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!