Holiday gites in Poitou-Charentes
Two lovely self catering cottages with a swimming pool in South West France
Motorcycling in rural France
However you like to take your motorcycling, there’s much on offer around us in Vanzay. Whether you prefer lazy touring, or are a little more plus rapide, you’ll find much to enjoy.
If you’ve ridden your bike in France you will know just what a great experience this is. The French are motorcycle-friendly, perhaps reflecting their passion for cycling, and will almost always make way for, or room for, passing motorbikes. You’ll not experience the aggression that sadly is sometimes encountered on the roads in Britain. Indeed, many car, van and truck drivers often like to engage in a little racing, either trying to stay in front, or following behind. Mind you, never take on the gendarmes on their Yamaha FJR1300s……..😄
Of course, a key advantage is that there’s less traffic and the state of the roads is that much better. It’s not unusual to see only one or two vehicles on a ride out although you might come across a few tractors in the the French countryside. I can’t speak for the whole of France, but around here, whilst not always newly surfaced, the roads are also free from giant potholes that pose a danger, especially to those on two wheels.
What will you see on the roads?
Mostly “middleweight” bikes like Suzuki Bandit 600 or Honda Hornets. There used to be a 102bhp limit, hence the profusion of these bikes, but now you’ll see some full power sports bike around. And, of course, you’ll see (and hear) youngsters charging around on their 2-stroke small bore bikes. Mind you, I’m happy to see this, as it breeds a new generation of motorcyclist, and without them the biking fraternity would become just a bunch of folk like me out on a sunny afternoon!
There’s also some fine older machinery around, principally at displays and here are a pictures of just a few:
At the Circuits des Remparts, Angoulême
At the Chinon Classic
My bike: KTM 690Duke
The Duke is perfect for the roads around here: upright ride (for the more aged pilot), wide bars, top WP suspension and Brembo brakes. Weighing in at only 150Kg (at least until I get on it) and with 73bhp from the single cylinder LC3 motor, this is a truly great ride.
Why not ride over and get in on some motorbiking action – drop me a line here.
Classic Jaguars and a classic Citroën DS this summer
We are more used to hosting Citroën owners and enthusiasts and so we were delighted to have David and Jane bring their E-type to stay.
When David contacted us through our website I was quite looking forward to having a fellow Jaguar owner to stay. In fact, I was not disappointed. Firstly, both David and Jane are passionate about cars, Jags in particular, with a rich history of ownership, including and XK-140 and a MK2 340. As well as being a great source of technical and engineering advice they shared useful stories and experience of working on these cars.
These cars look superb from any angle! It’s interesting to see how the curves of the MK2 carry over to the E-type, arguably in a more beautiful form and how that enabled Jaguar to sell cars at a decent price. I guess the presses and tooling were already there.
The Jaguar MK2 has just had an Ignition 123 electronic distributor installed and the car is transformed. An unpredictable misfire had plagued the car for some time despite having a Lumenition electronic ignition installed – the only thing left to change was the distributor and it worked! There’s every reason to suspect that the outgoing Lucas unit was the original from 1961!
The Citroën DS and the Jaguar MK2 are both available for hire to our gîte guests. I am cautious about letting the Jag out, only because it drives like an historic car and so no power steering, no synchro on 1st gear …… a drive for an understanding enthusiast?
Citroën Car Club Trois Rivières 2024
Here at Gites in Charente we were proud to host the picnic stop for the Citroën Car Club Classic Challenge 2024 “Trois Rivières” on 30th September
Organised by the Club’s Phil Chidlow, the event included some 20 Citroëns, young and old, plus a BMW K1 motorcycle, itself a modern classic. Parking for this many vehicles was no problem in the large courtyard, with overflow parking in the garden behind. The support car was a BX estate, driven by another Phil (Boxall) stacked full of tools, fluids and spares to get any car out of trouble and back on the road. The picnic was served in La Grange where tea, coffee and Phil’s mock-tails were also available! Two groups decided to stay overnight in our gîtes, La Petite Maison and La Grange before joining the rest of the party in La Rochelle the following day. You can read their report of the event in the upcoming Citroënian club magazine. And of course, we were delighted to hear that a number of the event party want to make plans to return for a holiday here with us!
Some photos from the day:
What is a Café Gourmand?
We recently took some friends to Le Melkinn’s Brasserie in Couhé and had a long lunch under the arches of the old marketplace. Being somewhat replete after the first two courses there was the inevitable discussion about which of the delicious desserts we’d have (it being a shame not to at least try them!), whether we’d be sharing desserts or just having a coffee. It’s at just such a time that the Café Gourmand comes into its own.
So what exactly is a Café Gourmand? It’s a relatively ‘new’ phenomenon (since 1985 apparently) where you’re served an expresso along with a number of small ‘surprise’ desserts of different textures and flavours to have with your coffee.
Our friends chose to order a Café Gourmand between them. One had the coffee and they shared the ‘surprise’ mini-desserts. In this case it was a fresh raspberry sorbet, a slice of lemon cake, a crème brûlée and a small ice cream. Perfect.
So next time you’re having lunch in France why not try a Café Gourmand. And if you’re staying with us in Vanzay then we’d also recommend lunch or dinner at Le Melkinn’s Brasserie in Couhé, which is less than 15 minutes drive.
If you do visit La Melkinn’s for lunch we’d also recommend the ‘Circuit de La Dive’, a lovely woodland walk by the river which is just a few minutes walk from the restaurant.
Two Generations of Citroën DS Fans
Mum, dad, son and daughter-in-law hire the DS23ie
Rich and his wife had booked to stay over the Circuit des Remparts weekend along with his parents. All of them are classic car and bike enthusiasts and so we spent a most enjoyable day driving around the Charente countryside, swapping passengers so everybody had a ride in each car.
We were so pleased to receive an email from Rich after getting back to England saying how much his dad had enjoyed the drive out and what a memorable stay they had. Very charming and well appreciated – thanks!
Holiday gites in Poitou-Charentes 
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