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Sunday: Pretty good drive from Bayonne to Sigalens, without benefit of péage.  Google maps showed that the time using D roads was little longer than the motorway itinerary, hence by definition it was shorter and less fuel hungry.  We’re tending to find that we prefer this approach: the motorways are getting very busy, and they’re not a nice place to be when HGVs are kicking up a lot of spray.  By the time we got to Sigalens, it was a fine sunny day, though not quite warm enough to sit outside for lunch, and we’d a few showers as the day progressed. 

Annie did some delicious pork chops for dinner, floured and sealed then baked over softened chopped onions with some pink wine, then served with gently sautéed mushrooms in a cream sauce.  Careful note taken.   

Monday:  We did quite a bit of sitting and watching the rain.  We went into Marmande and fuelled the car, doing a bit of shopping while we were there.  The avenue of plane trees at Sainte-Bazeille was looking superb.  It reminded me of the nave of the Sagrada Familia, making me think that Gaudí must have visited and been inspired by it.  Tea in the afternoon with friends from Cocumont.  Ah, this demanding lifestyle... 

Tuesday dawned rather brighter, and though it wasn’t a breakfast on the terrace day, it was clear and pleasant, with a gentle breeze.  We went for coffee/tea with Christine and Jacques, and it was good to have some intelligent conversation in French.  They are both on great form, despite the fact that Jacko is still waiting to start radiotherapy for prostate cancer.  He has had some months of hormone treatment to shrink his prostate, and has had his tattoos done prior to treatment, though he’s still waiting for a start date.  It sounds as if the French medical system, for so long so admirable, is turning into a culture of long waiting times.  But he’s as vigorous and positive as ever, so far as I could tell.  He has a 1943 Dodge fire truck (‘It’s a year younger than me!’) that comes into its own when he has to go and cut wood from sloping ground – and it has a working winch that is handy when his friends finish up in the ditch on the way home.  Unfortunately, the brakes are in bad shape – the cylinders have rusted up, and he’s buying replacements over the internet.   

Wednesday: we had planned to take two days for the journey home, so left at a reasonable hour and ambled up via Marmande, Bergerac, Périgueux and Limoges.  We took the (free) motorway from Limoges to Vierzon, and then paid for a bit through the Sologne and round Orléans, before striking off for Chartres, Dreux, Evreux and Rouen.  This wasn’t a brilliant move, since the roads were busy (it being evening going-home time), hence slow.  We’d omitted to research hotel possibilities, and the only Ibis we found in Rouen was full.  At this point, we thought ‘the hell with it!’, and set off for Calais.  Whereupon the heavens opened (at dusk), and we were confronted with a lengthy detour to by-pass motorway road works.  Once past that, we paused for a sandwich and a quantity of water, and set off.  At Coquelles, whence we were booked to depart the following afternoon, we checked in at 22:24, were instantly offered a 22:50 departure, and were on the Shuttle (with maybe as many as 15 other cars) and moving by 22:46.  This is the kind of travelling experience I like! 

No bad surprises on arriving home, so we had a relatively restful Thursday, going no further than the sorting office to collect my new French Visa card, and the next-door M&S for a few bits to eat.