I spent two days in Limoges, recovering and having a look around.
Leaving the apartment and obeying the instructions (strip the beds, wash the dishes, put-out thr trash), as well as packing my minimal luggage carefully, I set off into a chilly and misty morning.
This is a 13c bridge over the Vienne, this morning I found the older side of Limoges.
I had 65k to go but with 1,200m of climbing, which is a lot for me. So, steady progress.
Mist coming off the fields leaving dew glittering in the sunrise. One of the rewards of cycling (and walking, and of course getting out of bed in time.
Several lovely medieval churches, this one in a town with a centre for “Dessin du Presse” Drawings for newspapers? Cartoons?
I was relying on the bakery to provide some supplies, but it was closed for the owners annual holiday. Small business eh?
So onwards, hilly country at last, hills provide perspective, trees, valleys, much to delight the eye, but they are hard work.
My route took a shortcut that avoided the centre of the little town of Saint-Leonard de Noblat.
But it was the last civilisation before the end of the route, and I had nothing to eat 1 So I back-tracked 2km uphill to get into the village.
And what do I find but that it was the home of “Pou Pou” (Raymond Poulidor) much-loved french cyclist, the most famous cyclist never to have won the Tour de France. This small exhibition in a grand old market barn celebrated his later life, when he made a TV series about life in a small French village, he lived here from his marriage to his death, around 50 years I think. Lovely story.
Nice old church here also, its on one of the “Compostella” routes.
Three bakeries, no sandwiches, bought a slice of pizza (not good, but took away my appetite). Later I found a roadside fruit-seller and feasted on over-ripe peaches and figs.
Big hills to tackle now, sunshine, fresh air, exercise, sore bum, nothing’s perfect.
My destination at the top of the hill is a nice hotel by lake Vassiviere, this is a pic taken from my room balcony.
It has a decent restaurant – I have foie gras, fillet of pike, half a bottle of Graves, and “Baba Gauloise” which has Eau de Vie as the alcohol, fire-water by golly. Nice meal, and so to bed.