Started the day with bread and cheese outside our tent. Some ducks came to visit. We wanted to start early as we were anticipating a difficult day: 41 miles and almost 800 metres of climbing and we wanted to get to the bike shop in our destination town of Brantôme by 5.30.
Headed off uphill straight away into another day of rollercoaster riding on tarmac all the way. This should speed us along a bit.
Stopped in a village beginning with V for croissants. Rode on for a while and then in Saint Matthieu we discovered a lovely café run by an English couple where we had a large early lunch of fish-finger baguettes. Hadn’t expected that in France! As we left an elderly man came out of his house calling after us. He gave Jackie a cycling magazine which he said was a gift. How lovely!
With such good fuel inside us early-ish in the ride we then made fantastic progress, speeding along for what turned out to be our fastest day so far. About 10 miles before the bike shop Jackie’s bottom bracket started to make a crunchy noise. Uh-oh! We pushed on and managed to get there in time.
Bike Mechanic Man™️ was very helpful. He said the bottom bracket needed replacing which he did as well as sorting out the derailleur issue, all very efficiently. He said the rear wheel hub bearings are on their way out too, meaning a replacement wheel is needed. He didn’t have one in stock but felt that it would probably be ok for the rest of our ride. If we can find a suitable wheel en-route we will get it done though, rather than get stuck in the middle of nowhere at some point.
Only 1.5 miles to the campsite. Wow!! Definitely the best so far. Indoor and outdoor pools, goats, good facilities and we were able to choose our pitch so went for one with a good view of the riverside beach, complete with pink deckchairs. Had a quick swim followed by a chat with our French neighbour and then our English neighbours, then walked 15 minutes into the centre of Brantôme for dinner. It’s a beautiful old town with a river and an abbey built against a cliffside.
Found a small restaurant that we liked the look of. Jackie had a pizza and I opted for confit roast duck with pommes boulangère and a sauce made from trumpets of death. How could I not choose something with such an exciting name! It was super super super delicious. 10/10.
A couple arrived and sat at the table next to us. They had a collie dog with them. It spent the first ten minutes at the patio doors at the back of the restaurant, staring at restaurant man’s larger dog outside who was staring back. Then restaurant man let the collie outside and the two dogs fought semi-viciously for the duration of our meal until at last they brought the collie back in and he lay panting on the floor, his head completely covered in big dog’s saliva. It was an odd accompaniment to a meal.
At the end of the meal restaurant man, who was doing everything except the cooking single-handed and in quite a manic fashion, told us that they only took cash. He directed me to the nearest cashpoint and I returned shortly and handed him a €50 note to cover our €38 bill. He disappeared and returned shortly to say he didn’t have any change as he didn’t have any money. He suggested we have some additional beers but we were about to leave and didn’t want any more to drink. We looked awkwardly at each other and took it in turns to say nothing. An impasse. Collie owning man at the table next to us offered change for our 50 and everything was sorted. Except it just moved the problem to him as he and his wife had ordered exactly the same food and drink as us and he didn’t have any other cash. Oh well.
We walked back to our campsite and turned in, very tired and very full.
Miles today: 41
Metres climbed: 762
Total miles: 430
Good things today:
- Fish finger baguettes
- Magazine gift man
- Speedy cycling
- Bike Mechanic Man™️
- Amazing campsite
- Swim
- Trumpets of death
- Helpful collie-owning cash-changing man
Wow! Looks amazing. Sorry to hear about your bottom bracket but the trumpets of death clearly gave you a fanfare to bedtime.
Good luck for the rest of your journey!