It's such a lovely place we decide to stay for another night. The trees provide a lovely shade as we sit outside for breakfast looking down the river. We get out some books and maps and get a few ideas together for next week, then a bit after noon we wander over for a drink at the bar, Moulin de Chalingny. Madame is a jovial, blowsy woman who talks very clearly so we can understand. All the flowers in the stone wall are bright in the sunshine, water hisses ov...

The heavy horses are clomping around at first light. We plan our route for an ostrich farm near Parthenay, which will be nearly a four hour drive even if we circle St Nazaire and Nantes without delays. The first part goes smoothly but traffic gets very heavy on the Nantes peripherique. Snoopy says north and east, but the signs say hold ups for the Paris exit in 7km so we opt to go on the west and south sides. This makes Snoopy cross and he keeps trying to rer...