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Followed the Vienne closely on its south east course most of the day.
Around Lessac I joined a cycle route aptly named "Bonne Route".
This hugged the river most of the way to Saint-Germain-de-Confolens.
Some gravel around Exideuil.
A late lunch at the picnic area at the Parc Archéologique at Cassinomagus -- the Roman name for the settlement at Chassenou.
They've done an excellent job of presenting the remains of the baths and the aqueduct.
It's astonishing how big the baths were and how well-preserved the decorative brick work is today.
I imagine being a Roman traveller stopping here for rest and refreshment, and of course the hot and cold baths, massage etc. Just what the long distance cyclist of antiquity needs.
All that's left of the 2.5km acqueduct are the footings, but the way it's been displayed shows the scale and grandeur clearly.
Now, at Rochechouart, I'm in the Périgord-Limousin regional park, which I will cross north-south to Brantôme tomorrow.
I think there will be fewer but bigger hills tomorrow, which may be easier than today's high frequency up and down.
Camping down by the Vonne at the foot of the hill town of Lusignac, the temperature dropped sharply overnight and I got up to a tent soaked in dew.
Climbing back up through the town and up towards Vivonne, I found these fields of golden wheat and of poppies.
A short pause at Vivonne for croissants and then on to Château Larcher, which is known less for its ruined medieval castle, which dominates the small town, than for its 6 m high 13th century "lanterne des morts" in the cemetery.
On through Gençay, past the handsome hotel.
On the way to Usson-du-Poitou there were several fields of blue flowers.
This is perhaps flax (linseed) being grown as a "green manure" to be ploughed back into the soil.
A long lunch break and tent drying opportunity at the large peaceful Jardins de la Clouère.
Then a straight 15 km on to L'Isle-Jourdain.
My first visit to an unmanned "Camping-Car-Park" site. You pay a machine which issues a card (supposedly) granting access to the site facilities. It wasn't only me who found himself unable to get into the washhouse using his electronic card. A French cycle tourist, even more weathered and haggard than me, was in the same boat. After a while we spotted a well dressed woman with a folder making a tour of the site. She turned out to be the major of the town, with duties including checking on the campsite. She wasn't surprised by our problem and commented that the technology wasn't exactly cutting edge. After disappearing off to phone the operating company she returned our cards with the reassurance that all would now work. We shall see. As my French counterpart noted " everything is being done by machines these days, but they don't do a very good job of it".
Had a friendly chat with an English couple in a motor home who are en route to the Périgord / Dordogne (like me). They are dawdling as the weather is apparently currently much better up here...
Rolling countryside up to Vasseroux. This afternoon felt very familiar : small irregular fields lined with oaks and messy hedgerows, unusually (for France) broken or bumpy surfaces. This could have been south west England much of the time .
On the approach to Lusignan there were many fields growing a different crop. What is it? Haricot?
Everything very sleepy and slow this morning, after the long weekend, or that's how it feels to me. I didn't find an open boulangerie until Parthenay at 11.
Really quiet route this morning, some excellent byways and tracks restricted to residents and cyclists.
At pretty Saint-Loup-sur-Thouet spotted this rose. Not much scent but what colours!
À couple of other sights
Parthenay itself is well known for a big weekly cattle market (not today) and is an attractive ancient town with a medieval centre.
Unfortunately there's a depressed air, with 2/3rds of the premises vacant. However there's quite a bit of building/refurbishment going on, so perhaps there's a regeneration programme under way?
At the Moncontour lake or "base nautique" there were a couple of events taking place on this Sunday ending a long festive weekend which for many people started on Thursday with the holiday for the Feast of the Ascension.
At the edge of the compound continued the festival of cross-country equestrianism. Horses of all shapes and sizes, some pulling carts or carriages or buggies set off into the countryside and then returned for a slap up lunch. Tonight only a few remain. When I commented on the large amount of barbecue equipment on the site I was told that - - no - - they would not be cooking horsemeat; some of the members object. I expect some of the horses might also.
The other event was a "fete d'écotourisme", a small market of local products. It's the first year in which they've done it and clearly it's hard to get the word and momentum out there to begin with. I had no sense of it at all but perhaps the unprecedented French win in the Champions' League had something to do with it?
The manager of the lakeside bar/restaurant had tipped me off that there would be a typical local snack on offer: fouée, which is like a pitta made from pizza flour, cooked in a wood-fired stove.
As I tucked into my second fouée filled with blood sausage I did feel a bit like the villainous farmer in The Fantastic Mr Fox, the one who eats only doughnuts filled with foie gras.
The restaurant was closed this evening. Getting a meal on a Sunday night is probably as hard in France as in the UK. As there were no remotely local options I put together a meal centered around d a packet of pork scratchings from the bottom of my saddlebag. Must remember to replace the emergency rations tomorrow.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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