It poured rain and thundered off and on all night, then after a quiet morning at home Colin and I went to the races – not cycle races, but horses at the Luxe Hippodrome.  It was totally cool, despite being very hot. We parked and walked thru a small forest to get to the track.

Someone near the entrance was handing out free tickets to get in, which was very nice.  There were quite a few folks there already – there was a ‘beer garden’ as well as several lines of people betting.  The stands weren’t huge, but there was also a large grassy area on a hill overlooking the track.

We went first to see the horses – they’re all in one large area getting ready for their races.  Some are already trotting around the track, some are getting new shoes, and others are still in their travel carriages.

The first race started at 3:00 and they ran about every half-hour after that.  I didn’t do any betting, but if anyone wanted to make money on which one was going to lose they could go with my pick to win – I guess the colour of the jockey’s jersey isn’t the most scientific way to choose.

We watched several races – the prizes seem fairly large considering how small the venue and crowd is – the pot for one race alone was 18,000 euros.  

Even though the stands weren’t full there were several (rather fat) people that sat themselves down on the stairs – other people were having to step around and almost over them to get up or down – I really didn’t understand why they didn’t just slide their fat butts over a bit, but there you go.

We left about half-way thru – there were some horses warming up with only a rider and no cart but we didn’t stay for those races.

Stopped at the Penalty Bar on the way home, then had a really nice roast chicken and potato dinner.  Tried to get to bed a little earlier than usual as we want to get started at a decent time tomorrow.

 

Got a bit of a late start, following another route that I’d plotted several days ago.  Went west to Cellette, then on to Villognon. I purposely went off course a bit there, as last time the GPS had me going in circles in the town, but I knew the next village was Luxe so I took the first road I saw that went there.

Eventually I got back ‘on course’ and ended up going past the Lac du Saules and on into La Terne.  By now the wind had really started to pick up, but I kept going to Ligne, where the route went south.  At one point it seemed that if I stopped pedalling the wind would actually drive me backwards – it was really hard going.

The main road bends and goes south thru Villesoubis, then it was mostly downhill until just before Chateaurenaud.

Up and thru the ‘village’, then down the hill and over the two bridges to St. Groux.  I was gone a little longer than I thought I would be, but it was a good ride.

Had a shower and a nice cup of tea, then Colin, Mo and I went down to the campground restaurant for a lunch of hot camembert on toast – it was actually really good.

After lunch we went up to Ruffec for groceries, then Colin went to the auto-license place and got a new plate for the bike-rack on the car.  I couldn’t believe it – after 10 minutes or less he had an actual plate made. Stopped by Claire’s house for a quick hello – Mo was super excited to see Claire’s dog Harvey, who is crazy about playing fetch-the-ball.  

On the way out of Ruffec Colin took me to Le Rejallant, which is a place on the Charent River that has a small waterfall, waterwheel and lovely park area.  There’s an old chateau or fort right above it that looks like it’s getting some work done.

The water is apparently of very good quality – there were lots of kids swimming, as well as some fairly large fish.

Saturday I planned to go for a ride while Colin was out with the club again, but at the last minute I changed my mind and stayed home with Mo and did yoga.  The day got hotter and hotter and the wind was, once again very strong.

Later in the afternoon we walked down to the campground bar intending to watch the France-Argentina game but a couple of guys that were already there were honking some incredibly loud and irritating horns so we went back up to the Penalty Bar instead.

There were quite a few people there – Neil joined us a bit later.  Luckily France won – and it was a much better game than the one the other night that England purposely lost.  Mo was, as usual, the centre of attention – other than the game, that is. She had red, white and blue stripes on her head and back – obviously a France fan!

After returning home for an hour or so Colin and I walked back down to the kebab shop next door to the bar – I’d gone past it almost every day and wanted to try it.  We both got a donair wrap with fries, and I must say it was pretty good – I’ll probably go there again sometime.

There’s a large set of gates on the way to-and-from the bar that were actually open – I’d never seen inside them before.  You can never tell what a place is really like behind the cement or stone walls, and is this one ever nice – it’s a huge yard with many trees, a pond and a swimming pool.  It looks like nothing from the outside, and I was very surprised by the size of it, in addition to the beauty – and I bet the pool is especially nice on a hot day like this.

