We were ready to leave the Medoc gite! It's a beautiful and varied region, but the weather was pretty bad and unpredictable, leading to little cycling; and we wasted a lot of time looking for open restaurants that just weren't there at this time of year. We held our breath as we checked out and the electricity meter was checked - but we only had to pay an extra 12 euros!
We planned a route towards Penny & George that would follow the Charente from Saintes to Angouleme, taking us through Cognac itself. Clear but cold weather to start off with - and then rain! Ruth significantly drove for a couple of hours - during which there was hail - a lot of it! In Chateauneuf-sur-Charente we stopped and went into a striking fin-de-siecle bar where we saw our first contravention of the smoking ban (times 4 in this case) and no sign of a 68 euro fine! (converted from 500 Francs??) We watch this with interest!
Shortly before we got to Le Queroy we went to Chasseneuil where there is the National Monument to the Resistance. Very grand - it was built with funds held when the war ended and has 2,500 graves! The two sculpted facades show civil and military resistance. (A few days later P&G showed us the camp where deportees of the department were assembled before despatch.. thought-provoking!)