked up the street – towards Colin’s house – we could see several utility workers in their bright vests and hardhats going around looking for something.

When Mo and I left the bar we had to detour to the main road as they had blocked our path home. As I approached the house I could see that the medical clinic across from the house had been evacuated and all of the staff were milling around watching the operation. The utility guys had gone from house to house and were checking everywhere with their meters. I walked up to the police and they said ‘no no’ until I pointed to the house and they said ‘ok, but stay inside and don’t come out’.

I got inside and the power was out – they’d cut it to the whole area while they tried to track down the gas leak. At one point I went out on the balcony to get a better look at the action and one of the cops yelled ‘madam – back inside’ (in french, but I understood the gist of it). They eventually traced the source of the leak and brought in the heavy machines to tear up the road.

Another ride took us to Chenon to have a look at the war memorial, then on to Aunac for lunch. There’s a lovely little restaurant that has no menu, just whatever they’re serving that day. We started with a nice selection of buffet salads, then the main course of roast pork and rice – it was so tender it fell apart with the fork, and was very delicious. Next course was a selection of local cheeses, and lastly a dessert, which I as usual, passed on.

By day 3 of the gas leak they’d actually dug a hole about eight feet long, four feet wide and five feet deep. It looked like they’d replaced a couple of main lines with very fancy-looking new ones, then quickly filled it in and re-paved over it – job done!

The mighty Tour de France has started – watched stage one on tv, and looking forward to what we’re going to see live.

Mo has been farting a lot lately – not sure if she needs a change of food or what but we’re scared of lighting a match!