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A long day’s travel from Staufen to Saulzais-le-Potier along a mixture of roads, not made any better by the innumerable road works, deviations, let’s make this narrower, I think we can slow traffic down here kind of approach to summer travels. The 600km took around 8 hours to drive, letting us know that a) the van is slower than a car b) I am a slow driver c) narrow roads slow you down even more. Can’t wait to see the result when the three above will be added to d) mountains in Norway.

So here we are, in the centre of France (with a picture to prove it). Fortunately today we awoke to a thunderstorm, relieving the heat of the past few days. In fact the aircon barely dented the heat on the drive down. Lovely waking to the sound of rain – and not having to step out of a dripping tent to make rain. Lewis, where are you, mate?

Interesting town, perhaps not noted for rapid movement in any particular direction. Bakery closed on Mondays, (large) police station only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays (half-days, if you please), and a car covered in thick green moss parked on the main street. A slower pace, perhaps, in rural France.

Took time out after the morning rain to cycle to Saint-Amand along the newly renovated canal, or parts of it in any case. Workmen at the one end were very happy to wave us through a section clearly marked as No Entry, and then waved us back when we returned, defeated by a fence across the path some 2 km down the road. They all seemed happy …

We did get to see the Centre of France (according to a local Abbe), or one version of that, as well as the very nice Ainay  le Chateau, complete with moat. Lovely day out, followed by a well deserved swim and fresh, rehydrating beer – just what the nutritionist ordered. Just as well our shipment did not arrive today, ‘cos we weren’t home!