Classic cars and countryside

Last Saturday we drove about an hour south-east to the lovely city of Angoulême (capital city of the Charente department).  They were celebrating their Circuit Des Remparts, an annual race around the city walls with classic and vintage cars taking centre stage. Rich was in his element. I was very excited about going to a bigger city and maybe finding that elusive flat white coffee I’ve been after…

Our first pit stop therefore was a cute little coffee shop on a tiny square dedicated to Porsche cars. Every single car parked in the surrounding streets and in the square itself was a Porsche of some description (I felt oddly comforted by this as it reminded me a bit of Hong Kong where every other car is a Tesla or a Lexus). I ordered my coffee and was encouraged to see what arrived but alas, the taste was not up to standard (I think they use long life milk here and it’s just not hitting the spot – the search continues). By the way, those ‘coffee beans’ on the side turned out to be medicinally flavoured jelly beans. Hmmm.

We wandered the city streets taking in the atmosphere and even spotted a couple who had featured on one of our favourite British TV shows “A New Life in the Sun”. No I didn’t run over for an autograph or a selfie, you’ll be glad to hear. The rain clouds were looming so we took a few photos then ducked into a brasserie for a very pleasant lunch.

We explored a bit more after lunch but then the rain really came and we both got soaked so we decided to call it a day and headed back home.

This week the weather has perked up considerably and we have been weeding in the garden to the extent that we both got sunburnt. Rich decided we needed to explore the countryside a bit more so he researched some hiking routes (or randonnées) and off we went. I found it all a bit like a treasure hunt as we were spotting strange symbols and markings on trees and posts to help us decide which way to go.

We saw some beautiful countryside, chanced upon hidden châteaux and gorgeous meadows. We’ve racked up quite a few steps this week so that can’t be bad.

It’s officially autumn now and we have been here just over a month. I’ll leave you with these shots that Rich took from our hike:

À bientôt, bisous.