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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
20th September 2016 Mt. Biking: Monceaux-sur Dordogne to Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny and warm Max Speed: 25.73 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 29.19 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Tuesday 20th September – Bike ***** Monceaux-sur Dordogne to Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne sunny and warm – 29.10 miles, out 4hrs 20 mins, 25.73 kt max speed. Fog came in over the river and the chateau and when we were ready to leave we walked back to the view of the chateau to watch as it emerged when the fog evaporated – lovely. Got in the van and …. Nothing!! That’s the second time in a week it has let us down and this time no handy fisherman to give us a tow and the sun definitely hasn’t got enough oomph to get us going today! We set it all up for a tow just in case anyone stopped or we could flag down a handy person with a tow bar but to be honest it is a bit of a blind corner and the odd lorry that passes even bibs its hooter when it comes round as it is. Mag said we should ring the RAC because we have got European VW breakdown and have only ever used it for being towed out of the mud/sand or locking ourselves out (twice). We toyed with the idea of walking into town to a garage to get them to come and fit a new battery but decided it would be too much to try and explain. Knowing that a new battery was definitely required (this one has been on since the van was new, so 8 years trusty service!) we decided to ring the RAC and ask if the breakdown service could bring and fit a battery. They were really brilliant and very accommodating doing just as we asked and even texting us when the breakdown truck was on its way. The man turned up two minutes before the estimated time and was pleased that the van didn’t have an enormous battery because he had brought a standard Bosch. He fitted it in next to no time and the call out was covered by the RAC and we paid for the battery. We followed him down into the town and got the 118 euros out of the hole in the wall next to the post office and we left him talking to his mate in the garage opposite before he made the journey back to Albussac. Brilliant service and Francois from the RAC even rang to make sure it was all sorted out :) We drove to the Casino supermarket and got some salad then continued with our planned day, albeit a bit delayed. Followed the Dordogne down to the bridge at Monceaux sur Dordogne, got the bikes off and cycled over the bridge onto a white marked road on our map which doubles as a cycle track. There are no dedicated cycle tracks on the Dordogne, unlike the Loire which is brilliant in that respect. The road loosely followed the river and past many many fields of walnut trees and more beautiful ginger Limosin cows, some with tiny calves. When we got to the bridge at Brivezac we had the choice to go over or continue to Beaulieu sur Dordogne and as Beaulieu had been our original plan we continued on the white road in that direction after a quick look over the bridge to see if we could see any fish. Shortly after this we saw a stoatl! It was just sitting in the road having a good look at us and sniffing the air for ages before it shot down its hole at the side of the road!! A sign appeared on the left up to the village of Bassignac le Bas which said it was a village picturesque so we thought we would go and have a look as it was only 1.5km away. This 1.5km ended up being all up hill – like a mountain stage on the tour de france!! Then when we got to the top, thinking it might be a good place for lunch, there was a few houses and a church and nowhere to sit at all. We were glad we weren’t in the van because I don’t think we would even have been able to turn round up there! So quite a disappointing and exhausting detour but it didn’t take us long to get back down to the junction – we were flying!! Followed the road on to Beaulieu which turned out to be a real treat! We entered the town over the road bridge and had a look at the camper aire which offered free wifi but was 5 euros a night – not bad and in quite a good spot. We thought we would find the quay to eat lunch but were distracted by an interesting looking old arch with old buildings beyond. Again the bikes mean we totally ignore no entry signs and we cycled through the arch and there was a whole medieval town inside. Beautiful buildings really well looked after. We cycled through the old streets and on to the quay where a replica Gabare boat was taking people on a guided tour along the river. Very picturesque apart from the view across the river to a camp site and ugly new swimming pool :( Having eaten lunch and watched a ‘Crocodile Dundee’ lookalike complete with hat and utility belt standing with his hands on his hips surveying the scene (totally hilarious), we decided to take the yellow road back to the van. This was obviously a bigger road but other than a few lorries it wasn’t bad at all and actually followed the river more closely and treated us to two water mills and several villages which were absent from the other side completely. Back to the van about 4.45 having cycled 29 miles and out over 4 hours. Put the bikes back on and returned to our spot near the barrage because we hadn’t seen anything better on our travels. Photo Gallery here |
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