This morning there are a few showers and it is cooler but brightens mid morning. Nick stays with the vans while the others go for a look around St Fargeau before heading off.
As we leave town a line of classic American cars passes by. Soon after we start off the showers return making the journey fairly uninteresting until our lunch stop in Briare. We drive over the narrow bridge crossing the canal and find another group of American cars. They are on a weekend rally around the area, finishing at Guedelon.
Another couple of hours of rainy driving punctuated by a joint fuel and coffee stop brings us to our France Passion stop at Epuisay. Ferme de l'etang is a deer farm just off the main road. There is no sign of the owners so we park up by a paddock. Then we notice the deer in a distant field and soon their curiosity brings about 25 of them down to the paddock. The 'cerfs', or stags, are really majestic with their velvet covered antlers while the 'biches', or females, are elegant and dainty.
Just as we are starting dinner a young woman, who we discover is the owner, comes to feed the deer and asks if everything is alright for us. After dinner Ali and Grete go to the shop.
The farm is run by two sisters who took it on after their father died. They currently care for 5 cerfs and 95 biches, most of which are pregnant now, plus fields of wheat which are tended by an agent. Their shop is stocked with venison, preserves, marinades and boar-meat from another farm.
The evening brightens up and we watch the deer and rabbits and listen to noisy frogs croaking.