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Well, thank goodness the French electorate has better sense than its British and American counterparts. Not that we're out of the woods yet: Macron has yet to build a government from scratch, and that may involve some rather unholy alliances.  It'll be interesting to see how he does in parliamentary elections five weeks hence.  What's more, a number of commentators think Le Pen has been using this presidential as a dress rehearsal for 2022, and her vote this time was alarmingly large.  Interesting that Béziers, with its utterly toxic FN mayor, voted narrowly for Macron.  Lagrasse voted more decisively for Macron, but it wasn't a wipeout.

We left a couple of days later, taking three days for the return journey, staying overnight in the outskirts of Le Puy en Velay and Troyes.  The first day's drive was a delight once we had the ghastly A9 behind us.  We drove up the gorge of the Ardèche, where the road has been greatly improved since I last used it 35 years ago.  Viewing platforms have been built at the many belvederes, and we stopped at most of them to enjoy the spectacular views.  Martyn found us a route from the gorge to Le Puy that took in the fascinating Mont Gerbier de Jonc, one of the many volcanic plugs in the region, and the one on which the Loire rises.  Our route took us pretty much the length of the Ardèche and into the beginnings of the Auvergne, and for practically all the way, the scenery is superb, and highly recommended.

We saw rather more of the suburbs of Le Puy than we needed to.  I had not swotted up the location of the hotel on Google Earth as I usually do, and Dotty II, the built-in GPS kit, wasn't entirely helpful.  Still, we got there eventually, and the room, though tiny, was clean and quiet enough, and the free wifie was good and fast.  It helped that we were on the top floor, where the ceilings climb away into the pitch of the roof: the lower floor rooms must be pretty claustrophobic.  The restaurant attached to the hotel was perhaps just worse that the average C4mp4nil3, and the latter is already pretty dismal.  My pizza (for the place puffs itself as a pizzeria) was an object lesson in soggy bottoms, with too much cheese, some dismal smoked trout, puy lentils in single figures and a handful of wet lettuce plonked down on top.  Martyn's escalope milanese was more breadcrumb than anything else, and the pasta showed all the signs of having been reheated.

The following day's drive was also enjoyable, if less spectacular on the whole.  The views on the way out of Le Puy are impressive of course, and the Auvergne and Burgundy countryside are very pleasant.  We only had to use a short stretch of the A6, which was a lot quieter than I've seen it, and then struck off through Chablis country towards our next overnight stop on the edge of Troyes.  Before booking into the hotel we took a motor round the historic city centre which, having escaped the worst of the last two wars, still boast hundreds of timbered houses.  We couldn't find out how to pay for parking, so are saving a visit to the rather grand cathedral for next time.

The hotel was rather better this time - and I had studied how to find it without relying on Dotty.  The room was rather bigger, and even ran to two chairs.  The place has clearly been stripped down and redecorated in recent times.  (I thought it was a new build until I saw the plumbing under the basin.)  The wifi was adequate.  We had supper in an adjacent La Criée restaurant, which was good but a shade pricey for what we got.  I blame the subsequent indigestion on our having opted for pudding - we should have known better having had biggish sandwiches for lunch in the outskirts of Roanne. (Advice to tourists: from what we saw of Roanne, with the exception of the riverside, don't hurry.)

Breakfast at the hotel was not great: the bread on offer was pretty dismal, and though the tea was fine, this was only because we'd taken our own.  After two longish days on the road, we opted for the quick route, so were at the end of the tunnel inside four hours, and over four hours before our scheduled departure time.  The choice we were offered was an immediate departure for an eye-watering supplement or a departure three hours later, for which, unsurprisingly, we plumped.  We drove to the signposted sortie and up to the barrier, which opened when we pressed the button.  We later discovered that we should have waited for someone to come out and get us to sign some form or other: we'd the devil of a job to persuade Françoise at the check-in desk to let us through, which she only did when a wee mannie arrived from the office with forms to be signed in duplicate. 

I occasionally have to remind myself, during the crossing in the shuttle train, that the experience is actually preferable to root canal extirpation, however marginally.  This time we were waved along to the single deck section of the train which is at least a bit less claustrophobic than the double deck part.  The ventilation is no better, however, so it was a pretty stuffy experience all the same.

Much as we enjoy our visits to France, it's always good to be home again.  True, the grass needs a cut and the weeds haven't taken a holiday. But quite a few subjects have come into flower while we've been away, and thanks to Celia's visits, the spuds are thriving and the containers are doing well.  A nocturnal visitor has, however, taken a fancy to the roots of the herbs in one of the sinks, so I've had to shove in a few stakes to deter it.  Seems to have worked.  If the blossom on the apple tree is anything to go by, we should have a better crop than last year, when we got precisely two Bramleys.  The Judas tree put out some timid flowers for the first time this year, but is still some way from rivalling the fine examples we met on our travels.  First colour is showing on one or two roses and an oriental poppy, and Martyn's plantings in the rockery are coming on beautifully.  Bedding plants are being a bit slow, but I think we shall have modest numbers of rudbeckia and gazania plants.  Martyn had to lift an epimedium (a 60th birthday present from Jane) during the work on the rockery, and it has split successfully into five nice little plants, one of which is already planted out.  Next job is to find spaces for all the stuff in the cold frames!