Thursday, August 15, 2013

Saturday 27th July- Cognac and on to Perigeaux

Overnight there had been a very bad storm, not that Noel was aware, with thunder and lightning and strong winds which were most evident on our drive alongside the river to Cognac. There were hoards of trees blown down, crops damaged and electric wires down and so we started to worry a little about our caravan but nobody had called us and so we hoped it would be fine.
We arrived in Cognac and wandered around the town and visited the central market and also the store which shows off the choice of cognac available in the region with some bottles being rather expensive !!!.
We then took the country route to Perigeaux passing many small towns which had also been affected by the bad storm and at around lunchtime came across a new Auchan store where John and Denise purchased a new bag and we gor some really cheap fuel, presumably because the store was new and they wanted to attract customers. At the petrol station was a Brit in a very old French car and we started talking and he had been the last night in Cognac listening to a very old historic pop group of the 60’s era.
Our journey continued through fields of sunflowers which seemed to go on for miles with lots of lovely towns and fantastic churches and really great views, Jennifer really exceeded herself here with her map reading skills.
We arrived in Perigaux and the Hotel was pretty much as expected, a bit old and in need of a good upgrade but it had nice views over the lake and was not so expensive compared to some in the town. Rather than drive in to the centre of town and perhaps have trouble parking whilst always being aware of drink and drive laws, we took a taxi. The old town is really very attractive and although we could not get in the Cathedral the old walled city is something to behold. We found a good Italian restaurant and had an excellent meal and then continued our walking around the old town and in to one of the many squares with restaurants reasonably busy, but not as busy as expected for this time of year.

With a taxi back to the Hotel we all needed a good rest.