The Gartempe runs right through the middle of Montmorillon, and the town has grown up on both its banks, linked by old bridges, with mills, gardens and steep lanes stepping down to the water. It is a small, quiet market town in the southeast of the Vienne department, surrounded by woods, pastures and the rolling country that leads toward the Limousin.
Montmorillon calls itself the city of writing and books. In the medieval quarter on the left bank, the old streets have been filled with bookshops, bookbinders, calligraphers and artisans working with paper and printing, and wandering among them is a quiet pleasure. The town's other speciality is sweet: the macaron de Montmorillon, an almond biscuit made to a recipe said to go back centuries, which you can buy in the town and even learn about in a small museum. Above the river stands the Maison-Dieu, a medieval hospital complex with an unusual octagonal chapel.
The wider area has some fine sights. The abbey church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, with its famous Romanesque wall paintings, lies downstream to the north, and the Gartempe valley offers lovely roads and walks, with cliffs, woods and rapids. Lussac-les-Châteaux, to the west, has a prehistoric cave where engraved stones were found, and the area around it is dotted with ponds and woods.
The riding is easygoing and pleasant. The roads around Montmorillon wind through the river valleys and over low plateaus, with gentle bends, good surfaces and very little traffic. It is a peaceful region, far from the motorways, and the roads invite a relaxed pace. The valley roads can be cool and damp in the morning, especially in autumn, when mist lies over the river.
Montmorillon has fuel, supermarkets, cafés and restaurants, so it makes a convenient break. Local food includes goat's cheeses, lamb and the famous macarons, as well as wines from the nearby Haut-Poitou. For a pause, park near the river, walk across the old bridge into the book quarter and take a coffee on a terrace, with the sound of the water below and the smell of old paper in the air.