A quiet Sunday ride

The town was quiet as we went in search of a bin to dispose our glass bottles, which we fortunately found behind the little grocery store.  Chore completed, we left St Emilion as the mist was lifting.  It was an easy ride into Libourne, where we detoured to find an open Boulangerie and supermarket to buy supplies as we knew that many shops are closed on a Sunday and those that do open close at 1pm.

Our morning tea stop was in a lovely park with interesting sculptures and a pretty lake with swans.  Our route took us through Pomerol, an area renowned for its red wines, primarily Merlot and also Cabernet Franc.

There had been flood alerts on the weather app for some of the area we were travelling through, and though no roads were blocked, we could see evidence of high river and lake levels.  The back roads were quiet and the towns were largely deserted, except for one where a little market was packing up as we passed through. 

We stopped for lunch by the river in the little town of Guitres.  We continued along quiet back roads before picking up the Haute-Saintonge Greenway, a picturesque 14km cycle path that took us from Clerac into Chevanceaux. We took a steep hill into the town and our accommodation at the Little Robin B&B.

The host, Claude, helped us store our bikes in the garage and together with his wife, Christine showed us around the lovingly renovated 17th century house and took us up to the “Cat Room” with its lovely view over the back garden.

We settled ourselves in the covered verandah area with a glass of wine, and chatted to Sylvie and Bruno, a French couple with 8 children, who were doing their first cycle touring trip to the Santiago de Compestela before having our leftover curry for dinner.

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