Day 28: Périgueux to Limoges

102 kms. Details

An earlyish start and a slow day along an undulating route into a fairly steady, and surprisingly cold, north wind. Moved from the Dordogne to the Haut-Vienne, from the land of the Perigord goose to that of the Limousin cow.

I chose a major road today, the N21. It's the sort of road I'd usually avoid but I decided that since it was a Sunday morning the chances were it would be quiet, and so it proved.

Which reminds me that apart from commenting on the signage, I haven't said anything about the experience of being a cyclist in France. It's largely positive. I'd say the condition of rural roads is rather better, on average, than in the UK. Plenty of them could do with some work, but I haven't come across any egregious potholes or as many of the bodged and obviously short-term repairs that one tends to see at home. In one way, however, things are very similar - choosing routes on the basis of how the roads are categorised is a lottery. D roads - which seem to have a similar status to A roads in the UK - range from deserted winding country lanes to four-lane arterial highways, so it has paid me to do a bit of in-depth work with google maps rather than just relying on fairly large-scale paper versions. I've only once been caught on one that I regarded as really unsuitable, for the last 15 kms or so into Niort, so I haven't done badly.

Most importantly, my experience has been that French drivers tend to be more considerate of cyclists  than are their UK counterparts. Very few close passes, more preparedness to wait when visibility is restricted instead of trying to squeeze past, generally a greater willingness to share the road. It has been a good experience all-round.

I have to say, however, that so far I am not particularly impressed with Limoges. I'll see if I can find something worth photographing before I leave tomorrow, but my immediate priority is dinner.