 

I plotted a slightly different route from the other day into my GPS, still going as far as St Front but taking a bit of a different way back.  I was on the road around 9:15 and faced a fairly stiff headwind most of the way there. Coming back I diverted from the planned route at Mouton because from there I knew where I was and just followed the main road instead of going back up into the hills.

I was mistaken when I had thought that the GPS would re-calculate the route based on where I am if I took a wrong turn – it doesn’t.  It simply tells me I’m ‘off course’ and shows me which direction I’m going. It will show the actual route I should be on if it’s within about a km or so from where I am, but otherwise I’m on my own.

While I was out the mayor had visited Colin – to remind him that he needed to keep access to the area behind the hairdresser’s next door open in case a car need to get back there (as if!!).  Apparently someone had complained about him parking both his campervan and his car too close to the building or something. Colin showed him the plans for installing a gate, etc so he can park his car under the house, and was informed that he would have to get ‘planning permission’.

I got home in plenty of time to shower and relax for a bit before we headed out for lunch.  We went to La Cagouille in VillaJesus where we met some friends of Colin’s – Sandy and Roger.

They are a really nice British couple – I met Sandy briefly last year, but she hadn’t been feeling well that day so only met her through her gate – and her four yorkies, including little ‘Kissy’.

There were two choices for each of the 3 courses – we all chose the green salad with cucumber (with yogurt dressing) for appetizer, and shrimp for the main course.  It was so good!! Probably my favourite meal so far this year. The restaurant, which we came to last year also, is not very large, but the chef, Stephane, is superb.  Simone, the waitress, is not actually his wife – I must have known that from last year but forgot. I think that all but one of the couples here for lunch were British.

After lunch we drove down to Angouleme so Colin could confirm the date, etc. for bringing the campervan in to get the wiring fixed.  Then we hit the Leroy Merlin store so he could talk with them about the size of the motorized gate, etc for the house.

We see the occasional ‘shell sign’ for the Camino de Santiago in some villages – part of the French Route goes thru this area.  You could follow it all the way down into Spain to Santiago if you wanted.

We were both still so stuffed from lunch that we didn’t have dinner.  Watched the ho-hum game between England and Belgium – losing on purpose seems like a bit of a dumb thing to do when you’re at the World Cup, but I guess they have a strategy – hope it doesn’t backfire on them.

Instead of going for a pre-planned ride this morning I decided to explore Mansle a bit and see where some of the side roads went.  Several of the ones to the west of the main road are dead-ends so after going up and down a couple I followed one going north that runs parallel to the main road.  

Mansle isn’t quite a big as I thought it was – it wasn’t long before I had to merge back on to the main road, which I followed north for a couple of km.  I came across a side road that cut east over to St Groux so I followed it into the village.

I went past the old church and rode thru a really nice park and along a path next to the river for awhile, then that kind of ended so I back-tracked to the village.

At the old church I continued north for a bit past a field of sunflowers.  Last week when I went by that field there wasn’t a single flower open, but now there is a sea of bright yellow – just glorious!

Back at Mansle I had a nice shower and a quick bite to eat before heading down to join Colin in the club van for another cycle club ride.  The riders were still gathering when we arrived so we went across the street to the bar to wait.

Today’s ride for them was a bit shorter than last week’s – only 70km this time.

The route they followed was similar at times to one I took earlier in the week going to St. Front.  

They continued on past the village, at one point going thru Chasseneuil, which is in an area that had very strong resistance during WWII, and has a large memorial site.

I must say that most people back in North America don’t really have any idea what it must have been like during either of the ‘great wars’.  We take history class in school and learn a bit of stuff – at least in Canada, although I’m not sure what they learn in the US – but they really have no clue.  I spent some time in Belgium when I was in my twenties and visited many cemeteries and some very pivotal battle sites near Ypres, etc, and was very deep touched – something that has stayed with me ever since.  So when I hear a super fucking dickhead like Trump dissing Canada and our allies in early June – it must have been right around the D-Day anniversary – it makes me sick. Such ignorance and lack of humanity – how do the people who work for him, not to mention the assholes that voted for him look themselves in the mirror and tell themselves that they are good people??  It beggars belief! When you live in a town or area that was basically decimated in one of the World Wars, and hear and see what Trump is doing (with the silence of his enablers) you can’t help but see echos of Hitler – who is going to stop him?? But – I digress….

When we could see that one of the young riders was tiring and lagging behind we pulled in front of him and he gratefully put his bike in the van and hopped in with us.  A couple of the others refilled their water bottles from larger ones that we’d brought, then caught up to the rest.

