Day 175, 4 December 2014, Voulons to Le Dorat (very kindly supplied by my hosts when they took their sons to school) then onto the train (Le Dorat to Poitiers) then another train to Paris - best part of 3 hours, but seems awfully quick for a journey of over 300 kms. Then, last but not least, best part of an hour on the metro getting from Montparnasse to our hotel - smack on the border of the 3rd & the 10th arrondissements. I enjoyed a superb 3 course dinner last night cheffed up by Lisa at L'ancien Presbytere. I was starving and it was so good and so generous I could not actually clean my plate. Criminal for an empty-plater like me. Also kept me a bit wakeful - but the vast part of that I think was thinking of James getting ready to board his flight from Sydney to Dubai - this time tomorrow he'll be here. Finally. Six months is a very long time. Highlight of the day? Meeting and stroking an owl for the very first time. Host Tony is a falconry and bird of prey afficionado and I met Sapphire this morning - a member of the largest species of owl in Europe. Wow. I didn't know this but here goes... happy chatty noises by owls sound like you've just trodden on a cat. If they're a bit scared they make a hissing sound. The female of the species is significantly larger than the male (true of all birds of prey) - as she will be defending the nest and the owlets. The male is smaller but zippier - ideal for taking out a deer or wild boar. There and I thought they just attacked chihuahuas and the like. Whilst Sapphire's beak is obviously sharp and could definitely make me squawk if I touched her face, it's actually the massive talons with some amazing capacity for life-crushing that are the biggest threat. Whilst my knowledge of owls up until this morning could probably be written on the back of a postage stamp, with a crayon, I now know that their heads only seem to spin 360 degrees. It's actually 270 degrees - still astonishing to see up close. If she spun her head exorcist style, it would actually fall off. Which would be a shame, as watching her knock back half a dozen whole, dead, fluffy, yellow baby chickens was a sight indeed. Pretty much down the hatch in a couple of gulps - presumably to lurk in her owl tummy for digestion throughout the day. So that is me and Sapphire pictured - she's perched on a massive leather gauntlet on Tony's arm and scratching her chest was a huge privilege. Apparently the goal at L'ancien Presbytere is even if you forget the room, the food and the hosts (none of which is remotely likely), you certainly won't forget meeting Sapphire. Mission accomplished. (Check out today's album for a classic shot of Sapphire and her breakfast.