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!
Our descent into Saumur was stunning too.
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.
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