All of the others made it to the end, and it was darn hot by then, in addition to quite fierce winds.  After the ride was finished I walked Mo back to the house while Colin returned the van and picked up his car.  We met him back down at the bar, then waited until Neil got home from work and joined us.

Colin offered me a deal – if I paid for the drinks he’d buy me lunch tomorrow – and I know where we’re going so I immediately agreed.

 

Another sunny, but windy day – I stayed home in the morning and did yoga with Mo while Colin went out to do some business.  I had a bit of a challenge with the door to the deck when I tried to let Mo out – no matter what I did it wouldn’t open. I thought maybe Colin had locked it when he left and none of the keys on the table would open it.  There was, however, a set of french doors – with the keys in the lock – so I opened the floor-length curtains and got one of those open. I had to lift Mo up and over the flower pot that was sitting outside, but it worked.  I also opened the large window in front of the sink so we had good airflow.

After Mo came in and out again a couple of times I closed the french door.  A little while later I happened to look up above it and noticed that the curtain rod wasn’t even – I climbed up on a chair and saw that part of the left side where it was attached to the wall had come out of the wall and was barely hanging by one screw.  I thought ‘oh no – I’ve gone and broken yet another thing!’.

By the time Colin got back I had kind of forgotten about the curtain rod, although I did notice that he didn’t have to unlock the door to get in.  Later in the afternoon we walked down to the campground bar (the other one is closed on Mondays) for a couple of glasses.

At one point we heard a loud engine coming down the very narrow street towards us and wondered if a big truck was trying to squeeze thru, but it wasn’t a truck it was a tractor pulling a camper, followed shortly by another.  They were so funny looking, and they had come all the way from Germany, judging by the license plates. Not travelling on the autobahns, that’s for sure!

Back at home while I was reading, I noticed Neil fiddling with the curtain rod above the french doors – he was pounding in the top screw on the left side so it would hang straight again.  I asked, casually, if perhaps I had caused it to come down when I opened the curtain, then when I began to tell what had happened I blurted out the whole story about not being able to get the front door open and all.  We all got quite a good laugh out of it – the rod coming loose wasn’t actually my fault – it had happened before, and the door not opening was because the small floor mat had gotten wedged in it and you had to really pull (or push) to move it.

Tuesday morning we went down to the bar for a coffee – I went for a ‘coffee creme’ this time instead of a cappuccino and it was great (once I added some honey from the tiny jar I keep in my camera case).  There were three english couples inside the bar just finishing their morning coffees – we sat down with them and chatted for a bit. I believe I met them last year at the dinner that the bar put on one night.

After coffee we hopped in the beemer and went up to St. Soline to the charity shop again.  Colin donated two beautiful bikes – one a brilliant indigo blue/purple, and the other bright pink.  We picked up a few more books then had a cup of tea. Mo, of course, got the attention of a couple of other folks, who turned out to be british – there are a lot of brits in this area.  We visited with them for awhile, mostly talking about dogs/pets.

In the evening Colin and I walked down to the campground restaurant for dinner – we both got burgers that came with fries and a small salad.  It was pretty good – lots of cheese on the burger, and the fries weren’t greasy. I probably shouldn’t have scarfed the whole thing down but I did – I was so stuffed I could barely move.

Today went on a road trip.  Got on the way around 9:45 or so, and headed west to Saint-Jean-D’Angely then southwest to Saint-Savinien.  

There was a regional cycle race happening there so we drove around the town a bit trying to find a place for a coffee – lots of people but nothing open.  There were some of sculptures on the sidewalk on the road next to the river..

I know it’s Sunday, but it seemed to us that, with so many people in town, it would be great for local businesses to have a few things open – a cafe or two could have done fantastic business.  We gave up and continued on to Port d’Envoux, which was full of families and hikers – we figured there was some sort of hiking club having an event there were so many of them.

Again – nothing open other than a riverside snack-bar and a couple of restaurants that wouldn’t serve just a coffee or a glass of wine – you must have a full meal.  I suggested that we could mingle in the park where there were some tables set up and pretend to be with one of the families, but I was only kidding (well – kind of…).

In a park there was a memorial to the wars along with several sculptures lining the road.  Astrix is a big local hero – he resisted the Romans but was eventually captured and sent to Rome, where it didn’t end well for him.

