Cycling on my own for nine weeks in four different countries I've witnessed many things but just lately I've come to appreciate the power of good teamwork. This weekend I took a break at Le Perchoir de Paons, in Gindou, France and was impressed at how Susie and Mike (a husband and wife team) run their B&B and art workshops with the precision and planning of a Formula One race car pit crew. Except instead of changing the tyres and filling the tank, they're changing the wine glasses and refueling their guests with sumptuous four course meals. It's beautiful to watch and they obviously have a ball doing it. They invited me to be a part of their lives for a few days and I think their incredible partnership is a big part of why I felt so welcome and content there.

The journey from Marmande to Gindou turned out to be a challenging and undulating 110km cycle but I was lucky enough to join forces with Sarah, another solo cyclist from North Carolina. The relentless hills were much more bearable together since we had a common goal driving us… a cold beer at the end of it all! We laughed at the steep inclines instead of crying and giving in and made it to Gindou just on dusk, tired but together.

Some other surprisingly good combinations I encountered this weekend were of the edible variety. Melon seems to be one of those foods that provides the perfect base for a more flashy food counterpart. One of our starters we had was melon wrapped with prosciutto ham - separately these ingredients are nice enough but when combined the result is like fireworks in your mouth. Another mouthwatering combo was melon, halved with the centre scooped out and filled with port. Once again the combination of alcohol and soft ripe flesh had my taste buds giving standing ovations. (As you can see below, I enjoyed every last drop.)

But it wasn't all eating, we also did a lot of drawing. At first I was intimidated by the huge palette of chalk pastel colours but with encouraging guidance from Susie I realised it wasn't just about matching the colour to what your eye sees, it's about the relationship of those tones to the objects around them. By putting a mint green highlight next to a deep purple shadow all of a sudden my picture had zing and bounced off the page. Susie's approach to art is: Draw it, paint it, cook it, eat it so after each art session we ate a lot of the seasonal local produce that we had just drawn. If you're an art and food lover I can't recommend enough the fun you can have creating and consuming both visual and edible masterpieces at Le Perchoir des Paons.

My final experience of great teamwork for the weekend was on Sunday morning when I watched the All Blacks take the field in the Rugby World Cup quarter final. They had lost their star player, Dan Carter due to injury, a devastating blow for the team and (if you believe the press) it had shattered New Zealand's confidence in the team. They may have been a bit shaky to start but overall it was a solid, rallying performance with everyone lifting their game to fill the Carter void and progress to the semi final next weekend.

Whether it's at work, in a relationship, on the rugby field or on your dinner plate I think it's so important to find partnerships and combinations that complement each other. For me, that constant search and experimentation for new and exciting combos is what gives life that special sparkle.