Day 12. Rest day at Laperche

Day 12. Rest day at Laperche.

Spending two nights at my cousin's in Laperche, a rural community a few mikes from Marmande.

Today (Sunday 8th June) is Pentecost and as David and Janie belong to the scattered English-speaking Anglican community of Aquitaine, we went to church with them this morning. The community has about a dozen centres and there are about seven services each week, in various places. Today's was in the small town of Nerac, where they had borrowed a local, infrequently used, Catholic Church. The church of the Immaculate Conception was built in the 1870s to replace an older church that had fallen into ruin. Jamie was playing the piano for the service which included the blessing of a young child aged about 4. www.churchinaquitaine.org

Back at the house, lunch was home made quiche with salad plus strawberries and cherries. the afternoon's entertainment involved picking cherries and setting out tomato plants.

Brendan had bought some extra strong tape, a bit like reinforced parcel tape, and we have used this to reinforce the fragmented section of the tent pole.

David and Janie's youngest son Matthew lives next door with his wife Claire and children Joshua and Finlay. Matthew works as a builder an indeed is building the house they live in.

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Day 13. Laperche to Mont-de-Marsan. 68 miles

Day 13. Laperche to Mont-de-Marsan. 68 miles


After breakfast said goodbye to David and Janie and set off down the road about 8.20. It was still quite cool, and I was keen to get as much distance covered as possible before the afternoon. I crossed the River Garonne at Le Mas d'Agenais. From here the road climbs over a low range of hills. Having raised the bike saddle a fraction, I found that me knee coped fine with the gradients, though I confess to choosing a back road to avoid the highest part of the main road. It was quieter too.


Brendan met me at Casteljaloux and gave me a tarte aux pommes as a snack. He went off to have a coffee while I set off for the next place - Houelles - where I had a chicken sandwich and an apple. The road hereabouts is dead straight for miles and virtually flat, and with very little traffic so I was managing a kilometre in 2 minutes. i.e. 30kph.


For a couple of hours I was passing through the western extremity of Les Landes, a vast area of woodland stretching to the horizon. Mostly pine and oak. Very few houses and no villages for the next 25 miles. But partly shaded and it seemed that a cooling breeze was blowing from the trees. Or maybe I was creating the breeze by cycling fast. We had a proper lunch break at Estigarde ( barely a hamlet) and I then turned off the main road to cycle through the villages of La Bastide d'Armagnac and Villeneuve-de-Marsan. The map showed a voie verte along and old railway track. It Was very green - not tarred, and simply a pair of gravel tracks through grass. But it was refreshingly cool. After some slow progress, I decided ordinary roads would be best. And that's how I arrived in Mont de Marsan. B had found an inexpensive hotel - the Siesta. a bit basic but clean. In fact, I did have a short siesta before going out for our meal.


David had warned us that today was a public holiday, so supermarkets would only be open in the morning. When we got to Mont-de-Marsan, pretty much everything was closed. The only restaurant, apart from pizza places, was one called La Casa. An excellent meal, menu at €23.50.

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Day 11. La Jemaye to Laperche

Day 11. La Jemaye to Laperche. 56 miles
As the weather has become quite warm I decided to set off early. Brendan was taking down the tent when a thunderstorm blew up so he had to wait a while for the tent to dry before setting off.

I cycled down the main road which had proved to be very quiet. I passed through Montpon-Menesterol (a gentle downhill run of about 30 km) then another 20 km of more undulating terrain to Ste-Foy-la-Grande where we met up for a coffee. There was a huge market on so the town was crowded. I talked to a couple from Grimsby who were cyclists.


From there I took a back road which looked on the map as if it had easier gradients than the main road. There were two uphill sections, but easily engineered. However, my left knee started playing up again. I stopped at one point to talk to to a cyclist from Yorkshire, who comes to this area every year with his wife, and their caravan. He spends a lot of time out on his bike, and at the age of nearly 70, has been advised by his doctor to keep at it.

Near Thenac, I passed a crowd of walkers, including three monks in oriental dress. I noticed a sign pointing to Plum Village, and realised this must be the retreat centre founded by the Vietnamese spiritual teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. www.plumvillage.org


We met up at Miramont-de-Guyenne for a late lunch, but had to detour a few miles so that I could pick up my sun glasses which I had left at the roadside while texting Brendan.
Arrived at David and Janey's farmhouse about 4pm. Beautiful old farmhouse with cherry trees and swimming pool.

David has a stamp for the Anglican Chaplaincy of Aquitaine, so I got a stamp for my pilgrim record. Lovely meal of salmon, asparagus, localish cheeses, strawberries and cherries. Great local wine and kir too.

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