Last post at Sword Beach

Yes, we were woken early by the market setting up.  It was about 6.10am.  The good news was that the stalls were set up across the road and not immediately next to us but there was no chance of sleep as they were parking their vans around us after they set up.  By 7am we had had breakfast and were on the road north.

We skirted Le Mans and were tickled to find it was twinned with Bolton.  We wondered which aspect of Bolton was considered to be similar to Le Mans.  Maybe it was the  Bolton 24 hour flat cap and whippet race that sealed the twinning process!

Our coffee stop was at a town called Argentan, between Allencon and Caen.  It was pleasant enough. The church was bombed by the allies in 1944 and has been rebuilt....

It looked a bit frayed at the edges but was quite a large imposing church all the same.

Lunch was at an aire de camping at Caen.  

I managed to follow French convention in my cheese cutting!  Janice broke all the rules and cut the point straight across.....such a disgrace!

We didn't fancy Caen much for staying and Janice had the inspired idea to stay somewhere on the coast.  We picked Lion-sur-Mer west of the port of Ouistreham (sounds more Dutch than French).  Our final destination is a car park overlooking the sea and what was known as Sword Beach in the D Day landings in June 1944.  

This view is immediately outside our camper van, next to a promenade that goes to Ouistreham. We are enjoying our last day of French sunshine.

We cycled both ways along the coast seeing several memorials to the Second World War Beach landings at Sword and Juno Beaches.  We read how Scots Piper, Bill Millin, piped the Commandos ashore.  Stirring stuff.

Back at the van we set about eating all the stuff we had left over.  We will actually have one more night in the UK as we travel up.  Whilst writing the blog about Bolton, the thought prompted me to play some Lancashire Hotpots songs.  Janice and I have actually been to one of their concerts.  I say this because I know some of you will be thinking, 'poor girl', being forced to listen to this stuff.  Anyway, we listened to some of their classic songs like, 'He's turned EMO', 'Keys, Wallet, Phone' and 'Chippy Tea'.... such classics!

We have another early start to get the ferry but we are certainly set for home.  We have had another great adventure.  We hope you have enjoyed the blog and look forward to seeing you all soon.

You thought I had forgotten the sneezing contest.  Well I haven't.  It is another resounding series victory for me by 13 - 9.

Sins of La Flèche.

Having decided to move north and catch the ferry at Caen on Thursday morning we needed to cover some distance today.  We were on the road by 8am and headed toward a town north of the Loire called La Flèche.  We knew the weather was going to turn today and we had some brief showers but it was mainly mild and grey.  Not bad for travelling.

This first stop on our route was at Montreuil Bellay.  It is a place I have been before and liked.  There was a little food market with just one stall for each of the things you might want.  One for vegetables, one for fruit, one for meat, cheese etc.  We managed to have a church fix whilst we were there and the beauty of the camper van is that we could park up and make lunch, which today comprised of ham  sandwich with lettuce, tomato and celeri remoulade on ciabatta....lovely.

In the afternoon we stopped at a place called Bauge and utilised the wifi at the tourist office.  The chateau looked very nice too.

Janice's sunglasses have now been 'officially' put away, it could be the last time you see them this year.  I think that means that the weather is going to be dodgy from now on and winter is nigh!

Here is Janice's knight in shining armour.

Our overnight stay is at La Flèche and it involves an element of risk.  The market is on a Wednesday morning and is on the camping car parking area, so we risk being rudely awoken tomorrow morning.

We had a chat about our French language skills whilst we were travelling and lamented that they were still pretty poor.  We have been listening to a CD by someone called Michel Thomas and consulting our small English/French and French/English dictionary.

What we have learned from Michel Thomas is that our pronunciation needs to be better.  He teaches a very aggressive  sounding 'g' which has a very growly sound, so when a shopkeeper asks if they can help, we say 'je regarde simplement' which means 'I'm just looking' but we end up saying it very loud with a growly g and it sounds really frightening.  Anyway I am sure the pronunciation is good.  We are also looking for an opportunity to ask about the political and economic situation 'en France' because we have learned how to say it but we are too frightened  about what the response may be!  We have managed to master the international body language of the teenage moped rider...it seems to be the 'middle finger' salute!

Whilst on this subject I am amazed by some of the phrases given in our French/English dictionary and particularly the suggested phonetic way the French should say them.  I thought a little test would be in order to see if anyone could actually recognise the English phrase from the French phonetics, so here goes.....