We hopped back in the beemer and drove just a short ways to ‘Les Lapidiales Sculptures’ – wow – just wow.  Many of the sculptures were done on the walls of the hillside, both outside and inside the cave, and there were also free-standing ones.

Some of them looked fairly old, and some were still being done.  I really, really liked many of them, and really, really didn’t like others.  

I guess, like any kind of art, it’s subjective, but some of them were rather dismal and depressing, despite the obvious talent it took to make them or story they were portraying.

After spending some time there, we continued on to Saintes, which was a large enough place that we finally found some open cafes, etc.  The Charente River is quite large here, being so much closer to the ocean, and there was a nice promenade with cafes, and boats (for tourists) – even a miniature train that goes around the town.

We picked a cafe right across from the old Roman ‘Arc de Triomph’ and sat down, finally, for some beverages and sustenance.  We both had pasta with salmon, which came with a small green salad and a few fries. I especially liked that it was served in bamboo dishes – if you wanted to take it home you just flipped the salad ‘bowl’ on top of the pasta one and it became a lid.

The GPS took us on a completely different route home, but it was equally as beautiful – somewhat flatter than around Mansle, but still very agricultural with fields of barley, sunflower and corn, along with the occasional cow herd.  Along the way we passed a place that had three large teepees in it – some sort of campground, I think.

Before going home we stopped at the local campground bar for a quick drink – the restaurant and bar seemed to be doing a brisk business, even though it was still fairly early.  There was a cricket game being played at the far end of the hippodrome, but we didn’t go to watch.  Went home and had a really nice baked chicken and roast potato dinner.

 

Walked down to the main square around 9:30 to meet Colin – he’d left earlier to pick up the cycling club’s van for a ride today.  It took me awhile to get on the way – I just could not find the right key to lock the door. I had to message Colin about my dilemma and he said to just close the door and the gate and come on down – after all the ferocious guard dog was staying at home so no one would dare enter (and Colin had the key).

There ended up being two groups going out – the very little ones went one way, but we were following the older ones – four boys along with their coach Michele and another adult, an englishman, Paul.

They rode first of all south a bit, to where they were doing an individual time trial.  Colin and I parked about half-way around the course where a side road into a village met the road they were using for the TT.  

We stood at the corner to warn any cars coming out that there were riders on the road – and we were actually useful.  A small car was coming out just as a rider was about to round the corner – we motioned for them to stop and they did – rider was safe and the folks in the car were perfectly happy at being stopped for him to pass.

After their TT the riders went for a small tour about the area, then back to Mansle.  I walked home while Colin returned the van to the garage.  At around 2:00 we drove over to Michele’s house and met his wife Florence – they are going to stay in Colin’s house in Papiano when they vacation in Italy next month.  We visited for awhile and showed them photos of the house and the village from my ipad and left them the keys.  They have a lovely house with a fairly large yard and garden – very peaceful and beautiful.

When we got home we found the Miss Mo-Mo had left a protest ‘business’ on the floor – she had really wanted to come with us!  We walked down to the bar for a glass, followed that up with a walk further to the campground bar, watched a bit of footie, then back to the first bar.  Mo especially likes the first bar as she always gets treats there, but people make a fuss over her no matter where we are.

Back home we had lasagna for dinner, then I face-timed Dominic.  I saw (and heard) both of the kitties – Sly purrs as loud as a motorboat, and Merlin squeaks like a large mouse.  Both are demanding combs and cuddles twice as much from Dominic since I’m not there – miss them all!

Not so hot today, but extremely windy.  I was so cold starting my ride just before 9:00 that I stopped to put on my rain jacket as a wind-breaker.

I had a pretty ambitious route planned, going north/northwest to Ligne, then Charme, then east/southeast to Lonnes.  I was already getting tired as it seemed that no matter which direction I was riding I was facing a fierce head-wind, or at the least a cross-wind.  

I took a short-cut down to Fontenille, bypassing Juilie, then decided not to continue east to Bayer and Aunac but headed south instead, meeting the road that goes back to Chateaurenaud, right across the river from St Groux.

I still rode over 30 km – not as far as I’d planned but due to the wind it felt like twice that.  The scenery was, of course, beautiful – pretty villages, fields of sunflowers, barley, corn – the usual.  

