We arrived in La Rochelle in the afternoon, in beautiful sunshine. And this is the view from our little hotel….And there’s a toilet and a shower!

La Rochelle is a very pretty town with narrow winding streets. All the buildings seem to be made of white sandstone and there are those walkways like Torino and Nice but not as tall.

We went to the harbour area to have a meal on our first night.

We decided to stay a second night as it was so comfortable and the staff were very friendly. They realised early on that we were practicing our French (still) and each time we come to the desk they encourage us!

Then yesterday we packed everything up and set off for our next stop. We’re back to Airbnb again. The website that makes it easy to stay with real people in their homes or their bnb’s. Off to Grandmont near a small village called St Sylvestre, nearest town Ambazac in the Limosin. The journey altogether took 6 hours including food stops and ‘comfort’ breaks.

It’s very odd the way the land changes as we move through this country. From Cherbourg to La Rochelle, the land was very flat, generally, with no ditches, just a grassy edge at the side of the road and then the farmer’s crops. For our journey yesterday we could have been in Ireland – the ditches, the winding roads, the sleepy towns. Well now, actually, the towns are a bit different. There’s no one there! We passed through small towns all day yesterday and saw maybe 5 people and they were sitting outside a bar drinking! What do they do all day? Where do they go? Are they asleep?

Anyway, we arrived at our new home (for two nights), our hosts are very friendly and helpful. When we had unpacked, I went to sit in the sunshine by the pool and wait for dinner to be served – my dream scenario. The sun started to set over the garden and I went back inside and realised again I would need to utilise my long johns. I was cold. But one mention of this to our hosts and they were into our sitting room with a bag of logs, lighting the stove!

After dinner we invited them with their daughter up to our appartment for a glass of wine (which they had kindly supplied on our arrival). The family had moved from the Lake district 18 months ago to live in warm sunshine and a quiet area (well, of course it is quiet – there’s no one around).