A more than usually unpleasant trek south. Although there was little more than a hint of moisture in the air when I got up yesterday, it was flinging it down by the time we left, and it rained more or less continuously all the way to Clermont Ferrand. It was all the less welcome that the tyre pressure warning light came on with its ominous ping just north of Orléans. (Last time we got that signal, it was somewhere in the Ashdown Forest, alerting us to a stiletto heel spike through the shoulder of a tyre, so one takes such messages seriously.) I couldn't feel any difference in the car's dynamics, but dropped the speed right down and we limped to the next aire. Having dropped the back seats and shifted the luggage forward to give access to the spare wheel and pressure gauge, I then braved the rain with the latter, establishing that all four tyres were comme il faut: after I'd reset the warning thingy, it stayed off for the rest of the journey, so I guess it must have been some of the diluvian water in the works. Not long after, we passed a village called Le Déluge. Fancy that.
The welcome at the Issoire bell tower was friendly and professional this time, but we were again put in a room with a communicating door to the next one. This time, an Italian family came crashing, banging and bellowing into the room next door just as I was dropping off, not without having first had a long, loud conversation outside our window. I must admit to getting up and thumping hard on said door, which made for a marginal improvement. I never watch breakfast TV. Today I made an exception: it was tempting to leave the TV on max volume as we left, but I resisted it.
Despite appalling weather (torrential rain and fog) down through the Auvergne and the Causses, we got the local shopping done before the cave co-op closed for lunch. Alas, not all is exactly 100% at Château Smith: the new lime wash has already started falling off the wall, and there are signs of water ingress round the new bathroom window. Young Pierre has been summoned. Watch this space.
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