Weekend cycling adventure: bubbles and wine

Once you’ve enjoyed your fill of cartoons in Angoulême, including on its giant painted walls, time to pick up the thread of the Scandibérique again. The route crosses the city peacefully via the Coulée Verte beside the Charente, which you continue to follow, the river’s banks dotted with little ports and locks, the slopes above producing cognac and pineau. Châteauneuf-sur-Charente is well worth a halt, one of the historic ports for transporting cognac, a spirit known around the world since 1700, and a leading French export today. The final stretch of this first stage connecting two renowned viticultural areas, the Charente and the Bordelais, continues through vineyards to Barbezieux-St-Hilaire.

This Scandibérique stage leads via the county of Charente’s vineyards on to forests typical of the neighbouring county of Charente-Maritime and continues to the border between the historic areas of the Saintonge and the Périgord. Cruise easily along the Galope Chopine Greenway from Barbezieux St-Hilaire to Clérac, the way increasingly wooded. The medieval Château de Montguyon, an imposing fort ravaged by time, offers a tempting reason to deviate slightly from the Haute-Saintonge greenway. Just a few arrows’ lengths further on, cycling into the heart of the Double Saintongeaise Forest (40,000 hectares of woods stretching between Montguyon, Montlieu la Garde and Montendre) you reach Clérac. This stage provides plenty of invigorating country air!

Clérac offers a haven of peace, nestled in its green wooded corner at the southern edge of the Saintonge area. The Scandibérique then leads you into the Bordelais area. At first, up to Guîtres, as well as the green of the pines, the bright white of former kaolin clay mines stands out, while the lakes that have formed in these pits reflect the deep blue of the sky. Next, the scenery changes, as you cycle beside the Isle River, the slopes covered with world-famous vineyards as you approach Libourne, an historic port at the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne Rivers. By now, the feel is very southern!