We have no sooner arrived in the Loire region and the rains come [as predicted by Nick W a week ago]

Also the temperature as we get up is only 16C, so it's jumpers and coats as we head for the museum.

Maurice Dufresne, born 1930, was a blacksmith and supplier of farming equipment, with a passion for machinery. In 1983 he acquired the mill at Marnay and established a museum for his collection which now exceeds 3000 exhibits.

The first section, outdoors, is a collection of tractors, steam engines, rollers and tracked vehicles each under its own little shelter. Some are well restored, some are 'as found'. A few are labelled as unique or rare and one is the only one known to exist in the world. Inside the old mill houses walkway lead through other collections; collars for work-horses; hand tools; the remains of a textile mill near Tours including wooden weaving looms, the oldest from 1663; a guillotine complete with copper blood tank; more tractors and engines; ploughs, balers, reapers and seed drills; a large water wheel powering a metal crusher; cars of all ages from Model T to Rover SD1; WW1 trucks; armaments; a glider and a Bleriot aeroplane; bicycles and scooters and pedal cars and.... and.... Basically, if it has wheels or an engine there's one here.

The walkways through the mills are over 1km and items are displayed both sides and sometimes on two levels. The whole thing is astonishing and what adds to the charm is that some things are restored to 'as-new', others are repaired and preserved and some are decayed, incomplete or worn out examples of what once were state of the art technology.

It takes four hours to look around, we could take the same time again if we wanted to. Outside again we look over the weir and millpond then watch the geese, one of which has a brood of ten yellow chicks.

We have a late lunch in the cafe and take the obligatory tour of the shop towards the exit and return to the van. On the way back Ali photographs a strange bird, a pair of which was in the taxidermy section of the museum between a stoat and a red squirrel. We have no means of looking it up, but it's dove sized, long downward curved bill, crested like a grebe, salmon pink front and the rear black with white stripes. Later we find out it's a hoopoe.

It's still raining stair rods an hour later so we abandon our original plan to go to a Passion in St Nicolas de Bourgueil about 45 minutes away and decide to stay here another night.

As we had a late lunch, all we want in the evening is some bread, cheese, rillettes and wine.