No ride for us today as it’s a ‘double day’ for the Tour of Poitou-Charentes – there’s a 97.9 km road race in the morning followed by a 22.9 km ITT in the afternoon.  We went first to the town of Couhe, which was hosting the final of both, with the road race coming through twice.

On the way to Couhe Colin saw a bunch of birds circling in the sky – they were cranes and he thought they were getting ready for formation to head south – do they know something we don’t?

We got a really good spot to watch from overlooking the finish line and had brought the camping chairs as it’s going to be a long day.

I was a bit disappointed by the shot I got of the winner of the stage coming in – Colin’s photo was awesome – rider sitting up with arms wide knowing he’d won – mine – well it’s not quite as good.

At the end of the road race stage we stayed for most of the podium presentations, which started with a nice tribute to Sylvain Chavanel for his career – he’s a local fellow and is retiring this year – a big crowd favourite.

Then it was on to the day’s winner, Arnaud Demare, who is currently the overall leader as well.  I’m not sure how many things he got in all – 3 bouquets of flowers, two bicycle sculptures, a bottle of champagne, a large round torte (looked like a pizza…), a stuffed rodent (looked like a large rat, but cute).  Every time he got a bouquet he removed one flower and gave it to the hostess.

We decided not to stay in our spot for the ITT – it was too hot and being in the sun for another 6 hours didn’t seem like a great idea.  We walked around the corner to a cafe and got a little table under the canopy where we sat and had a really nice lunch – quiche Lorraine with a large fresh salad.  I even had the dessert that came with it. The cafe was so busy they ran out of chairs so we gave a fellow one of ours and I sat in a camping chair.

We made it out of the town and drove partway along the time trial route to pick a spot – ended up in the village of Ceaux en Couhe where we setup the chairs again and proceeded to wait.  We think the stage started about ½ hour late, but eventually the riders started to appear.

Back in Mansle Neil met us at the bar for a drink or two, then we went home – it had been a fairly long outing.  Colin and I walked back down and ordered donair kebabs from the little place next to the bar – we were very surprised that we had to wait, but it was extremely busy.  They don’t serve felafel and the fries aren’t homemade but the meat in the donair was excellent.

 

Had a nice easy ride to Mouton and back, then as usual to the bar for coffee.  The bar itself was pretty full of ‘the Brits’ so we sat in the plaza across the road and under the trees.

The town kitty was there – she’s very small and extremely friendly.  At one point she saw some birds in one of the big trees and scampered up to try to get one – no luck, however.

Today we headed to just north of Aubigne to watch Stage 2 where the riders pass the feeding area.  We parked in one spot, but it was very hot so ended up moving to another spot so we could get in some shade.  I parked my chair right to the side of one of Astana’s cars and we watched as the fellow filled up the feed bags for his team.

 

We started talking with him – he’s from Italy but has been taking english lesson for 5 years and speaks it fairly well.  He’s actually a physiotherapist, and used to work for Manchester City FC but couldn’t stand living there. He comes from very near Genoa and we all agreed what a tragedy the bridge collapse was.  We had a good chat and he brought us each an Astana hat and bidon – without me even asking.  He also offered us a drink – I declined but Colin took one – the guy said it’s a new one and that lots of the riders love them. I looked at the ingredients and the first one is water, the second sugar, artificial colour and flavour and I’m not sure what else.  Colin gave me a taste and it was awful, although he seemed to like it all I could taste was the sugar and fake lemon or something.

When the racers came through I was a bit surprised by how relaxed many of them looked – smiling and chatting with each other, almost like they are at the beginning of a stage.

Since it was still early after they’d all passed we decided to scoot ahead to watch the finish at Melle.  As we left the feeding area we saw that one young boy that we’d met earlier had a huge collection of discarded bidons – there must have been 10 or 12.

When we arrived in Melle we had a drink in a nice bar then walked a bit further to pick our spot.  We settled ourselves on a rock wall and had a really great view – once again the riders went by twice.  

 

And also once again we saw the lady with the small chihuahua right across the road from us.  I also saw a couple of the official fellows from yesterday, and, of course, the cow.

 

It was another sprint finish…

Right near where we were standing on the wall there’s a memorial to a man that was killed in Dachau in 1944 – he was only 32 years old and the inscription reads that he was a victim of his patriotism.

 

Went for another nice bike ride with Colin – got separated at one point when I stopped to take a photo and then took a wrong turn.  Colin realized I wasn’t behind him anymore – he thought I might have wiped out on a bridge with gravel so came back for me.

Stopped at the bar for a cafe-creme, then home to have a quick bite before heading to Cognac to watch the first day of the Tour Poitou-Charentes.  We parked the car and walked to the main square, that has a carousel in the middle and is ringed by large hotels and nice cafes/bars.

We sat and had a couple of drinks, then walked down the street that the race is finishing on today (not the road shown below).

