Friday 18th May 2012

 Today was a rest day from cross country Nordic walking to distant villages and hamlets over unseen hills. Somehow the boulangerie must have anticipated our lateness as the lady proprietor just smiled and politely acknowledged our lateness (11:15am) of arrival for the obligatory items for the day. The agenda was to eat and rest so a big pot of lentils and accoutriments was consumed together with the croissants with cherry jam (cherries were from the tree outside our door) and I partook greedily of some foie gras on half a baguette and some wine. The idea of a short walk came to mind so we thought we would try to get a close up view of the Chateau across the fence. After arriving the other side of the valley we were greeted by 'propertie privee' signs but managed to get some zoom shots on the rear outbuildings.

As we were next to a forest we decided to explore from the roadside and 15 minutes later agreed to turn around in 20 minutes time. We came to a hamlet and noticed the green capped post beckoning south into another forest. Yep 20 minutes later we were not close to were we said we would be but marvelled at the beauty of the woods and flora within. We eventually came out of the forest to the north of the village amongst some rye fields and strawberry growing hothouses and began the stroll homewards along the D6 road. 90 minutes after we had left for a 10 minute walk we arrived back at the village square to record the ringing of the 4:30 bells at the Church.

We dropped into the SHOPI for some essentials which included the cheeses (250g brie at 1.80 euros and 530g raclette for 4.53 euros) and a plate sized slab of Basse Cote beef for tomorrow night. The evening was planned for pizza by our adopted Canadian friends next door so we piled into the car and bought them fresh to order from the van parked in the market square (only once a week). Gourmet deluxe extra flavour truly delicious they were. We spent the usual 3 hours bantering and exchanging stories before the 9:30 signal beckoned us all to disperse for the night. We are to meet Gus at 7:30 am for our lift to Perigueux 50 km away to meet our train to Hertz in Bordeaux. It is very kind of him to offer to take us.