Exkiouz mi

Slo-eur pliiz 

Tchiirz 

Ou-enn doz the trenn tou braitten liiv?

Answers on a postcard please.

Changed plan again!

I have some bad news today about a close friend who has passed away.  I won't go into detail but needless to say I was very upset.

So, there may be a lack of humour in this edition of the blog.

We drove through some lovely autumnal countryside to get to Bergerac.  It's a place Janice and I had fond memories of because we cycled there two years ago from Bordeaux.  We even drove past the small chateau that we stayed in.

Don't know what that rectangle is doing above my head.

Another Cyrano statue!

I decided to change our ferry booking and brought it forward to next Thursday.  We started to travel north and stayed overnight north of Angouleme.

On the bright side, we managed to buy, connect and cook with a French gas cylinder.

Gave a toast to my friend with some Bushmills Irish Whiskey that we had in the van but hadn't opened yet.

Not seen much of Canada.

I tested Janice's cycling legs again today going straight uphill for 2 miles without respite to get to the top of the Dordogne cliffs.  She was definitely up to the task.  Sorry to have to mention again that the weather is getting better.  You will see from the photos later that the sun was present at all times and the sunshine was matched by real heat today.  The countryside on the hilltops as we cycled to Sarlat le Caneda was superb and the houses were lovely.

Sarlat le Caneda is two towns that have joined.  We never even went to the Caneda bit because the Sarlat part is the renowned tourist town with a beautiful Medieval town centre.  We didn't know what to expect, so we will let a few pictures illustrate it for you.

We pushed the boat out with a menu de jour at a restaurant in the square.  It's only our second meal out whilst we have been in France.  I was a bit concerned about getting sunburnt but we had a two hour lunch that we thoroughly enjoyed.  We had a foie gras starter.  I know I mentioned it yesterday but I have a suspicion that Janice is force feeding me in a similar way to the way ducks and geese are force fed corn to enlarge their livers.  I researched foie gras and found that ducks are fed twice a day for12 days and killed after 100 days, whilst geese are fed three times a day for 17 days and killed after 112 days.  I think I must be a goose but I'm keeping a count on the number of days we've been in France.  Janice denies it all and says that I am force feeding myself as normal!

Anyway time for a bit of long awaited food art....

I welcome any suggestions for a title for this rare piece of art.

Our main course was duck and garlic sautéed potatoes and finally we had a walnut gateau with creme anglais.

After another walk around the town we cycled back mid afternoon.

Another view in the town.  I had a little lie down in the sun at this spot.

Back to the site and we did more sunbathing and even had a paddle in the Dordogne wearing 'le flip flops'!

What about that for our view, fantastic.  

As I am writing this the darkness is creeping upon us and I remember that the clocks went back last night and the nights are earlier.  Never mind we are nice and cosy in the van.

Propane or Methane!

Once we got going we continued to try to solve the French gas connection problem.  We had decided to go to a site with electricity tonight so that we could conserve our meagre gas supplies.  We called at a supermarket garage and asked a member of staff and all he could do was suggest a bigger supermarket in the next big town.  We followed his advice and tried a Hyper U but they had almost nothing in the gas supply department.  I can generally generate more gas on my own than they in store, especially since Janice is force feeding me with foie gras that is a speciality in this area. It's normally the ducks that get force fed!

However, we had a breakthrough (I think) because we saw a camper van sales place and we popped in.  The French man took a look and went straight for a new pipe connection.  We unscrewed one of my pipes and connected his.  It should fit the French propane gas bottles and will work with my regulator.  Hurray, but we haven't tested it yet as we haven't passed a garage selling gas since.

We programmed the sat nav for the camping car parking site that has an automated barrier where you pay with a card and get electric and wifi as well as the normal water and waste disposal.  The weather was warmer than usual and as we travelled the colour of the stone buildings became a lovely warm honey shade that made us feel warm too.

We wanted to visit the Sarlat la Caneda area of the Dordogne region because people seem to mention it's a beautiful town but we know it is seriously busy with tourists.  My logic is that October might be a good time to visit when it is a bit quieter than the summer.  Today we actually skirted to the south of the town to get to the site.  After a bit of a country detour we got to the site and hooked up to electricity with pleasure and the site is well placed next to the Dordogne and.close to a pretty village built into the cliff called La Roque Gageac.  We have paid for two nights and decided that we would do a nice bike ride near the river today and tomorrow we will cycle to Sarlat.

