Photoshoot, take one, take two

Enjoying the Marais Poitevin photo credit ©S.Bonnet

As I hinted in my last post, the week of our twentieth anniversary of arriving in France, was a busy week, even by our standards, but one full of fun and laughter too.

 

When I think ‘model’, images of long-legged beauties, immaculately made up, not a hair out of place and coordinated couture, come to mind. I certainly don’t think model when I catch a glimpse of myself in my sweaty cycling gear and helmet hair. It’s as much as surprise to me as anyone, that not once, but twice this summer I have been filmed and photographed cycling on the local bike routes.

 

Take one

My first experience of pretend modelling was back in June. This mission was to produce promotional material for the Vélidéale, the new cycle route that starts on the Atlantic coast in Saint-Nazaire, before crossing the departments of the Vendée, the Deux-Sèvres, the Charente, the Haute-Vienne and finishing up in the Creuse, at Lac Vassivière in central France. 

La Vélidéale

This journey also takes it through five regional parks, as well as passing right outside the Château de Javarzay. When the Deux-Sèvres department put out a call on social media looking for volunteers to be photographed along the section that passes from Niort to the Château de Javarzay, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I might not be that comfortable being photographed but will do all I can to help promote this area, and especially to fellow cyclo-tourists. One of the most important things I’ve learned in the last twenty years is that saying yes to things that initially seem outside of my comfort zone, often leads to fabulous experiences.

Photoshoot, take one, Niort

 

At half past eight one June morning, in the carpark of the Château, our long day of filming began with introductions, instructions on how to ride the e-bikes we had been provided with for the day, and a bag of pastries from the local boulangerie to tuck into. The Vélidéale had employed a photographer to visit all the departments and take a mix of stills, video and drone footage to highlight the sights the cycle tourists will see over the six hundred and sixty-five kilometres. Our day consisted of lots of short rides up to or past châteaux, churches, an abbey and a silver mine, where we’d stop, look up or around us, laugh, smile, and then repeat, until the photographer was happy. This was interspersed with driving between locations and lots of waiting around for the clouds to clear and the sun to shine (June wasn’t the best month for good weather this year). I probably pedalled less than two kilometres over the eleven hours we were out, but it was still as exhausting as it was fun, as well as being a fascinating behind the scenes glimpse into how tourist brochures are put together.

 

 

Take two

At the beginning of August, I received a phone call from the lady who works for the promotion of tourist sites in the Deux-Sèvres department, and who had accompanied us on our June day out. They were looking for a couple to cycle the twenty kilometres between Niort and Coulon on the Vélo Francette, for a social media campaign, and would we be interested. This well-established long-distance route from the ferry point in Ouistreham in Normandy to La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast, just happens to be one of our favourites, especially this section that passes through the Marais Poitevin, so how could I refuse. 

 

The bronze dragons of Niort

It was a totally different day out to the first one, but even more fun. We met up in the centre of Niort and our first task was to cycle through Place de la Brèche, somewhere that has changed dramatically in the last twenty years, before passing the famous bronze dragons and taking a pause at the market halles. Recently voted the best market in France, I am ashamed to admit that this was our first visit, my lame excuse being it is only open in the mornings and is over an hour from home. While our bikes were guarded, we were filmed wandering from stall to stall, admiring the fresh produce before stopping underneath the nine-hundred-year-old Donjon, once home to Alienor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and then of England in the 1100’s.

 

The real cycling began as we left Niort and followed the meandering Sèvre Niortais river towards the Atlantic. This is where things got a bit tricky. We are both in our fifties and were on our Bromptons (small wheeled, folding bikes, powered by legs). Our ‘film crew’ were on e-bikes and the girl whose project it was, was younger than Ed, but as we set off with her filming from behind, it soon became apparent, she couldn’t keep up with us. I am taking this as a middle-aged win!

 

Once we’d got into a comfortable rhythm for everyone, we made good progress, stopping at various points for extra shots/close ups and action clips. One of these was on the chain ferry that is a self-operated, floating bridge to get up to five people (or two and two bikes) from one bank to the other and was yet another first for us and great fun. 

Getting the best shot

 

As we relaxed into having the cameras follow us, we laughed, pulled silly faces when asked to hold hands for a touch of romance, and enjoyed the looks we got from passers-by no doubt wondering who this odd couple were being filmed crossing the pretty bridge in Magné, dangling their feet over the jetty in Coulon and sitting at the terrace of the Hôtel au Marais. 

 

To give the impression of it being a mini-break to Coulon by bike, we also enjoyed a delicious two-course meal at L’Atelier Gourmand and a special visit to the Maison du Marais Poitevin museum in Coulon, another first for us and somewhere that has been on my wish list for a while. What a treat it was learning all about the history of the marshland that goes back hundreds of years, and the people who lived and worked here. I certainly recommend a visit, especially as there is an English headset available to accompany the film that explains the various projects that have reclaimed the land from the sea.