Along the way we passed a lady in a chair that had a little chihuahua in its own chair – Colin remembered them from some years ago at a couple of races so we stopped and they chatted for a minute.

We walked a bit further, crossed the road and chose a spot about 50 metres from the finish line.  I climbed up on a side-barrier so I’d have a better view – the ‘officials’ at that spot thought it was pretty funny, but mostly it was very uncomfortable – there were small metal things jutting out all along it and it wasn’t that easy to keep my balance.

There is a very small cavalcade and they throw out small packets of cookies and stuff – the cutest thing is the cow.

The race came by twice as they were doing a large circuit at the end – on the first pass there was a small breakaway.  

For the second/final pass I had moved from my uncomfortable perch down to the barricade and stood with one foot on the barricade and the other on the speaker stand that was right beside us.  It got me about a foot higher so I could see over at least some of the other folks. The breakaway had been caught and there was a mass sprint to the finish.

Had some of the left-over roast chicken in a salad for breakfast, then went for a nice coffee-creme with Colin at a different place – the Black Cat – since the Penalty Bar is closed today.  Otherwise a fairly quiet day, but that’s ok because – I’M RETIRED!!

I was reading in bed when around 11:00 I heard some loud booms – I remembered that there were fireworks tonight so ran out onto the deck.  They were happening down around the campground – I ran back in side and grabbed my camera, and this is it…..

Went for another nice little ride with Colin – north to St. Groux, then southwest to Villorioux and on to Cellettes.  On the way we passed a field of sunflowers – someone had made a heart shape in one of the larger ones – it looked pretty cool.

Stopped at the bar again for a coffee – it seemed especially tasty for some reason.  Church across the street got out and the plaza was getting crowded – the bar was busy as they set up tables and chairs in the plaza under the trees.  We figured that maybe there was a christening or something about to happen as more and more folks kept arriving – not just any old church service.

Back at the house Mo had shown her displeasure at being left alone for the 3rd day in a row by leaving a small protest pee.  She thinks she should always be included, so maybe Colin will have to get a basket for her to sit in when he rides.

We each had only a light snack instead of lunch since we planned to get the hot camembert with toast at the campground’s bar before we headed nextdoor to the racetrack.  We walked down and picked a table, only to be told it was reserved – although how we were supposed to know that is beyond me as there was no sign on it or anything. The waiter said it wasn’t a problem, though, and we could stay there.

We placed our order with an older lady and were very surprised when the waiter delivered our plates – we were each presented with a huge ‘hot camembert salad’, which wasn’t what we’d ordered.  He took the plates back to the kitchen and shortly returned them to us, saying we could have them at the same price as the much smaller dishes that we’d asked for.

The salad was pretty good – kind of potato salad on a bed of lettuce, with several slices of prosciutto (or something like it).  Neither of us could finish our salads, but the melted cheese and toast was just as good as we’d remembered from when we’d both gotten it several weeks ago.

We walked over to the track and I was a bit surprised when there was a charge to get in – I did remember though, that we were handed free tickets outside the one in Luxe last month, so I guess it’s not unusual.  Colin paid for me and we went in – the area to the east of the actual track is quite large and has many nice trees for shade. There’s a small grandstand, as well as a fairly large covered eating/drinking area, and of course, several lines for the betting.

On the other side of a creek is where the horses are – hundreds of them in various stages of getting ready for their races.  It’s lots of fun to just walk around and see what’s involved – some of them were getting hosed down, and others were drinking water from a ‘pool’.  

I thought that the different ways folks had of doing the horses tails was very interesting.

We found a place in the shade in the stands and watched several races.  They were all trotters pulling the carts except for one race that had riders.  I felt sorry for the horses that broke into a gallop as they were disqualified – they just want to run!  

There were several female drivers, as well as a few rather chubby ones that we figured would be a disadvantage to the poor horses that had to pull them.

It’s a good thing I wasn’t betting, as most of my picks either bolted into a gallop or were otherwise just slow – the only one I picked that didn’t completely suck came in second in its race.  In one race I picked the horse that had stylish red ear covers, but they came off during the race and ended up hanging on the back of its head.

We left just before the last race of the day – there was now a live band playing at the campground.  

Stopped off at the bar and Neil met us for a drink (or two).  Back at home Colin made roast chicken but we were both still stuffed from lunch so only Neil actually ate any.

 

Yesterday was a momentous day – Colin got on his bike for the first time in 7 years!  We went for a ride first to Mouton, then around a couple of other small places, coming back home thru Monpaple.  

We covered about 15.5 km in all, and it’s quite different riding with someone else instead of by myself.  I didn’t stop as often to take photos, and I pushed myself a bit more at times than I would have if I’d been alone.

