Minus 3 degrees outside when we wake! And still only 4C at 09:00 when we’ve arranged to meet our host and see the birds.
Nick decides not to bother while the puddles are still frozen so Ali goes alone.
At the moment ostrich farming here is a sustainable hobby rather than a business but Elodie hopes one day to run it commercially. Some ostrich facts: Males get red lining on their beaks during the mating season. Eggs take 42 days to hatch and here they are incubated. In the wild the male taps eggs with his beak to listen for the strongest and disregards the others. Chicks weigh 1.5kg, doubling that in the first week.
We leave and travel through pretty farmland until the Poitiers ring road. Beyond there we turn off through Vivonne onto a lesser used route. At Genacy we pass under the imposing Chateau. There are lots of old stone buildings and farmland, as well as shooting crops and pink cherry blossom. Hedgerows are sprouting green and the sun warms us through the windscreen.
We’d planned to visit the old town of Confolens but there are numerous road works and diversions through some narrow streets and when we find the aire it is closed. The adjacent car park is open, as are its height barriers so we park by the river for lunch. We decide the town is less attractive with the workings so we head out a few miles on winding country roads to the village of Esse where we find the delightful little aire next to the sports ground.
It is almost silent, with views over fields and a small lake. Later we are joined by a Dutch motorhome.
Although we aren’t doing much, these relaxing days are doing us the world of good after the miserable winter at home.
There is a beautiful sunset streaked with contrails from planes out of Bordeaux.