In the middle of the night we woke to see a huge, dull yellow moon low over the vines shining through the windscreen.
At breakfast time Monsieur Camus IV comes by on his tractor, which he drives through the vines, trimming the leaves with a 3 sided gantry cutter.
We say goodbye to M. Camus III, who tells us he takes his own camping-car to Spain each winter.
Today’s drive takes us south and west, straight through the centre of Marmande and over the River Garonne towards Meilhan-sur-Garonne. On the way, we remark how green the land is looking in contrast to the parched grass everywhere else.
Around 14:00 we arrive at one of our guaranteed and favourite rest stops, Maison Labeau.
Owner, and now good friend, Claudie is not at home so we park watching the activity in the field where round hay bales are being loaded onto a trailer. Swallows flit in an out of the barn and there is a cool breeze which eases the heat of the last few days.
Claudie arrves, peers across at her visitors and then recognition sets in on her face. She jumps out of the car, rushes over and greets us with hugs and kisses. We chat for a bit, then invite her to aperitif this evening.
Things have changed since we were last here in November 2016. Claudie, now a grandmother, has given up the distillery business and her ‘eau de vie’ and is working 4 days a week for a cartography agent. Earlier in the year this area was lashed by storms and some of the land flooded. Crops are late and poor, and this explains the greenery we saw on the way.
More rain is forecast for tomorrow, but the first of it falls just as we go to bed.