 

Before we returned to Niort, there was just enough time for a few photos back at the Hotel au Marais, including a sneaky kiss on the balcony of the best room. We have promised ourselves that we will return for a real night away, and hopefully we can book ‘our’ room with the balcony.

 

Hotel au Marais, Coulon photo credit ©S.Bonnet

As if this wasn’t enough, we were not only welcomed by Parc Naturel Régional du Marais Poitevin (who kept our bikes safe as we wandered) but they also gave us a book of watercolour images from the Baie de l’Aiguillon, the muddy estuary where the Sèvre Niortais joins the Atlantic. We might not have gone that far today, but in 2022 when we followed the river from its source in Sepvret, near Melle, to Niort and through the Marais Poitevin, we dipped our wheels in the shallows of the bay as we neared the end of the second day of our cycle tour. Luckily for me, Adrian was happy to squeeze a large hardback book into the bike bag on the front of his Brompton for the final twenty kilometres, isn’t he a star. 

 

At the end of the day, Niort photo credit ©S.Bonnet

I can’t think of a better way to have spent the eve of our anniversary of moving into our house in France. We were treated like celebrities, the sun shone, and memories were made with smiles on our faces. It turned out to be a win-win situation for everyone as alongside a fabulous day out on the bikes, our participation helped their work placement student with her final project - putting together a promotional film of a couple on a cycling holiday in the Marais Poitevin. 

The Sèvre Niortais photo credit ©S.Bonnet

The finished film won’t be available for a while, but I have been given permission to use some of the photos that were taken, and I love them. Merci mille fois S et J. 

The tree of the year

The tree of the year 2021

August 

 

As our third canicule (heatwave) of 2022 gets going with temperatures of 35º as I write this, it has struck me that not only has the beginning of August often been significant for us over the years, but its weather can be unpredictably changeable too. One year ago, we helped Ed and Pearl move into their new flat and the first photos of them on their balcony shows them in long trousers and jumpers, dodging the rain – something we got quite used to doing last August.

 

Two years ago, we were in the Pyrenees having conquered the Col d’Aubisque and the Col du Tourmalet, among other iconic mountain passes, on our Bromptons in temperatures that reached the high 30’s. Our next stop was the Pays Basques, where the cols might be lower, the mountain profiles less jagged, but the gradients of the climbs are killers – although we can’t wait to return.

 

Three years ago, we were in London celebrating all things bike, including enjoying the Brompton factory tour, the London Freecycle and completing the Ride London 46 sportive (46 miles or 80 km). In a sea of lycra and high-end road bikes, we did it on our Bromptons, with huge smiles on our faces and I was wearing a dress.

 

Four years ago, Ed had just completed the Ride London 46, raising money for the mental health charity MIND on the coldest, wettest August day you could imagine.

 

Five years ago, we were into the final preparations for our Tour de Rêves four-hundred-and-fifty-kilometre charity bike ride around the Deux-Sèvres department raising money for a children’s make a wish association.

 

Probably the most significant event was eighteen years ago, when we were just days away from packing the cars and moving our lives to France – although how has it been 18 years, I have no idea. Our arrival in France coincided with the end of a heatwave and the beginning of a wet and stormy few weeks.

The V93 between Melle and Celles-sur-Belle

holiDAYS out and about

 

Memories and good times are not always about the big events in life or the long-distance adventures, or even the impressive mountains we climb, sometimes it’s the simple things that put a big smile on my face. This summer, rather than going away for a holiday we are making the most of our holiDAYS out and about, mostly involving the bikes.

 

This week’s first adventure might have only been a twenty-one-kilometre bike ride from the local market town of Melle, but with some clever planning it was still a fabulous day out. We set off along the old railway line voie verte (green way) that is now part of the V93 cycle route, that crosses the southern end of the Deux-Sèvres department. It has been a favourite route for us for more years than I care to remember and comes into its own on a hot summer day.

 

We took our time to enjoy the cool, shady path, where trees and ferns line the sides of the old railway cutting, and it feels like you are in a green tunnel, before you emerge back out into sunshine and fields of sunflowers all around. It is only eight kilometres to Celles-sur-Belle, but rather than follow it all the way, we dropped down at a bridge to make an exciting detour. 

