Niort to Parthenay 37 miles Running total 647 miles

Here is todays route. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42318118

We travelled through Niort to pick up the cycle route, taking in, again the castle and some beautiful gardens. Niort has been a very pleasant surprise and is apparently being positively developed by a forward thinking Mayor.

Today, the route made its intentions very clear as soon as we left the town with several long, steep climbs. Garmin had warned that there would be uphill climbs of 1,500 feet today, which after 600 miles of an almost flat route is a shock to the system, and we both resorted to walking at some points.

The forecast is for it to be cloudy with sunny intervals, but that stiff easterly wind is still there in our faces. However, if that’s what’s keeping the rain away, we will put up with it.

The ride passes through very productive arable farms with fields of wheat, barley, peas, french beans, fennel, and broad beans to name few. Many of the fields are edged with red poppy’s, and there is a strong smell of wild garlic.

The route is undulating (for this read hilly). At one point, it was flat for a few miles as the cycleway followed the course of a very pretty river with the sound of several cuckoo’s.

Todays lunch was taken with the hope of some divine intervention. It didn’t help.

The good thing about hills are the views and the downward slopes. We did have some spectacular views and went through some interesting villages. We stopped for lunch near the village of Saint Marc la Lande. An information board explained that a Commandarie and church, established by Antonine Monks, had been in the village since the 12 century and had been funded by the French Court.

After lunch, it was back for more of the ups and downs. We arrived at our destination Parthenay, which, as you might expect, is at the top of a hill. Due to a road closure, we ended up walking around the small roads the wrong way up a confusing one-way system, trying to find our accommodation. We had been recommended to look out for the Rue de la Vau Saint-Jacques. It turned out the tour leader had booked our accommodation in exactly that road, and even better, the road also had a local craft beer venue, which we felt we should try.

Parthenay is probably the quaintest medieval hilltop town we have visited, with many of the building exteriors as they were in medieval times. It is well worth visiting.

Having checked in and visited the craft beer place, we went to the recommended restaurant, which was fully booked. We then trawled the town until we found somewhere suitable. One that, according to Google, was closed. However, it had a large booking for a sports club and as they had not arrived and it was open they let us have a table. Tomorrow is a similar punishing day, so off for an early night tonight.