Shortly after being spooked by the game bird we turned hard left towards Montrichard and came across this chilling sight. John Wyndham could well have had similar inspiration for his Triffids and we were quite relieved that the sinister figures in military formation were transfixed and incapable of pursuing us. We would have pedalled like never before if they had started to move.
Soon we came to Thenay, and almost straight away came across an archway by the church which seemed to beckon us through it. We were not disappointed as once through we were in the church square and in front of us was a Relais offering good value lunches. A group of a dozen French cyclists had beaten us to it and were tucking in to their first courses, which gave us the confidence to lock up the bikes and ask for a table to be brought outside in the shade. There was a buffet for Starter or Main course, Sylvia chose the latter. I had the Plat du Jour Formule 1 which was Chicken with Lemon Olives and Cous Cous. The Entrées were an interesting mix of rillette, frappé of carrots and other charcuterie. The meal was homely and sustaining and just what we needed to stoke us up for the journey ahead. We washed it down with a demi carafe of the house red. We were at one with the world. From the wall behind Syl three of the fab four looked down over our table from a rather careworn poster. Poor George had been ripped off. We took our time as artisan drivers on their lunch break came and went. We dallied over the coffee before stirring ourselves to move on towards Montrichard, which now looked within our range as it was not too far away, and as it turned out, most of the next part of the journey was downhill.
If you are wondering why the Relais looks closed in the middle picture it was - I took the photo on the way back.
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