The tree of the year 2021

The tree of the year 

Last year, a local chestnut tree was voted l’arbre d’année (tree of the year) and cycling to see it was on my summer wish list. Sitting at a crossroads of quiet, rural lanes this chestnut tree, named "La talle à teurtons" which roughly translates from the old French dialect as the people’s tree, is thought to be at least six hundred years old. It is mostly hollow on the inside, with patterns on the gnarly bark that were mesmerising and had to be touched, traced and hugged. Over the years it has held a reputation as a meeting point, where lovers could conceal themselves within its trunk, although we saw no evidence of any secret trysts. It was difficult to drag ourselves away from such magnificence, but there were other local treasures awaiting us.

Lavoir de Villiers in Melle

Melle 

Back onto the V93, we stopped at a shady bench by a spring and enjoyed a homemade flapjack, before heading back to Melle, arriving via one of the most impressive lavoir (wash houses) in the area. 

Lavoir de Villiers Melle

The oval pool surrounded by a cobbled path, reflects the stonework of the temple-like structure with high arched windows. The traditional lavoir roof was designed to encourage air flow while allowing some protection from the elements for the women doing their weekly washing.

Les Rêves du Monde, Melle

 

Our first point of call in Melle was the church of St Pierre, one of three impressive Romanesque churches in the town. Every two years Melle puts on a contemporary art festival that this year has the theme of Les Rêves du Monde (the dreams of the world). Outside the church, we found our first art display, a collection of wooden bricks that children of all ages can use to build their dreams. Having built a mini tower, while Adrian looked on, we set off to the marketplace, admiring the super cycling facilities outside the office du tourisme – lockable bike parking, with power for charging batteries and a fully equipped tool station with air pump.

Melle cycling facilities

 

The kiosque, or bandstand, housed another art installation, the lattice work creating some stunning light and shadow patterns. We then followed the narrow streets of the old town ramparts, passed the summer beach at the Hôtel de Ménoc, which isn’t a hotel, but was a noble family home that in parts dates to the fourteenth century and is now an exhibition space. Our final destination was the St Hilaire church where the ornate stone carvings, especially of the knight on his horse are always worth a moment of careful inspection.

 

Eglise St Hilarie, Melle

We are incredibly lucky to have all this on our doorstep, but sometimes it is easy to forget that there is always something to see, we just have to make the time to slow down and enjoy what is around us.

 

Thank you for all your lovely comments on Ed and Pearl’s challenging week. I’m happy to report that their second week went without a hitch, and they packed in lots of days out before safely returning their first set of holiday makers to Poitiers. They are currently in a beautiful gîte situated in the middle of a forest in the Creuse. The trees are proving a cool and calm oasis from the heatwave raging outside of the forest - proof, if any were needed, that it is essential we plant more trees, everywhere.

  

The beauty of freedom, one week post confinement

The beauty of freedom

We have now been free for a week and what a week’s it’s been.

Monday began with a rather rude awakening at 3.00am when our ‘friendly’ local stone marten (fouine) clattered over the bedroom roof and in its search for sparrow eggs sent a roof tile crashing to the ground. This is its second night-raid on our resident birds and the second time it has destroyed a roof tile as it foraged for food. I’m not sure whether I am annoyed or impressed that something that only weighs around two kilograms can make such a racket and has the strength to move roof tiles. They might be great to have around to control snake, rat and mouse numbers, but their lack of care for our property is beginning to grate.

  

By 11.00am, when the accountant called for a year-end Zoom meeting, we’d walked the dog, hung out the washing and had a picnic packed and ready to go as soon as the meeting was done. With no work for over six months, it was no surprise that the accounts showed a loss for last year, but at least we saved over 11,000€ (based on the previous year’s figures) on flights, trains, hotels and food, as Adrian wasn’t traveling for work. It’s always good to look for the positives.

 

A slice of apple tart on the V93 cycle path in Brioux-sur-Boutonne

With no restrictions on where we go or how far we can now be from home, lunch was on a bench about fifteen kilometres into a fifty-eight-kilometre bike ride, that took us way outside of the ten-kilometre radius we have been confined to for the last month. Freedom was beautiful, as were the deer we saw in a field right next to us, the field of buttercups, the dragonflies and butterflies, and the afternoon patisserie on a bench by the Boutonne river.

 

In typical sods law fashion, the weather then took a turn for the worse with wind and rain battering the garden on Tuesday afternoon and pretty much all-day Thursday. Freedom was curtailed once more and bike rides were limited to quick loops from home, squeezed in around work and breaks in the weather.

Updated vaccination information

 

President Macron spoke on Thursday about changes to the vaccination programme. From 10^th May anyone aged over 50 can have an appointment for a vaccination and from Wednesday 12^th May anyone aged over 18 can look online for availability of last-minute appointments for the following day, to ensure vaccination doses don’t get wasted. A quick check on the vaccination availability website showed almost 5000 vaccination within about 100kms from home, which was great news until I checked Adrian’s work calendar. Having had many weeks of not much going on earlier in the year, we are now in the position where he potentially has work scheduled all the way through to 8^th June. When you are the trainer, running a course and having to talk coherently all day, the possibility of having a fever or flu-like symptoms isn’t something we can risk. We know from experience that his work schedule can change at short notice, so for now we will have to hold fire and hope we can both find a last-minute appointment if a gap appears in his schedule.

