Day seven 7th June 2013

Stage 7 Availles Limouzine to Perigeux

84 miles

We awoke to a slightly cooler day, although the Sun was out and the sky clear and blue. The stay in Hotel Chatellinie had been very comfortable, but now another long cycling day beckoned. With water bottles charged and a full breakfast consumed, we set off. Within five miles we stumbled across another beautiful French village, St Germain-de-Confolens.

Everyone was in high spirits. Over the last few days there had been a few aches and strains, but with careful management they had been resolved. The Fozball Team were about to break the back of the French section of the ride. We crossed La Vienne River at Confolens, similar to the Loire in that it was flowing strongly, and joined the D928. This road proved a little busy for our liking, but the French drivers have consistently offered us extreme courtesy on the roads, slowing down and passing wide, and so we stuck to it. At the 20 mile mark we descended into Chabanais where we again crossed La Vienne River. We paused for a drink and to watch the water flowing over the weir just past the road bridge spanning it. As we were about to depart, Matt noticed a statue at the far end of the car park. 

It’s amazing what you find on this trip. This statue is of a French President who was born in nearby Limoges and assassinated in Lyon. We never knew that a French President had been assassinated. So if there is anyone out there who knows who he might be, who assassinated him and why, please get in touch.  Answers please using any method that will find it way back to us e.g. twittter, facebook, text, email etc.

We headed out of Chabanais and the temperature was still staying a little lower than Day 6 and the hedgerows and very high cirrus clouds kept offering us a little shade to ease the pain! Our first scheduled stop was in Rochechouart, where Steve was waiting for us with plenty of food and drinks. The town presented us with some fantastic architecture and there was even a spiral church roof, very similar to the one in Chesterfield.

On departing Rochechouart, we could not work out why there were so many places called ‘meteorite’. Banks, restaurants, pharmacies all seemed to mention this word. Again, if there is anyone who knows, why this is, please get in touch.

We pressed on out of Rochechouart on the D675, another fairly busy but safe road to ride on. When we descended the hill out of town, we looked back up to see a fantastic chateau perched on the hillside. The French certainly know how to build a nice house!

Three medium sized climbs later we entered the Region of Dordogne. This now felt like were in Southern France!

 

Despite travelling 500 miles South in France, the vegetation was still very green, with the hillsides covered in great swathes of Oak trees. However, the soil in the fields is steadily changing; it is becoming lighter in colour and is starting to look a little drier. The profile of the landscape is also changing, there are more rolling hills now compared to the flat North.  Despite these hilly climbs, the Fozball Team attacked the D675 as we headed towards Nontron and we ate the miles up quickly. We have a loyal Fozball follower called Aurelie Owens, whose hometown is Nontron. Thank you for all your support; this is a picture for you:

We prefer Nontron to Swindon Aurelie! We took some time at Nontron to have a stop and some lunch, a welcome respite as the mercury was rising again. It had stayed cooler for longer today, but the heat was back up over 30 degrees and it was starting to sap our strength. The D675 beckoned again and we dutifully followed its course, until we turned off to Brantome. WOW, what a place and what a find. We had chosen it for our third stop of the day, one more than normal because of the heat. It is a beautiful town with an ancient Benedictine Abbey founded in 769. The photos below give you some idea of what it is like:

With 17 miles left to go, we hit the D939 and took the hills and descents in our stride. We rolled into Perigeux feeling tired, but satisfied. Day 7 was complete with another 84 miles complete requiring 6 hours in the saddle. We can now look to enjoy our rest day tomorrow, where we will spin a cheeky 30 miles from Perigeux to Bergerac.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all our supporters and helpers to date. We have passed the £6,000 barrier for funds raised. A special thanks also needs to go to our corporate sponsors; Geo Kingsbury Group, Alsford Timber, The Walters Group, Phoenix Consulting, Costain and Wickens Media Services. These companies have really boosted our fundraising efforts – Thank you.

The Fozball Team