Premiere Classe Chatellerault

... de Poitiers. They say she was a great beauty and, in fact, only got more beautiful with age. Rolinka told us the legend that every morning at 4:00, regardless of the weather or season, Diane would awake, strip, and dive from one of her windows into the Cher to swim. She would then come out of the water, where there would be a horse waiting for her. And she would go for a wild gallop on the estate -- still naked. And then she would go back to bed and sleep till 10:00. One of ...

... from Italy, one of which was the Mona Lisa.

We arrived at Chambord (pronounced "shahm-borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrr"), which is the biggest castle in France, even bigger than Versailles. It was built as a hunting lodge for Francois, but in the end he only spent 72 days there. He never even got to use all 365 fireplaces! There are 440 rooms, but tourists are only allowed in one particular wing and the roof. There is a famous double-helix staircase ...

That's what's out here. And farms. Although apparently they have a Duck and Melon Festival that Shara and Phil were lucky enough to be present for. I'm seriously jealous, I would've loved to go to the D&M Fest. Instead, what I got was the title. First, I should explain what I'm doing out here.
About a month or so ago, Shara and Phil got themselves set up (through Help Exchange) at a farmhouse in the ...

... around the pool in the sunshine for a week, until the weather changed and became more autumnal. Helene left us after a fez days, and we stayed on our own in coussay whilst papa, maman and granny went back to Thouars. It's nearly the end now, only one more stage until we come back home!

... down the Nile, felt the effects of a meteor hitting the earth, dodged dinosaurs and experienced the lunar landing from the viewpoint of an animated fly.
We reached another Howie milestone when both parents chickened out of the dancing with the automated robots. The boys described this experience as 'awesome'. We will take their word for it.
Our campsite tonight is a special Campervan designated carpark, a bargain at only 6 euros, we just need to be on our way before 8am.

So, my spell in Brittany is over and I really enjoyed it. With all of these things there are moments of 'argh' involved, but that's all part of it and in the end makes the whole more satisfying. So, yes, Prahla'd, grey cat and her milk addiction, the borage, the treehouse and the meals of yellow dock and nettles are over and I'm back here with the Young family having a lovely time.

I didn't ever get to meet Kaja at Tours as she missed ...

... lost in the city centre. Then it started raining so much you could barely see.

30 miles down the road it was still raining and we pulled into a shopping complex for some food. Then the sun came out, our hangovers were gone, and we started cooking. . . . just sitting outside the shop on the ground on the edge of the car park. Every other car beeped at us in confusion. Can't a man just cook himself a meal! I ...

... is packing up a bit so I'm getting a bit freaked out about whether or not I'm going to be able to make all my commitments and rather wishing I'd thought to take a weeks break - I may have done I suppose if I hadn't had the attack of the IHs... Anyway, I'll keep on going as long as I can ignore the pain as I'm damned if I'm letting my knackered old bod stop me doing this.

Back to the story, Amanda is a fantastastic cook and everything meal is a treat with ...

... and eating, goats, sheep, a cat and a dog (plus the odd flea, I've discovered). Also a sweet little veg patch with potatoes, beans, peas, onions, courgettes and tomatoes. Some top fruit too and walnut trees two a penny around and about. I've had great fun spending a lot of my week in the veg patch digging up potatoes and preparing the ground. The other two have done a huge amount of motorised sything and I helped them with that one day, but ...

I am cheating and completing this after we have actually returned! But just so we can remember...
We caught the packed train from Paris to Tours on Sat morning, even the first class travellershad to sit on the floor. Of course we sat alongside a couple from Christchurch!.

By the time we had reached Tours however we could find a seat. It was all good from Orleans in fact, though we did see huge traffic ...