I had volunteered to gut the sardines we’re having for dinner – I used to be a pretty good trout gutter, and I always bought whole kalamari for my greek feasts so the idea didn’t make me squeamish.  There were 14 of the little things – each about 5 or 6 inches long, and I used the same technique Dad had taught me when I was young. Sharp knife under the gill – off with the head, then point of the knife at the end of the belly down near the tail – slice all the way up and scoop out the guts with my fingers.  I also removed the bones as they came out easily attached to the spine.

Neil manned the BBQ once again and we enjoyed a really nice sardine dinner with greek salad, fresh baguette and a fairly decent tzatziki (not my home-made, but tasty none-the-less).

Loaded another route into the GPS – got a little frustrated as it doesn’t seem to accept every route I plan in BikeMap.  I eventually got a good route loaded – I’m trying to go out every day in a different direction so I get to see more of the countryside around here, and all of the pretty villages along the way.  I set out just after 9:00 and rode southwest thru Cellettes and Villognon to Amberac where I turned north.

Miss GPS got me turned around a couple of times in the villages – the direction to turn isn’t always fast enough so I ride past then have to go back when it beeps that I’m ‘off course’.  Almost the entire time I was riding past barley or corn fields, gently rolling hills, the lovely small villages, the occasional creek or river, and once in awhile a shrine or large cross.

After passing thru Fouqueure I had to go on the main road for a few km – it had just been re-surfaced and was still smelly and throwing up small bits of black stuff as I rode.  I left my planned route very near Luxe, so instead of going up to Ligne I went across on much smaller roads to Villesoubis, where I picked up the route again.

From there it was down the hill to Chateaurenaud then across the river to St. Groux, where I once again knew where I was.  A nice ride in the shade (thank goodness – it was near 30 degrees) and on into Mansle. I was gone just about 2 ½ hours, but it did include stopping to take photos, as well as figuring out what Miss GPS was beeping about a couple of times.

Colin and Mo were just leaving the house when I arrived, so they continued on down to the bar for a coffee while I had a quick shower and did some laundry.  I had just hung my clothes on the line and was getting ready to go down to the bar to meet them when they returned home.

I walked to the store, then came home and had a small greek salad for lunch.  Around 5:00 we went down to the campground bar, where the football match between France and Peru was about to start.  Folks kept arriving to watch the game, and by the time we left the place was pretty much full.  I didn’t really care who won, but I made sure to keep that between Colin and myself – the fans here are pretty serious about their team.

Colin made a delicious pasta bolognese for dinner, then I went to bed earlier than usual, although it took forever to get to sleep – maybe I need to drink more wine (ha ha ha!!).

 

Got up a bit earlier than usual so I could go on my ride before it got too hot.  I had loaded a course into my Garmin GPS last night so was all ready to go.

It was a longer route than yesterday and headed east first to St. Front, than back west along mostly very small side roads that I never would have chosen myself.

It was very quiet on the back roads – just past St. Front I was overtaken by a group of riders (12 or 15) heading towards Romefort – they were going up the slight hill much more quickly than I was.  Just before Romefort Miss GPS directed me to turn right onto a very narrow road – at one point I passed a man taking his dog for a run – the man was driving his car slowly while the dog jogged beside it (no leash).  The road was so narrow that I stopped riding at the nearby ‘intersection’ where the car turned – the dog, in the meantime, had come over to slobber on my left leg, then went back to his run with the car.

A little further on I rounded a corner and startled two animals at the edge of a field next to the road – I think I was almost as startled as they were, actually.  Thru the trees and from the corner of my eye they looked almost like two of the same animal – one much larger than the other. I realized, however, that although they were both a reddish-brown with big ears and a white tail, one was a large rabbit and the other a small deer.  The rabbit flew forward and then cut onto the track I was on before bounding off across and into the woods on the other side. The deer, meanwhile, had jumped (like a bunny!) across the entire field to the woods on the far side. The barley was up to its chin but it leapt up and over very quickly.

Shortly after that I got onto a road I recognized and was back at the house in Mansle in a touch under 2 hours total – tired and sweaty.  Had a quick, refreshing shower and a cup of tea, followed by a bite to eat, then went with Colin to follow the local cycling club on a ride.

We drove behind them with the flashers on and Colin honked to warn them whenever a car was passing us.  We carried extra water for the riders, and ended up picking 3 of them up one-by-one as they got too tired.  The ride was around 80 km in all in very hot conditions – I was kind of impressed with the younger fellow that made it the whole way.

Ended up eating the rest of my leftover pasta for dinner – it was too hot to think of cooking.