Lhommaizé - 3 November 2022

You’ll be pleased to hear, we don’t have much to say or many photos to show now we’re on the way home!

Billy no mates in our carpark last night. Good job it was cold and the overhead blinds were shut to keep heat in, as the overhead street lightning was on all night. In fact we were going to use the light this morning to read in bed when we opened the blinds, but they switched off just after 7am! Was interesting to see a man going around burning all the weeds - better than using chemicals?

We’d fueled up yesterday, and I watched the gauge go down again today! The first Total station didn’t have fuel, and we didn’t have to queue for long at the second one. €1.72/ltr - another €72.

Today we’ve seen it at €2.12 - no wonder Total sells out first!

I was driving today - was over 3 hours - non-stop. Not really a good idea - had a numb bum! I still find it disconcerting when Tintin unclicks his seatbelt, and wanders back to go for a wee whilst I’m driving! It was bad enough when he did that trying to find out where squeaks and creaks were coming from!

It’s almost a version of mindfulness - not clearing the mind of thoughts - but really concentrating on the road and conditions! Quite a lot was on free motorway, some through busy towns, and some through ghost towns. So many trucks thundering past in the opposite direction. Was also windy, had to keep a tight grip on the steering wheel! We had a few showers at times, but didn’t really pour down until we reached our destination.

The pale cows win today - using them as an indication of rain - they were all down, whereas the brown and the black and white ones hedged their bets, some down, some standing!

I had the shock of my life whilst driving - heard this really loud noise, thought a vehicle behind was skidding into us - no - it was some kind of military jet whizzing past really close!

Had a chat with Jamie & Bel for a while - Jack was happy in his Spider-Man costume!

Once the rain stopped, went for a short walk. Park4night had the bread sign in the list of what’s available here. There is definitely no boulangerie. Disappointing, fancied a cake to go with afternoon cup of tea! Once again, the bread that’s available is via a bread machine dispenser. We’d had some disappointing croissants for lunch - thought they’d be too messy to have for breakfast in bed - they weren’t flaky at all - but did taste buttery. I wanted to buy a loaf - put in my €1, nothing happened, tried to cancel and get my coin back - still nothing. Tintin opened the chute - and pulled out two baguettes! Maybe the previous person had the same problem, but didn’t investigate!

The sky was looking ominous, so walked back. It’s a strange arrangement - there’s a lovely park, a couple of areas with keep fit machines, new looking gîtes, new free Aire etc - but there’s nothing to buy and give back to the community, no shops - nowhere to potter around and spend time. However, there are probably five mohos here now, and it’s very peaceful.

Since being back in France we’ve really noticed the birds again, be it birds of prey on the overhead wires alongside the roads, or just generally chirping away in the trees. We somehow missed out on seeing birds in Italy - obviously not entirely - but enough that we both noticed their absence.

We also had a chat with Sarah today. Whilst chatting, received a message from Condor about our sailing booked for tomorrow, 4th November. That was a shock! - but no - they’d sent messages to the wrong people, and we are still booked for the ferry on the 7th. However, it’s looking a bit iffy - at present, the predicted wave height will be too much for it to sail…