Mary*Lou's aircon has been a bit iffy for a few days now. Last night with good wifi we found a garage in Limoges. We only have the name of the industrial zone but that should be enough. Long straight roads for much of the 65 mile trip, with some hills and woods on the final 20. We find the industrial zone and finally see a huge sign for the garage but cannot find it. After tootling about we find another 'Kwik-Fit' type of garage but they can't help until ne...

We considered staying another day but this morning is cloudy so we decide to go on. At the service point we chat to Madame and she counts our nights and we confirm two nights. All seems OK, but as we drive away and wave goodbye she throws up her arms in a strange gesture. We puzzle over it for a couple miles then we start wondering if she thinks we didn't pay. Ali paid two nights at the same time as we bought our drinks on Sunday, maybe she forgot as it was b...

It's such a lovely place we decide to stay for another night. The trees provide a lovely shade as we sit outside for breakfast looking down the river. We get out some books and maps and get a few ideas together for next week, then a bit after noon we wander over for a drink at the bar, Moulin de Chalingny. Madame is a jovial, blowsy woman who talks very clearly so we can understand. All the flowers in the stone wall are bright in the sunshine, water hisses ov...

The heavy horses are clomping around at first light. We plan our route for an ostrich farm near Parthenay, which will be nearly a four hour drive even if we circle St Nazaire and Nantes without delays. The first part goes smoothly but traffic gets very heavy on the Nantes peripherique. Snoopy says north and east, but the signs say hold ups for the Paris exit in 7km so we opt to go on the west and south sides. This makes Snoopy cross and he keeps trying to rer...

Where do so many cars go at 2 and 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning? Although we slept reasonably well we were aware of traffic right through the night. We leave the aire and travel three miles to Queniquem. Guerande may have been the protectorate and commercial centre for salt, but it's out here in the marhes the salt is harvested. A narrow dyke road meanders through hundreds of hectares of salt pans, with small earth walls separating areas of water about quart...