Road trip - day 24 - Monday

Had a good night sleep, apart from the pervading smell of damp ;) Febreezed today!!!

Very chilly today but still braved breakfast outside. Moses the dog visited us & the goat had a head butting session before spending some time on his upturned log. Told Wendy about the damp smells .... air fresheners are coming! They have had a leak & redecorated and we are the first people in for the season. Wendy invited us for aperitifs tomorrow evening, can talk about Gite buying with them?? Seems Nigel has a sideline in doing up gites as a small business.

Sorted out money, after paying for the pizza last night on my travel cash card it looked like I only had 65cents left - talk about cutting it fine! Transferred cash from FD account - certainly a lot cheaper to use the travel cash card than the bank card!!

Headed to Richelieu for the market; heard a cuckoo & spotted it at the top of the trees on our way out.

Market is small, button stalls aplenty though!! Not a food market, just household. Had a coffee in the brasserie, sat outside & even I was cold!!! G says the accent around here is very odd, I can hear the words are drawn out .... G says it sounds Polish!!

From Richelieu we headed to Chinon & the fortress. Recently restored & set high above the medieval town. We went through the ticket office & saw the Knights Templar expo before heading into the fortress. The heavens opened!! No coat, no umbrella - G sheltered under a tree & I spent 10mins under an arbour with some French people eating their sandwiches ;) Once it eased off we spent the rest of the shower under cover at the cafe! Hot chocolate & a very passable sandwich! The visitor guide was outstanding, scan & hear interesting facts in the language the visitor book is published in. In the restored Royal Appartments the audio visual films were brilliant. Outside so many photo opportunities!!! Spent 4 hours there - says a lot!!

Took the glass lift down to the medieval town, first stop - a bar! Walked around a bit but it's Monday & nothing is open .... so another bar it is!!

SuperU shopping next just for the basics.

Back at the Gite Wendy delivered the air fresheners before they went out to a local 'do'. We had the site to ourselves so sat outside under the central communal covered table, phoned mum & dad & caught up with the outside world. We had omelette for tea, with complimentary eggs from Mrs Chicken the hen. Asparagus for starter & strawberries, meringue & almond biscuits for pud. Really really chilly so retired indoors.

No TV in this Gite so read for a while before bed. Had the heaters on to take the edge of the damp & the cold.