 

By Friday the week began to improve once more. We thought Ed was popping back for a few days over the weekend, but one look at the amount of stuff he’d cleared from his flat, and we weren’t so sure. His lectures are finished, and his exams are over, so although he may head back to Poitiers occasionally, university is done, and he’s moved back home. This put a big smile on my face and Mini was delighted her favourite dog-walker is back in residence.

 

Victory in Europe Day 8th May 2021

The weather was warm and sunny on Saturday, so I was up early to make a start on Ed’s washing mountain, which was hung out to dry as the eight o’clock Angelus rang out over the village. Before heading off with a picnic lunch for an afternoon on the bikes, I joined the Maire and few others to pay my respects at the war memorial for Victory in Europe Day. For the second year running there has been no official ceremony, but the flags were flying, and flowers were laid, followed by a minute’s silence.

Vineyards in Le Gicq, Charente-Maritime

 

Our bike ride took us over the border and into the Charente-Maritime for sixty kilometres of cycling through pretty villages, and vineyards just bursting into life, before stopping for a picnic at a lake that we had to ourselves, despite it being a public holiday in France. The sun shone all afternoon and we were back in time to shower and change before pre-curfew apéros in a friend’s garden. 

On my first bike 1979

 

It was certainly a good idea to squeeze so much into one day, as Sunday was wet, wild and stormy, but it did give me the opportunity to sort through some old photo albums and look what I found, the first photo of me on a small-wheeled bicycle. It might not be a Brompton, but that Viky bike from the 1970’s, my first ever bike, holds a special place in my heart. I don’t think for one moment that seven-year-old me cycling around the back garden, would be able to imagine forty-nine-year-old me living in France and cycling around five thousand kilometres a year. 

Vive le vélo!  

Poitiers, terre de vélo (land of the bicycle)

Poitiers, by bike

Poitiers, terre de vélo (land of the bicycle)

Following on from yesterday’s Tour de France post, it is obvious that while cycling has always been big in France, the cycling bug seems to be spreading faster around here than a certain virus we’ve all become familiar with. 

Poitiers Mag, the town's monthly information publication 

The new Maire of Poitiers, Léonore Moncond’huy, has made it her mission for the town to be known as the “land of the bicycle: for getting around, for exercise and to keep healthy”, stating also that “more than a sport, the bicycle is a spiritual state and a way of life” and I couldn’t agree more. Teaching primary aged children to ride a bicycle is one of her council’s educational priorities, and outside of the sports clubs they want to increase and encourage events, businesses and associations that bring life to the Poitiers cycling community, and she’s already made a great start.

 

Poitiers from above

Poitiers not only hosted a finish stage of the Tour de France, it held a weekend fête du vélo, where families could experience safe closed road cycling, coinciding with the final stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes that finishes in Poitiers every year. There have been a number of new cycle paths introduced all over town, notably linking the town centre to the university campus, a fantastic initiative for a town that welcomes thirty thousand students every September and is always rated as one of the best student towns in France. They have also reintroduced a scheme that offers residents a 25% reduction (capped at 250€) for buying an electric assist bike and bought an additional two hundred electric assist bikes for their hire scheme. Chapeau Poitiers, although this is a trend that can be seen in cities throughout France, including Paris where many of the temporary cycle routes that went in to get the city safely moving after lockdown, have proved their worth and are here to stay.

 

V93 cycle route and the proud sign from the Deux-Sèvres dept

Closer to home we have also seen exciting improvements to cycling infrastructure and evidence of big investment projects aimed at encouraging more people onto bikes and it’s worked. I know we are keen cyclists not afraid to challenge ourselves to ride that extra kilometre, but we are just as happy out for a shorter ride with friends. 

V93 at Brioux-sur-Boutonne

When we first stumbled upon the new V93 voie verte (cycle path) signs, we couldn’t resist following them and were amazed to discover quiet, mostly traffic free paths that took us to places we’ve never seen, despite living here sixteen years. We then took our cycling friends out for a Sunday morning ride, sharing our new route along the Boutonne river between Chef Boutonne and Chérigné. It was a hit with everyone and now they know where it is, they’ve all said they would use it again. Every ride we have done on this new route, (that is so new no online maps exist just yet) we have seen other cyclists out too, which just goes to prove, if the safe cycling infrastructure is there, the cyclists will find it. The more people out on bikes, the better, both for their physical and mental health and for the environment.

V93 at the chapel in Chérigné