Monday 16th May – Ride Day 4:
France en Velo – Day 4…
We left Lessac in welcome cooler temperatures, after a great breakfast at the ‘artists retreat’, on tired legs after the last two days so the 84 miles ahead of us was, relatively, welcome relief.
The scenery got better and better throughout the day as we left the flatter lands, via numerous spectacular crossings of the Vienne river, and hit some beautiful rolling countryside.
After a coffee stop in Rochechouart … with fresh fruit from the supermarche (Jonathan & Miles are excelling themselves every day, finding perfectly placed cafes and lunch spots en-route, WhatsApp-ing the locations and then even waving us in from the side of the road) …. we entered the Dordogne just before a lunch stop for a welcome melange of pre-ordered pizzas (Jonathan & Miles again 😊) in Piegut-Pluviers.
The last 40 miles were a bit of a slog for some, sapped as much by the oppressive heat (approaching 30C) as the mileage, so the coffee & ice-cream stop in the beautiful town of Brantome-en-Perigord was a welcome relief before the last leg of the day into the busy town of Perigueux (slightly off the official route, as we need to occasionally, in order to find accommodation for 10 !).
Heading into the town this evening to hopefully find the Huddersfield-Luton play off game in a bar for some well earned R&R (whilst cognisant of tomorrow’s more hilly 💯 🙈)
