The first to go this morning was the French couple who arrived an hour after the deadline in the book and are away before the shop opens this morning - not really in the spirit of the France Passion scheme.

Ali had texted Chris and Mandy about meeting for breakfast but their phones were on holiday too so at 10:40 we say goodbye and make our way down the lane to the entrance. Later we get a text to say we missed C+M by minutes.

We have an easy drive through the woods and along a dual carriageway towards Mont de Marsan where we intended to find the aire for slopping out, but after driving around the town, including a diversion into Super-U, we find it is closed. Onward through more forest with bracken and heather undergrowth lit up brightly in the sun until we find the village of Roquefort and its peaceful aire next to the municipal campsite which is occupied by one tent. Baguettes for lunch in 35C then to the service point before moving on.

We intended staying at Roc du Plaissance near St Emilon, where last year we were their very first Passion guests, but we are still over an hour away the roads get slower and bumpier as we head into masses of sunflowers. We see another van turn off into a narrow lane and surmise he is going to a Passion. This prompts us to look for what is nearby so we stop and discover Maison Labeau is only a mile away.

We drive through a sea of sunflowers into the yard where we are greeted by Claudie Lebeau, owner and sole resident, apart from a friendly ginger dog of nondescript breed. She gives us shady parking under a tree, offers water if we need it and says we can stay as long as we like. Her grandfather left her the estate of sunflowers, hay and pears. The pears are processed into a strong liqueur - 45% proof - which she sells from the shop beside her house. Claudie tells us storms are predicted and that there has been no rain since June 11th.

Later she asks if we need anything from the village before she sets off in a noisy old beige panel van.

The farm is so peaceful, we can't remember when we last had absolutely no sound, be it campers, cicadas, birds, traffic, flies or cockerels and donkeys.

Clouds build in the evening but there is still a spectacular sunset although the heat and humidity are relentless. We reflect our last few weeks have been hotter than our time in the Amazon and Caribbean 4 years ago.