After the ride we took Mo down to the bar, which was open again after their little vacation.  The market was on, and the lady that knows Colin was very happy to see that Mo had been found.  Everyone in the bar also knew she’d been missing so they made even more of a fuss over her than usual – she lapped up the extra attention, of course.

Had a lovely steak with roast potatoes for dinner.

Went for another ride with Colin this morning, this time going north to St. Groux, over the river to Chateaurenaud then on to Fontenille.  Eventually came home again thru Monpaple and stopped at the bar for a coffee. Colin got a fair amount of attention as we were, of course, in our riding clothes.  Everyone seemed very happy to see that Colin was riding again.

I went with Colin down to Angouleme to get a few things from Decathlon, as well as more groceries.  After lunch at home and a quiet afternoon we went back to the bar with Neil for a quick drink before dinner.

Yesterday I did yoga again while Colin was out for the morning with the local cycling team.  In the afternoon we drove about an hour south to the village of Bors de Montmoreau to see some of the adult riders participate in a race.

The area is very pretty, as is the village, but nothing was open.  There was a nice-looking bar but even with the extra folks there to see the race it was closed.  I know it’s a French holiday today – being Assumption Day (whatever that is), but it’s also day 2 of a 3-day festival in the town.  I’d think that a local business could make a tidy sum on a day like today, but nooo.

The race consisted of four different groups, leaving at intervals, and following a circuit route 8 or 9 times around.

Partway through the race we relocated from near the start line to about ¾ of the way around.  There was a fairly long hill and some of the riders were suffering pretty badly on the last couple of circuits.  I thought one young fellow was going to collapse – he was making horrible groaning, almost crying noises – but he kept going.  It was really sunny and hot and I felt kind of sorry for the riders.Today was another fairly quiet day for me – I went for a short ride to Mouton via Monpaple – about 16 km in all.

Colin had an appointment in Poitier so I stayed home with Mo – no getting out of the gate for her this time!

Yesterday was a bit lazy for me, although I did do yoga in the morning.  Had delicious BBQ cheese and mushroom burgers for dinner.

This morning was a little more exciting, thanks to little Mo.  Colin and I had removed my bike from the bike rack on the car, then he went out to get the car washed.  As I was getting ready to go out with him when he returned I noticed that I couldn’t see Mo out on the deck.  I called for her and she didn’t respond as she usually does.

I looked out and noticed that the gate was open – I guess I hadn’t actually locked it when I came up the stairs, although I’m sure I pulled it closed.  Mo is very tricky and must have somehow pulled it open and escaped to go look for Colin.

I dropped everything, including my money belt, grabbed Mo’s harness and leash, and dashed out the door and down the stairs.  My first thought was she’d probably gone down to the bar hoping for her usual treat so that’s where I ran to. Of course she didn’t know the bar was closed but I figured that would likely be where she’d gone.

The local market was on in the square across from the bar and Mo wasn’t there either – one of the vendors knows Colin and I’ve met them a few times now.  I made them understand that I was looking for Mo and she asked the other vendors if they’d seen a little Jack Russell – no one had.

I took off next for the campground, as Mo likes to go there also – it’s next to the large field where they have the horse races, as well as the cricket ground she likes to run in.

I ran across the bridge and down to the campground – the fellow there hadn’t seen a little dog, and the delivery guy that was also there gave me a strange look – I was obviously very distressed and they must have thought I was a bit nuts.

I ran back up past the first bar again, calling for Mo and holding the harness and leash, and a car stopped.  The lady driver asked me – in French, but I knew what she meant – was this what I was looking for? And there on her passenger seat, looking happy as hell – was Mo!  I gave a little shriek and ran around and opened the door – Mo seemed very happy to see me and I scooped her up saying over and over merci, thank you, merci, thank you.  The lady told me she’d found her in front of the post office, which is on the main street.

I decided to carry her home rather than put her on the leash as I walked back up to the house.  Partway back I passed two ladies and a gentleman who saw that I had Mo – they had also seen her in front of the post office and had helped catch her and put her in the car.  They were very happy that I had gotten her back.

As I arrived with Mo in my arms back at the house Colin had just gotten home also.  I felt very bad about having left the gate un-latched but he was very non-judgemental and just happy that Mo had been found and was back home.

We drove down to Angouleme and one of the places we went was the campervan dealer – they’re still dicking around about fixing Colin’s campervan.  It’s very frustrating for Colin that the dealer wants the manufacturer to deal with it, but the manufacturer is hundreds of miles away and the insurance won’t pay for the tow there – it’s just been going in a circle and after weeks now nothing has actually been done.

After lunch at home we headed up to the town of Chef-Boutonne so Colin could take care of some more business.  Mo and I sat in a bar across the street to wait – this area also has a large population of older Brits and there was a couple at a table next to us, joined a bit later by 3 or 4 more.  I don’t know what all of the Brits around here and elsewhere in Europe are going to do when Brexit happens – they must be a bit freaked about it.

