Late Start But Great Ride

 Today was the chilliest morning yet which meant a much later start time. The fog has to burn off since the hills did not come until later in the ride. Tough to stay warm in the flats even without any wind since cruising along at 12-15 miles per hour really impacts the wind chill factor. 

We headed across the river, past La Roque, then back to our side again a Vitrac. Opting for the longer shallower grade up to Domme was a good choice even though we covered the same climbing in twice the distance.  

Domme was our first destination although we road around the ramparts and along the plateau for several miles. 

There is an airstrip up there. We heard and saw several Cessna planes on final but missed the military jets that often buzz our place in Castlenaud. 

Our French is a bit sketchy but surmised that photographs are prohibited. Not much of a deterrence for Kim and it did not say you could not photograph the do not photograph sign. 

This shot was probably a "no no" with all the tracking antennas in the distance. We have been reading a detective series chronicling Bruno the Chief of Police in a small village in the Périgord. One book uses the military operations in the Domme area as a back for the story. Guess it is a real thing. 

About half way we rolled into a town where we thought we could find a Cafe and Boulangerie. First stop was to get a fresh pastry even though we brought one along the ride that Kim bought that morning. 

They were too good to pass up so the one we brought will be demoted to our evening pastry. 

A short walk across the parking lot get us to a lovely restaurant where coffee was available and sun drenched patio overlooking the entire valley. Great spot. 

This place was a real find so hopefully we will pass this way again before we leave the area. 

Since our route ran through Bouzic we knew we on course. 

Yup, can't go wrong on the  D52. The roads in this area wind up and around the fields and tree lined way. 

A old style road marker confirmed that we were where we thought we were, and glad to be here. The rest of the ride was along our well worn path home so we just ground out the last ten miles to end our ride at about 28 miles and 1400 feet of climbing. Enough to warrant a serious nap and plenty of time to do the laundry.