This is La Roque Gigeac.

Home for a couple of nights.

A couple of years ago we had a 4 day cycle expedition along part of the Dordogne but we didn't get this far.  The highlights of today's ride was Castelnaud la Chapelle...

The Castel on the hill and the bridge over the river.

But the best was the small ancient town of Domme at the top of a hill overlooking the whole valley.  It is very well preserved and has large parts of its old walls intact.  Apparently the Knights Templars were captured here in the12th century by the French King of the time and placed in a prison in one of the towers of the town.  The long uphill cycle to the town was really worthwhile and the views were great.

Here is the view and....

here's some of the town.

The whole area is beautiful, especially with the autumnal colours of the leaves.  

Oh, and I should mention that Burnley beat Blackburn today, it's always sweet.  I hope some Blackburn fans are reading!

Chicken curry for evening meal, followed by sticky toffee pudding (with prunes, apricots and nuts - who needs propane when we have methane!) made by Wendy V.  Lovely.

Normal service resumed.

After yesterday's day of drizzle we got back to normal sunshine today.  The morning was a bit grey but the afternoon turned out lovely with warm sun and blue sky.  We left Tim in the morning and thanked him for his kind hospitality.  Whilst at Tim's we used the internet to book our return ferry.  We have chosen to come back on Mon 2nd November so that I can make preparations for selling my house.  I still have fingers crossed that it will all go through ok but we are still waiting for a survey and I don't want to get too confident till that is completed.

Whilst travelling we came across the 'route de Richard Coeur de Lion' or the route of Richard the Lionheart, the area has obviously been a stomping ground of the English for a long time.

We picked up some shopping at a supermarket and arrived at our destination by lunchtime.  Tim had recommended a pretty town called Brantome.  It is north of Perigueux and it is a town whose centre is on an island in the river La Cole.

It also happened to be market day....

We thought we might treat ourselves to Coq au van tonight.  Please excuse the spelling mistake!

It is a very pretty place but only takes about 10 minutes to get around. We didn't mind taking the day slowly and we sat out in the sun reading our books.

We actually stayed on a camping car area that we had to pay for, it was 6 euros.  It's the first time since we arrived in France that we have paid for our overnight stops.  I didn't mind too much as it is a nice location on a flat hard surface near the town and river.

I'm still unsure about the continental gas connection issue so we are being frugal with our heating system and may actually go to a site with electricity tomorrow!  I am wrapping Janice in a blanket as we speak (metaphorically).

We have been consuming less calories today.  I only had one coffee cream eclair this afternoon and we had a salad for tea but more importantly...no alcohol!  Tim was definitely too hospitable in that department.

Today's quote is from G K Chesterton and is as follows:- "I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite".  I'm not sure if I am really recommending this quote to anyone but I like the general concept!

Little House on the Prairie.

More sunshine all day and quite warm too.  We did our physical jerks before setting off to Tim's house which is near a town called Cussac between Angloueme and Limoges.  Tim is an ex-cop who worked at Kendal.  We have visited about two years ago and knew what to expect.  It is a wooden chalet style house with a couple of fields and a large area of woodland with a lake.  It is complete peace and quiet and Tim enjoys the 'good life'.  He chops his own wood and has a few fruit trees and keeps hens.

Here is Tim and Janice at the Little (Big) House on the Prairie.  What a house, it's amazing.

This is Tim's lake.

We picked sweet chestnuts from the ground and cooked them and ate them as an aperro.  Tim warned us that they had a particularly smelly side/after effect but we won't dwell on that!

We had a lovely meal and plenty of drinks.  Of course we took full advantage of wifi and his washing machine.  I want to scotch the rumour that we only visit people to use their facilities!!  Well at least that's what we tell people when we arrive.

The next day (Thursday) we actually had drizzly rain for most of the day.  So we stayed put for the morning.  I was amazed by Tim's coffee grinding technique.  He has a wall mounted coffee grinder and instead of using the grinder handle he connects his cordless drill and got the job done in double quick time.

In the afternoon we went for a walk into Cussac and went looking at the supermarket at propane gas and the necessary connectors and regulators.  It's all a bit confusing because I'm still unsure what I might need to connect up to continental gas bottles.  I was so sad that I took pictures of gas bottle nozzles and regulators!

Here's a good photo of a gas bottle.  In case you were interested, the problem is because of the external screw thread when I need an internal screw!!

Tim has invited some friends around for a meal so it will be more of the good food and drinks.tonight.

