Sept 13th Thouars to St Loup

 Thouars is a strange mixture of semi industrial/ agricultural and medieval, quite a long way from any other big towns so it was no surprise to discover that there was a Decathlon store in town. Before I left England, I bought a gas stove from decathlon that uses their own proprietary gas cartridges on the basis that they cook really well and they have shops in a lot of towns across France and Spain. What I hadn't counted on was the energy war that's taking place in Western Europe right now and that these cartridges which are a mixture of butane and propane are currently unavailable across France. They also didn't have shock cord or waterproof dry sacks which I wanted, but was lucky enough to find in adjacent army surplus store. Nulle pointes Decathlon. There was also a Lidl store on the same road so I stocked up with vittals for the next few days. This of course meant that the bike which had been gradually getting lighter, was now heavier than ever!

Leaving town on the cycle route takes you under the magnificent citadel and church of the Ducs de Trémoille towering hundreds of feet above the road. Another staggering feat of medieval construction.

I may be wrong but I have the impression that the département of Deux Sèvres, through which I was now travelling, is not as affluent as it's neighbours, that is if it's roads are anything to go by. The road South to Parthenay is very busy, a lot of heavy lorries, but there is no cycle lane and I found it very intimidating. The cycle path La Francette continued to follow the river South in a meandering up and down route, but the main road was dead straight. I had to decide between the two. Because of the extra weight I was carrying I opted for the slower meandering cycle path, and I'm glad I did, on balance, as it took me through some beautiful country and some charming and ancient French villages. But it was tough going and probably a lot slower than the main road.



This church at Availles Thouarsais illustrates the mixture of Northern and Southern influences in the region. The tower is finished with Northern slates whilst the rest of the roof is topped with Mediterranean clay tiles. By 6pm I had made it through Airvault to another ancient town, St Loup le Maire. By this time the sky was starting to look threatening and I was getting tired so I pulled in at an aire for motor homes. This is a relatively new thing in France and very welcome as they are free to use,  although of course there are no facilities to speak of. I got the tent up just in time as the whole sky filled with one of the blackest and largest thunderclouds I have ever seen. That was about four hours ago and it is still hanging over us! The lightning is quite spectacular and constant so I do not hold out much prospect of sleep.

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