Day 174, 3 December 2014, L'ancien Presbytere, B&B in Voulons, just outside of Le Dorat. What a treat! Somewhat like travelling a few kilometres and arriving in a parallel universe. Had a final clean up and last minute pack this morning then headed into Magnac-Laval for a farewell coffee with the lovely folks I've met here. Then off! Drive to Le Dorat (and out again). We ended up on a sealed but slim "C" road. I've more or less got the road system sorted ...

Days 171-173, 30 Nov-2 Dec 2014, La Trigalle... Another tiny hamlet, somewhat closer to the village than mine. Today's outing? C'est magnifique - First mince pie and mulled wine of the festive season at a "Christmas Fayre" held in the world's cosiest barn in La Trigalle - in aid of Cancer Support France and a home for abandoned dogs. Most importantly - inexpensive. Had a good look around the stalls, bought some handmade greeting cards, had a couple of goes at ...

Days 168-170, 27-29 November 2014, Lussac-les-eglises & Le Marché de Noël - my first of 2014. It's been a festive day and I'm patiently waiting for a phonecall to say I've won the raffle (known in French as the tombola). Fingers crossed. For a small village (pop: 600 odd), the Christmas Market was lovely - lots of very crafty individuals in the neighbourhood. Quite a few good with handicrafts too. Fabulous cakes (sampled the clafoutis) and also freshly...

Day 167, 26 November 2014, Chateauponsac - Coffee & Cake Expedition. Successful! Headed out to try a new (ish) cafe in Chateauponsac. Little place called Cafe 1814 only opened in April this year - had planned just a coffee... but was coerced into trying a slab of coffee and whiskey cake... it just looked sooooo good. Of course by "coerced" I mean there was a selection of cakes sitting on nice cake plates. It's not like the cake had a gun held to my head! ...

Day 155-166, 14-25 November 2014, Clotures, Magnac-Laval, Le Dorat. Seven weeks down. One week to go. Been pottering about, meeting new folks and drinking coffee at Terri's in Magnac. Even bought some blingy earrings as a completely atypical souvenir of this part of France. A big ginger bullock (completely typical) simply won't fit in my bag. Tootled off to Le Dorat for a second visit today - even managed to pick up my train ticket for next week's big advent...