No breakdown...thank goodness.

For a change we didn't spend half the day waiting in a Fiat garage.  We didn't have a problem with the vehicle but I hope I am not speaking too soon.

I have missed one thing from the weekend, it's of key importance and is an example of how one small thing has a larger consequence.  Well, on Saturday Janice cut my hair and as a consequence I got chilly and wore long trousers for the next three days.  You will be pleased to know that I feel fully recovered and I am back in shorts today.

We found a Decathlon store just outside Niort and couldn't resist going to have a look.  It's my favourite store and if you've never heard of them they do sports clothing and equipment.

We should be paid for advertising the store.  Those gymnastic lessons were not wasted.

I didn't specifically go to buy anything but managed to buy a load of stuff including a puffer jacket, warm soft shell trousers, a T shirt, shorts, socks and a new magnet for my bike speedo.

Our destination for the night was a small town called Civray.  It makes me laugh that the people of the area are called Civraisiens.  I imagine them looking like raisins, well it amused me.

As you would expect the church was of particular note.

I had to mend a puncture for Janice before we set off on a ride into the countryside which was superb, it was a nice mix of rough tracks and quiet country roads with good ups and downs.  The sun is still shining, it's great.

Our camping location is in a town centre car park next to a park area adjacent to the river Charente.

Couldn't be better.  This is definitely 'what's what' if you ask me.  We love finding little places we have never heard of and finding out they are so good.

Three in one.

I'm just trying to catch up on the blog for the time we have been at David and Wendy's.  Their broadband is down so we haven't had the wifi we expected.  In this episode I am catching up on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (17/18/19 Oct).

Saturday was a pretty quiet day.  We bought bread in the morning and went for a nice cycle ride in the afternoon before watching World Cup Rugby and eating a lovely paella made by David.

On Sunday we had a visit to St Giles Crois de Vie, which is a beautiful seaside harbour and beach town.  We visited the market and bought a dozen oysters for our evening meal starters.

Then went onto the promenade for a picnic.  The sun continues to shine on us.  

Me and my tart!  Apple tart to be precise.......in the box.

The wind was cool but we managed to get a sheltered place for our butties.  Then we went for a longer walk, along the Corniche from St Hilaire de Riez with a nice cafe stop for hot chocolate.

What a beach.  It got quite warm later in the afternoon but I wasn't persuaded to go for a swim.

Back at Apremont, Janice and I had a little walk cause we thought it was about time we took a photo of the chateau.

By coincidence Janice and family had visited this chateau in 1992.

We watched more rugby on television when we got back and Scotland were cruelly beaten by Australia because of a very controversial penalty to the Aussies in the last couple of minutes.  Janice is, of course, a strong Scotland supporter being allegedly Scottish as she is!

We had a lovely meal with super oyster starters and a pork, rice and salad main course, followed by a sticky toffee pudding.  David and Wendy have been such wonderful hosts.  However, they didn't let us win in the following game of.....Boggle.  I had the longest list of words but unfortunately I didn't abide by the rules because my letters weren't linked.  How was I supposed to know!

Monday was our day to move on.  We said our fond farewells and set off in the general direction of Niort.  By lunchtime we had left La Roche sur Yon and had the same vehicle problem again as we had on Thursday!!!

Back to a Fiat service centre at La Roche.  We called D&W and they came out to translate for us.  This time an electrical connector was replaced and we paid even more than last time before we were on the road again at about 4.30pm.  I hope this is the end of the problem.  We parted with D&W again.

My stomach wouldn't let me travel any further without food so we stopped overnight at a fairly non- descript aire de camping in Benet, near to Niort.

Taking Meccano to the next level.

We are still having sunny days, we can't believe it.  We didn't have much time to recover from a large meal last night because we were going out for a mammoth meal at lunchtime.

View in D&W's back garden.

David and Wendy have taken me to this Routier restaurant before, so I knew exactly what to expect.  It is tucked away at the top of an industrial estate and is completely full with around 100 people mainly lorry drivers and Sapier Pompiers (firemen).

The price is a flat rate of 12 euro per person.  That includes a buffet starter, main course, cheese course, sweets, coffee and wine.  The buffet starter is superb.  You can fill a plate and go back for seconds.  We had a spare rib main course that was really tender and tasty and we got plenty of it.  I had three sweets, a chocolate mousse, an apple cake with caramel sauce and a pineapple flan.  I was stuffed.