After Colin finished his business we drove about 1 km to a chateau that is now owned by the town and has a lovely park with a lake – there are nice walking paths and picnic tables, etc.  The chateau itself is being renovated so it looks like they’re trying to keep it from falling apart.

On the way home we passed a farm that had two donkeys and a horse in a nice large field- the horse and one of the donkeys seemed like best friends – they were all so cute and happy looking.

Had lovely lamb chops and roasted potatoes for dinner.  I don’t do much cooking here, but I’m really enjoy the eating!

Got up a bit early so I had time to shower and eat a nice breakfast before tearing down the tent and getting ready to leave.  This was a nice campground – the only sound at night was the creek below me.

We got on the road before 10:00 and ended up going all the way back to Burgos before getting on the motorway north/northeast.  

We stopped in a small town for a coffee, than back on the motorway to the coast at San Sebastian.  Since we were on the toll-highway we didn’t actually go thru any of the towns or cities, which saved a lot of time.

Crossed the (non-existent) border from Spain into France just past Irun, then skirted St. Jean de Luz and Biarritz.  The area around Bordeaux was, as usual, a bit of a bottleneck, but not as bad as the way south had been a couple of weeks ago.

Arrived back ‘home’ to Mansle just before 6:00 and threw a frozen lasagna in the oven before walking down to the bar for a quick glass.  Unfortunately they’re closed for the week for a short vacation – the nerve!

Headed back to the house for dinner and an early evening.  I quite like camping and seeing different places every few days, but it is very nice to sleep in an actual bed, and have a bathroom less than 200 metres away if needed in the middle of the night – ha ha.

 

For the final stage of the race we’re going to see the mountain finish, which is in a National Park on the ugly climb up to Lagunas de Neila.  Rather than sit around camp relaxing we decided to head right up as we could relax just as easily up the mountain – good decision it turned out, although are arrival could have been timed just a bit better.

We were able to drive up almost to the top – seeing only two other vehicles along the way, one of which was police/civil guard.  When we reached a plateau there was a large parking area that had a few dozen cars and campervans and the police had just closed the road that goes to the very top – we missed getting through by 10 minutes or less.

That was ok – I walked up the road to suss it out and ended up not going to the top – I didn’t know how far it was and it was getting very steep.  I didn’t want to come back down to collect my chair or anything else I might want for the afternoon and go all the way back up again.

More and more cars were arriving and starting to fill up the parking area.  We opted to drive back down just a little way so we could be right on the side of the road rather than in the middle of a car park.  We found a suitable spot a couple hundred metres down and pulled in behind two other vehicles, moving to the front of them as there was a bit more room.

Set up the table and chairs and raised the flags, then had a nice lunch and settled in to wait.  Dozens and then hundreds of people and cars kept going by us on their way up, and not all of the cars came back.  When I took a little walk up later I saw that there was another road going down the other side towards to town of Neila and because the parking area was now full they were pulling in on the side of that road going down.

I checked with the civil guard just to make sure which road the race was coming on – we’re on the right one, thank goodness.  An enterprising ice-cream seller was making a killing – the line was 20 or 30 people when I passed by. I’m actually a little surprised there aren’t more food trucks, etc., although many people, like us, have brought picnics.

The young couple we’d seen yesterday at the feeding station walked by and said hi – they saw the flags thus knew it was us.  Also a couple of men stopped and were discussing the flags so Colin started explaining what they all were. They both spoke fairly good english and chatted for a bit –  one of them now lives in Lyon, France.

The first racer came up just before 4:30, and they all straggled by singly or in small groups over the next 20 or 25 minutes.  

As there was apparently no room at the top for the team buses, etc., the riders were coming back down the road after finishing, chatting with each other, as the late comers were still going up.

It was quite confusing, as by then many of the fans that had walked all the way up were now coming down also – kind of chaotic, in fact.  At one point a family was walking down the hill as cars were already passing and a little boy dropped a bidon he’d gotten onto the road – he ran right out in front of an oncoming car to grab it and I screamed ‘Jesus Christ!’ and reached my arm out – which, I know, was useless – while the mother did nothing!  Luckily the car driver was paying attention and slammed on his brakes and the kid wasn’t run over.  The mother did say something to the boy after, but it might have been better if she’d been paying attention earlier.

We took down the flags and followed one of the team cars down the hill and into the town.  Stopped at a large cafe/bar that was fairly packed, so just grabbed a couple of chairs and pulled up to a table of local men and set our drinks down.  We then proceeded to watch the long parade of team cars, motos, buses and fans coming thru the town from the mountain.

As usual I waved and smiled at almost all of them, and almost all waved or honked back – it’s the same everywhere – if you’re happy and friendly to strangers they’ll be nice back even if they don’t have a clue who you are.