aire at Vœuil et Giget
Being the aire at Vœuil et Giget
Vœuil et Giget service point
Church at Vœuil et Giget
Mayet to Voeuil-et-Giget
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Day 9
Gill was awakened by the church bells chiming 6.00am! It's common for the bells to be silenced overnight, but you never know what time they are likely to resume. GilI dozed, but heard a noise like a washing machine yet there was nothing of that sort when we went to bed. 7.00am and we realise the low throbbing noise is a heavy-duty engine… maybe a truck. People chattering nearby, when we look out of the window teenagers are getting on the school bus. We realise the low throbbing noise is the tick-over of the bus’s engine! Yes, this is a free aire, but it's also situated at the pick-up point for the school bus and other buses call here, not ideal if you want to sleep in!
We have breakfast and then get on our way south towards the Lot valley, it is about 270 miles so probably too far to drive in one day, especially on the French D-roads. We leave Mayet and head west to Pontvillain and then south on D307 to Le Lude and Noyant. The road is two lanes but very straight, just room to pass a truck. Fortunately, it is not busy. The crops have been harvested from the fields, just sweet corn and sad brown sunflowers, heads drooping with the weight of black seeds, waiting to be cut… the last of the summer crops.
We cross the Loire at Montoreau, by a narrow metal bridge, square in cross section. The river is wide here. On the south side are the ‘Caves’, literally…the vintners store their wine stocks deep in the rock walls of the cliff overlooking the Loire. We continue on the D137 to Loudun, a medium-sized town where we stop at a new Super-U store.
We have lunch and top up with supplies: milk, cheese, ham, fruit and vegetables and some all-important local wine. From Loudun we drive on to Poitiers, one of the largest cities we have seen since Rouen. A good ring road takes us to the N10, a fast, dual carriageway all the way to Angoulême. We maintain a speed of 80 km/hour (speed limit for 3,5t vehicles) for the 100km section. This is good going considering our average speed over the past few days has been 50kph.
It is late afternoon by the time we get to Angoulême, so head for a small Aire on D674 behind the Maire at Vœuil et Giget. When we arrive, there is no one here. It is a small circle of gravel for four campers, next to a delightful little park with stream, we park up under a tree and stretch our legs. There is water and disposal facilities (available with a jeton) but our overnight stop is free. After 167 miles we are ready for a rest and sit out in the shade, it is hot again . . . 31°C.
Later we walk up the hill to the top of the village where there is a great view down onto the town. Alan picks sloes from a tree at the side of the path.
Later note: The sloes have been pricked, sugar added plus a bottle of low-cost gin from a Spanish trek and left maturing in a cupboard to await a suitable time to remember Vœuil et Giget. By early December 2019 the colour has developed well and it will soon be time to strain the sloe gin. Picking local fruit from the hedge is one of Alan's pleasures, especially when it can be used to make sloe gin. While on the subject, gin is much cheaper in Spain than France, the low-cost variety can be purchased for around 7 euro a bottle in Spain.
Summary of motorhome journey
Total miles |
mpg | average speed mph |
hours driven |
169.6 | 33.0 | 35 | 4:45 |
Totals for this journey |
|||
956.8 | 29.6 | 33 | 28:38 |