Day 23 Brossac

We slept in until 8 am which was great.  Out of the blue we decided to go on an adventure with the push bikes, riding the six kilometres or so to a place called Blue Lagoons.  After finding two bikes that actually worked (maintenance had been pretty much non existent, obviously), we pushed on, up and down the hills to our destination.  Neil became pretty tired, and was relieved when we finally made it.  The colour of the lake we saw was a vivid blue.  We decided not to go up to the end of the track to the next one as we still had to get back for a trip in the car that afternoon.  Going back it was my turn to get tired.
After lunch we went with Paul and two of the students, Hugo and Patricia, to a village called Aubeterre sur Dronne, which recently won an award for being one of the most beautiful villages in France.  Of course the first thing that Neil and I did was have a beer at a restaurant.  The one we chose was the Sel et Sucre - nice, but like everything else there, was expensive.  It is a popular tourist town as it turns out.
We then visited the Saint Jacques twelfth century church and the underground Saint Jean church, carved under a castle into the hillside.  This is also twelfth century, and is an amazing place to explore, with its staircases cut into the stone and the many resting places for the dead.
Finally we all met up at the beach, part of the Dronne River, and a lot like Southbank back home.  I had a swim and it was sandy underfoot and really refreshing.  We then had wine/beer and watched the finals of the women's soccer, Holland vs USA, on the outdoor television.  There were a few Dutch people there, but the US won.
We arrived back in Brossac around 8 pm, totally exhausted.