So, a few weeks in France...

I guess that its being 850 miles away from Exeter is both a benefit and a drawback of Les Liotards. Of course the big plus is that it's considerably closer to Mediterranean weather than Atlantic weather, but the unavoidable minus is that you need to travel the miles to get there.

Well, it's not a difficult drive by car, if shared with at least one other driver, and this time I went with Alan Wesson, though having an enormous trailer on the back, full of accumulated possessions, slowed the journey to a sedate 60mph, and a total journey time of 24 hours. Still, at least I had a month to recover.

Anyway, on arrival, the house was still there. And the weather was doing as promised: 35C. And so to the important business. No, not doing stuff in the house ... riding the bike! The first ride just had to be one of the favourite little loops: up the Quint valley, over the Col de Marignac, and back home via Die. It was as beautiful and fun as ever. Somehow, Devon seems a long way away.