We went into La Roche sur Yon which used to be called Napoleon.  Here is a picture of the man himself.  The quote of the day is from the man himself, "Courage is like love, it must have hope for nourishment".

The church is superb too.

Many of you will remember seeing the large mechanical models that paraded around Liverpool.  Apparently the company that make them is based in Nantes and they have constructed a series of mechanical animals in the city square....

Here is a camel (on the left in case you were unsure).  You could actually use controls to move the animals.

Here is one of the control panels.  There were mechanical hippos, otters, flamingoes and crocs...

This one opened its mouth and sprayed out water....

This was Janice when she was totally surprised by the crocodile spray.

We couldn't manage much to eat for the rest of the day but we did manage some cheese later.  Wendy told us about French cheese etiquette.  Apparently when there is a piece of triangular cheese, like Brie for instance, you shouldn't cut off the pointy end.  You should always cut it at an angle so there is always a point.  Well that's something we never knew.

Before bed we had a game of dominoes....we are so 'on trend'.

Kangaroo diesel.

Today was the day we were heading to David and Wendy.  The day started strangely at 9am when we were suddenly surrounded by about 30 French middle aged people who blocked our van in by parking their cars around us.  Then the congregated in the nearby shelter and got out bread, croissants and drinks. It all seemed quite amicable.  They hung around chatting for an hour and then started drifting away.  We still aren't too sure what it was all about.  We wondered if they were a walking group assembling before a walk but to look at the shape of some of them I don't think they had much walking in them!  I considered that they might be a troglodyte reunion group as none were very tall!  We may never know.

We intended to get to David and Wendy mid afternoon so there was no rush.  We popped into a supermarket to find some lunch and we refuelled.  I know you have read the title and I know what you might be thinking.....that I put in the wrong fuel.  Well I didn't.

We set off from Saumur and on the outskirts I saw a warning light on the dashboard that told me that there was a problem with the diesel pump system and the engine started stuttering.  Oh dear!  I looked in my vehicle handbook for a list of French Fiat dealers and saw one listed in Saumur.  However, the sat nav didn't recognise the address and as it happened the dealer listed no longer existed.  We didn't have any internet to check our other options but we went to a Toyota dealer to ask if they knew where the Fiat dealer was now.  Of course, it was lunchtime and all garages were shut for lunch.  We now had to wait for 2pm before anywhere reopened.  About 1.40pm an elderly man pulled up in his car and I thought I would ask him. He looked horrified when I asked him if he could speak English but I asked in 'pigeon French' where the Fiat dealer was and he confidently told me to turn 'a droit, une kilometre'.  It took us two attempts to find it and we doubted his advice but he turned out to be correct because it was an Iveco truck dealer but it also had the Fiat contract too and it was just where he said.

It is a well known fact that French mechanics never speak any English either but we managed conveying the problem and to our relief the boss started to check the van straight away.  It took a while before he could get his diagnostic computer connecting to the van but when he did he realised that the problem was an electrical connection to the diesel injectors and they took it apart, squirted it with, WD40 and put it back together and 'hey presto' it was working perfectly.  Fantastic.  That was the most expensive squirt of WD40 in history, it cost us 146 euros!!  It sounds a lot but it was the price for 1 hours work with the diagnostics and tax!

We managed to get to David and Wendy by 7pm and it was lovely to see them.  We had a lovely meal and a drink or two!  Sorry no photos today.  We were preoccupied with the van breakdown.

Look out for oxymoron troglodytes!

It has been very cool today despite bright sunshine.  We can almost see the leaves turning brown before our eyes.  Never mind because the scenery is stunning.

We are staying put at Turquant so we don't need to get moving early.  Turquant is quite an interesting place.  It was originally a village of troglodyte dwelling (that's cave dwellers if you didn't know).  The local stone is called 'tufa' and its a pale white colour.  Many of the houses are built partially into the rock.  There is only one general store, which is currently closed till Friday, one restaurant, that is closed on a Wednesday and about twelve 'vignerons' or wine producers.  The town is also known for its Pommes Tapees, a local dryed apple speciality made by apple tappers.  It made me think that there may be an 'Apple Tappers and Shunters Social Club nearby.  This is a reference to a TV comedy programme of many years ago that was done in a working men's club called the Wheeltappers and Shunters is seems an age ago with a compere with a flat cap who chain smoked and the jokes were very non PC!

