Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
There is a glow in the sky as the sun rises through the semi naked willow. A tiny wren flits around the wheels of an ancient rusting seed drill placed under it for decoration.
We leave in sunshine, welcome after three sploshy days, which creates high contrast and colours on the fields we drive alongside. The twin domed towers of St Jean d'Angely stand out ahead and before we enter this familiar town and stop in its Intermarche for 'a few bits and pieces'.
Nearly an hour later we are heading north through open farmland and little villages of typical Charente bungalows, all cream walled and orange roofed.
At 13:30 we arrive at the aire in Coulon and reflect that it is fourteen years since we were here before. Notices say electric is limited to two hours so we don't connec yet.
After a sandwich for lunch we wander down to the canal side. On the way through the aire we notice the other vans are all plugged in so maybe the sign is just to encouage economy.
Coulon is known as Venice Vert or Green Venice due to its network of waterways that forms part of the Marais wetlands. It is much more tranquil than its Italian namesake and today all of the little flat-bottomed pleasure boats called balades are tied up to the banks. The water today is a deep, peaty black, not the bright green duck-weed covered soup we remember from our summer visit way back.
But it is a charming walk beside the stone cottages and cafes, mostly closed, still with climbing roses and austromeria in flower. Turning up an alleyway into the town we pass a brightly coloured brocante bearing the name La Belle Epoque de Marylou.
Back at the waterside we spot Nick and Grete driving over the bridge and make the short journey back to the aire to meet them. Nick has already unloaded the motorbike so we trundle back in and meet again in the church square for another look about. Being a summer town almost everything is shuttered over.
Back at the aire we plug in everything that needs charging, hook up the power and hope for more than two hours supply.
In the evening Grete cooks salmon for dinner and the give us a bottle of Gibsons gin which matcheds the glasses we bought in the junk shop in Bergerac a week ago.
- comments