John the Elder has declared this is his last trip, on a motorbike at least. Should we acquire a support can he'd consider driving it, but he's had enough of corners and cars and increasing risk. Bad times, but all things come to an end. He's been doing these trips for 34 years so it's not like times haven't passed, and good ones at that!
Eventually the mist and cloud burned away, and after stocking up on baguettes, cheese, salami, pate and other comestibles in a handy supermarket, we enjoyed a magnificent lunch en plein aire. Next time maybe we should bring the espresso machine...
By mid-afternoon, we still had 80 miles to go, largely due to the extended lunch and various fag stops, and it was getting unbearably hot, like 33 degrees. Such air as passes through one's rising gear felt like it was from an oven, with no cooling effect at all. A rest stop in an off-route village in some shade beside a primary school amused us with the kids' antics, playing 'sneak up on the teacher while her back is turned', before forming a single file to go back to class and then the waiting buses and parents. Of course, Pip was parked in the bus lane...
The last few miles involved some very twisty narrow roads, with oncoming cars and vans that was quite challenging, albeit through very beautiful green woodland with welcome shade, finally we emerged onto a river edged with a honey-coloured stone wall, the Dordogne and our destination!
The Hotel Belle Etoile is under a big limestone cliff, looking onto the river, with a garage for the bikes underneath and... air conditioning! Wonderful. View's not bad either.
The evening's entertainment was watching, along with the rest of the dining room's guests, Vince and Pip consume their huge plates of cheese - a sample of every kind on offer! The waiter even asked if they wanted the remainder on the trolley or the plates he'd loaded up...
And so to bed.
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