Cycling in the Vienne

Charroux

We celebrated the first day of spring with a bike ride in a never before (by us) cycled location in the Vienne. Even the drive there was spring-like; the blue sky, the bright green fields, the flowering hedgerows and the haze of new growth on the tips of the deciduous trees.

We parked in Charroux and ate our power picnic (pasta, tinned fish, banana and homemade coffee cupcakes) before setting off to explore what we hoped would be a landscape a bit more undulating than where we live. Thank you to the town of Charroux for providing the perfect car park; free, plenty of spaces, a bench for our lunch and joy of joys – a clean toilet and all this with their attractive tower as a backdrop.

The ride didn’t disappoint. Plenty of hills for Ade to stretch his legs and lose me on, pretty chateaux, lakes with ducks and fields of very pretty cows to keep my interest. The circuit that Ade had programmed into his clever-gadget-thingy centred on the River Charente and we crossed her a number of times as we zigzagged up and down her valley. Taking the back roads by bike really is the best way to see the hidden beauties in the French countryside. I hope you enjoy the photos.

We finished our 38 km in a couple of hours, feeling contentedly exercised rather than totally exhausted which for the beginning of our cycling season felt good.

Pretty cows

River Charente

Chateau

Cycling in the Vienne