On Saturday we escaped to the country side, half an hour drive away from la Rochelle to visit our friends Nigel and Suzie. I love the place, it oozes serenity and beauty. They moved here in Landrais a few years ago with their three children. We stayed there once on holiday before we made the move to France ourselves and have become friends ever since. They have renovated their house and gites totally on their own . I have nothing but admiration for the standard of their work and sheer dedication. A swimming pool is next on the cards...no doubt Nigel will be building that too...

The day dawned sunny and bright.........

A young man,s thoughts drifted off to a land of may blossom,
mud and ruts,
with the wandering by ways-beckoning forth.
A promise of newly discovered adventure and chummy escapades
-a land of Swallows and Amazons......
Well actually it was a very nice sunny day(for a change)
and me and Junior Cheetham
fancied leaving the ladies to their shopping
while we went mudplugging
-THATS ABOUT IT REALLY!

Suitably clobbered up and gassed up
-we sallied forth into the Limousin paysage in search of adventure.

This was the first trip for the new Beta 200.
I have to say I was impressed!
The suspension is adequate,if not special.

The motor is a peach!
Very smooth and torquey-no hint of a powerband
-just an utterley predictable build up of speed.
The substitution of the front sprocket
-a 12 tooth instead of a 15
-means that a 50mph top speed
is little inconvenience for the trials like bottom end gained.
It is possible to drop to a slow walking pace
and smoothly pull away with no wheelspin
-great in slippery ,muddy conditions,like those we found today.
The centre of gravity feels very low ie very stable.
The whole plot squirms but never feels out of control.

This brings me to the main criticism:

THE TYRES!

How anyone can justify trailriding on trial tyres is beyond me!
Its like ice skating!
Its like greenlaneing on racing slicks!
Exciting-you betcha!
Safe-NO!
I will HAVE to address the rubber issue TOUTE SUITE!

(Any suggestions regarding tyre choice

from Alp owners would be very welcome)

We did a circuit of about 90kms

-out for about 5 hours
-and discovered some very interesting new trails.
The recent weather has been very wet
and so even the simplest green lanes proved challenging,
to say the least.

I think we found what is probably the longest,wettest trail in this area
-about 5 miles of pedalling through enormous tank tracks;
strange when the going in this part of the neighbouring Charente
is normally very open farmland!

Altogether a very enjoyable mix of wide open tracks and leafy forest trails.

UPSETS-very few;
a minor problem within the first KM,
when the petrol cap decided to abandon ship,
covering me with a shower of petrol!

A near “squashing” incident with a kamikaze pine martin...

A lamb that had to be rescued from a frantic fence incident
(why is the grass always greener?)

Of course ,as ever,we saw nobody on the trail
-trairiding down here is such a pleasure.

I must admit I am a little sore tonight
,but then I take great solice from the admission
that my 26 year old son “may ache a bit tomorrow”

Its really great that I can still “DO IT”
(whether it takes me a week to recover is irrelevant........)

I,M STILL DOING IT! :P

Easter Monday, we are spending the day with my auntie F and cousins in Angouleme.

My auntie F is the supreme French woman: stylish, 100% proficient in the cooking sphere, a strong minded individual with black spunky eyes. She described her food as true peasant style (a background she is very proud of). Peasants food was obviously excellent and consisted of stuffed goose neck, Hen's stew*, the usual leafy salade, cheeseboard followed by Cornuelles, Oeufs au lait...all of it washed with a consistent amount of ...

A pretty normal meal..."repas de circonstances" for Easter here in Charente.

* recipe transmitted from generation to generation and never ever written down by anyone...knowing that bit added extra flavour to the dish instantly!

The good old Charentaises went all the way up to Paris today and enjoyed a bit of glam and ego boost!

The famous pair of slippers were paraded in a fashion show in the Eiffel Tower...oui oui oui! Apparently they have become the new must have accessory...

Dating back in 1670 these little gems were hand made near Angouleme and entirely made from wool. Today they have been claimed as a fashion accessory.

Does that mean I can now open the door to the postman with no shame?

One of the beauties of being in France is of course food. Last week-end we went to visit my lovely auntie in Charente. She is a fine lady, beautiful, smart, very french and an amazing cook. We took a stroll in her garden and saw a box. When I enquired about it she explained that as it had been raining so much lately, she decided to make the most of it and armed with a torch in the evening went "cagouilles" hunting. That's just what I love about us french we just synchronize so well with nature!

