DAY 5: BOUAYE - ST. MARS DES PRES: 85.6km
THURSDAY 17 JULY

We left the chateau in the sunshine at about 9am after a good breakfast. It was nice to be offered cereal for breakfast as well as bread and jam. I was quite sad to be leaving but at least we had had two nights there.

It didn't take long to get back into our stride and the rolling countryside made for a really pleasant ride. We passed some vines (the first of the trip) and the verges were beautiful as they were full of wild flowers.

We had a quick stop at Le Bignon



and a longer stop at Viellevigne

We stopped at L'Herbergement to buy some lunch and Rob needed a snack.

Rob had a "I have to eat now" moment

We decided to cycle on a bit further before we ate our lunch

We were really enjoying the ride



It was beautiful countryside

We cycled to Les Essarts which was a really pretty town and it was a shame we didn't have time to look around (although it was lunchtime so everything was shut anyway).

It was another very hot day



We almost ate in the shade

After lunch I went into a hairdressers to ask if they could re-fill our bidons as our water supply was getting low and it seemed to be getting hotter by the minute.

We were glad to get back on the bike and enjoy the slight breeze we created

It had been hard to find somewhere to stay in this area as we didn't want to deviate from our route too far and the only chambre d'hotes we could find couldn't (or wouldn't as I suspected was more the case) understand me when I had tried telephoning on a number of occasions to book.

Our only option for the night was a very expensive chateau that we had previously discounted on the grounds of cost but it was exactly on our route and we decided, after hours of searching the internet for an alternative, that we would have to stay there despite the room rate being €115 per night. At least it did have a pool and the thought of a swim kept us going through the afternoon heat.

The tar was beginning to melt on the road

As with the previous days the last 10km was the hardest - whatever distance we cycled this always seemed to be the case. We were however still feeling fresh for most of the day and hadn't got to the point at any time when we didn't want to get back on the bike which was probably just as well.

We stopped at Puybuillard for a drink - the village felt quite southern

The Manoir de Ponsay was sign-posted from the village so we weren't far away. I was really looking forward to getting to the pool.

We arrived at the Manoir de Ponsay at about 5pm

My first impression was that it was not very pretty, especially after last night's chateau, and I was surprised to find that the young chap weeding the drive was actually the owner. He explained that he had grown up there and the chateau had been in his family for 12 generations and he and his wife had recently inherited it.

The entrance was round the back where we parked the tandem

A beautiful old stone staircase lead to the first floor where we were shown to our room - it was enormous.

It felt like a room in a National Trust property

It was an interesting place to stay but somehow it didn't quite feel as homely as where we had stayed the previous night and was not at all what we had expected. On this occasion the website looked better than the reality, it wasn't bad but we had expected something a lot more upmarket, even luxurious, for the money we were paying if the website was to be believed.

It was still very hot and we spent a pleasant couple of hours by the pool while our washed cycle kit lay next to us drying.

I'd been looking forward to this

Dinner was served in the lounge that looked like it hadn't been decorated for years but this gave it a lived-in feel.

We were pleased we had a cosy table for two



We had a nice view too

It was nice to sit and chat about the trip and we felt very relaxed and happy as we drank our apero and chatted to the owner. The trip was going really well.

We were then served our dinner which turned out to be very disappointing. As with all the chambres d'hotes we stayed at there was a no choice menu which isn't ideal after a day's cycling when your body is craving carbohydrate.

We started with tinned grapefruit and oranges (not a good start) and the main course was confit de canard (which was quite nice but only a small portion). The cheese course was very disappointing in it's lack of quality, and quantity. The iced dessert was actually quite nice and obviously homemade but we left the table feeling that for €32 a head we should feel more satisfied than we did.