We went to Chenonceau today – one of the jewels of the Loire Valley! This is what it looked like:-

I don’t think even my Photoshop skills can do a lot with it

We have had a couple of dull days, so have spent some time processing our photos:-

Carnac

Saumur – does that sky look familiar?

Loire Valley Vineyard

Chinon

Another Loire Valley Vineyard

Loches – we had never heard of this place until the day before we went, but it is amazing.

We are now at Amboise, hoping the weather cheers up for this evening.

We have found France quite inexpensive so far, we have hardly ever had to pay to park, whereas in the UK you can barely stop to look at your map without feeding a Pay and Display meter. We have had lots of cheap camping on the Aires de Services, and eating out is so expensive that we have hardly bothered. They seem to have very little fast food, and spending ages and 40 Euros for lunch is not that appealing.

We will spend another couple of days here, then start heading North. We have now decided to get the ferry from Le Havre to Portsmouth, so we can go and look at Etretat – another place painted by Claude Monet. We will then have a look at Brighton and Dover and up the East coast, looking at whatever we find that’s interesting.

PS No light this evening, try again tomorrow