Back to the box...it has been meticulously built by Mr Gillard, a fine box full of snails and salad...very securely attached....because those little creatures know when their time is up and they are great escapees! We talk through preparation the Charente way and agree to come back to share the feast at the end of July.

Back in La Rochelle that evening you have guessed it ....Mr K was making his own very fine box and torches were out!

You have to make the most of the rain...don't you think?

bières :
atlantic, gabariers, xo beer

adresse :
17, rue des Gabariers - 16100 Cognac / site

Mme Royal est représentative du lobby des régions, de ceux qui veulent en faire un contre-pouvoir, ainsi quand elle réclame que les subventions européennes soient attribuées directement aux régions, ce que la Commission demande et que la France a toujours refusé."

Nous avons là un amalgame parfait des fantasmes jacobins : la France est en état de siège, menacée par l'Europe, les régions, l'anglais...
Henri de Richemont partage cette vision apocalyptique avec les Académiciens ainsi qu'avec la Libre Pensée (pourtant à l'opposé de l'échiquier politique (?).)

Il faudrait davantage de sérénité dans ce débat sur l'égalité linguistique.
D'abord, rappeler comme le montre le dernier sondage en date que "68% des Français se déclarent favorables à l’inscription de la reconnaissance des langues régionales dans l’article premier de la Constitution, contre 28% qui ne s’y déclarent pas favorables, et 4 qui ne se prononcent pas." CSA, 21/06/2008

Ensuite, rappeler également que jusqu'en 1992, il ne serait venu à l'idée d'aucun défenseur de l'occitan, et des autres langues historiques de l'hexagone, de demander la reconnaissance des langues régionales dans la Constitution.

En rajoutant à la Constitution de 1958, le premier alinéa l'article 2, "La langue de la république est le français",- ce qui n'avait JAMAIS figuré dans aucune constitution - ce sont les jacobins qui on tiré les premiers.

De plus, cet alinéa a été rajouté, sous le prétexte de "lutter contre l'influence de l'anglais" ! Lors du débat, le Garde des sceaux avait certifié aux députés et sénateurs que cette précision ne nuirait aucunement aux langues régionales...

Cet alinéa n'empêche pas l'administration française d'afficher en anglais, d'organiser des réunions en anglais : par exemple sur les impôts, en Charente ! [ce que nous ne contestons pas]

Par contre, cet article 2 est systématiquement utilisé CONTRE les langues régionales.

D'où la demande d'une reconnaissance constitutionnelle des langues régionales, pour tenter d'échapper à la guillotine de l'article 2, dès qu'une mesure un tant soit peu favorable est envisagée pour les langues régionales

Il y a donc deux solutions :
- soit on reconnaît les langues régionales dans la Constitution.
- soit on supprime la phrase sur "la langue de la république" de l'article 2.

L'égalité figure dans la devise de la république. Et pourtant, en France, une langue est plus égale que les autres.

We ate lunch in an interesting square with a covered market, some of which dated from the Roman occupation, and then we walked up the hill. Somewhere between eating some of my daughter's frites and taking this photo, I must have touched the lens of the camera. All the pictures taken that afternoon (where light was a factor) look as if I smeared the lens with vaseline.

The vaseline effect is sometimes used to give softer lighting for more flattering portraits. In this case, it's an accidental, but I quite like the effect nevertheless.

The castle at the top of the hill was closed for some reason, but the church nearby was open. Through the open door was a fantastic view across the Charente countryside.

This place wasn't in the Michelin Green Guide and we couldn't work out why, because it was quite picturesque, but then it turned out we'd crossed the border from Dordogne into Charente and were looking in the Wrong Guide.

1/15 sec at f3.2, ISO 100 - hand-held (anti-shake is a wondrous thing).

Join the thousands of spectators who come to marvel at the classic cars that negotiate the tight town circuit that rivals Monaco.

http://www.circuit-des-remparts.com/  (broken link now fixed)

http://www.jedecouvrelafrance.com/f-4437.charente-circuit-des-remparts.html

Stage 18 was a 211Km cruise from Cahors to Angouleme on 27th July followed by the final timetrial before Paris taking the riders 55.5Km from Cognac back to Angouleme.

Keep an eye open for next years route to see which stages can be accessed from Le Bouin.