We are about 5 miles from Saumur as the crow flies but we followed a country road through the vineyards.  I'm not sure how long ago they harvested the grapes but in places we could see the splash of grape juice on the road and occasionally could smell the grape juice.....quite nice!

It was gorgeous cycling through the fields on dirt tracks and small roads to Saumur.

Our descent into Saumur was stunning too.

It must be chateau scaffolding season but still worth the effort.

We arrived into the town at lunchtime and as you would expect it was quiet.  We did find a boulangerie and patisserie that had some tables for eating inside and managed a slice of pizza and a scrummy pastry.

We cycled back a different way and found another nice church with an Italian feel...

...and found some caves open to the public.  We actually cycled through the caves.

Janice has provided today's quote, it is "procrastinate now".  It was a phrase that was used by a school teacher of hers, called Mr Boumphrey (he must have had lots of problems but I'm not going there)! According to Janice the quote is an oxymoron! because procrastination can't be done now.  It was something that Mr Boumphrey chuckled at but the pupils didn't have a clue why.  At least Janice remembered it and seems to understand the silliness of it, so her education wasnt wasted on her.  Maybe tomorrow we need to consider the meaning of 'oxymoron' and whether it is acceptable to shout it at people you dislike?

Tomorrow we travel to visit my brother, David and his wife, Wendy at Apremont in the Vendee region.  I have spoken to Wendy on the phone and the good news is that they have stocked up with food and drink so that sounds good to me!  They are currently having a broadband issue but hoping that it is all back online tomorrow.

Laurel and Hardy.

Yesterday I mentioned that I had bought a three way connection for the hose so we could fill up with water.  This morning we tried it out because we needed water before setting off to our next destination (wherever that may be).

I connected the connector to the dispenser and connected my long hose to one end of the connector and I was ready to put my finger over the remaining end to stop the water coming out.  I then popped in my 2 euro coin and immediately the water came out with a ferocity that I wasn't ready for.  The water spurted out from my finger and then it blew the hose pipe off the connector.  Janice came to my aid with our second, shorter, hose pipe but it had the wrong end on it.  Eventually we attached both hoses with a great deal of spray and panick.  It would have made a fantastic scene for a Laurel and Hardy comedy.  I would probably be the pompous Oliver Hardy giving instructions to the hapless Janice as Stan Laurel!  I'm not sure that she will like this comparison?

With a full water tank, we set off.  I thought we would stay near Saumur on the proper La Loire river with a lunchtime stop at Azay-le-Rideau where there is a nice chateau.  On route we saw a road sign saying, 'Deviation Orgie', we followed for some time but didn't get so much as a bit of slap and tickle!  Oh, I forgot to mention that we did our first bit of French supermarket shopping and stocked up with salads, fruits, cheeses and other nice things you don't see back home.  It's always a treat to shop en France.

I have been to Azay-le-Rideau before when Rebekah was small.  Some Japanese tourists accosted us and wanted a photo with Rebekah because she was cute with striking red hair.  The town is lovely but the chateau was being renovated and had some scaffolding up.  I suppose they need to do it sometime.

Here's Janice at the chateau gate.

This is the new look for Autumn.  Sunglasses and flat cap, everyone is wearing them in France, it is 'de rigeur'!

We found an aire de camping-car site that has gone high tech.  You can pay on entry, about 10 euros and you get a mini site that has electric, water, waste disposal and wifi.  I was very impressed but didn't stay, as we had decided to stay nearer Saumur.  We need some of these places in the UK.

We stopped at Chinon in the afternoon and then stopped overnight at an 'aire' at Turquant, about 5 miles from Saumur but about 200 yards from the Loire.  This area is on my Eurovelo 6 cycle route.  My brother, David, was with me at this point 3 years ago.  We had stopped at Turquant because of a torrential downpour and stood under a shelter till it eased off.  Whilst under the shelter we were joined by a group of French school kids on a school trip.  David spoke to the teacher and was asked to explain the cycle adventure we were on.  We had a group photo for my blog of the time.  Our camper van is parked next to the very same shelter.

Look at those bright trainers, aren't they bobby dazzlers!

Janice is singing 'Little Ole Wine Drinker Me' by Dean Martin.  I should mention that Janice pinched a bunch of grapes from a vine near the road to accompany our cheese later.  In her mitigation they were small grapes and they had pips in.  They probably had missed their optimum picking time, so she was doing everyone a favour.

First photo of the Loire as the sun goes down.  What a great spot.  Hope you aren't jealous!