Friday 19th October

A sunny start to the day, however the overnight temp got down to zero. The farmhouse does stay very warm though, even without the heat on, probably due to the double window glazing, heavy insulation in the roof and at least, the foot wide stone walls.
All the domestic chores completed yesterday, inside and the garden we decided we should go and have one more look at Montargis, (little Venice).
We took our usual baguette and thermos of hot coffee and set off.
Only 6 deg outside though the sun was getting a bit brighter and stronger.
Knowing our way around a lot better we arrived at the free car park in Montargis and decided to have a cup of coffee to warm us up before going off for a walk. Being midday most of the shops were closing down until at least 2pm and some until 3. To us it still feels very strange to be in a town with no one around and the shop shutters pulled down or in darkness. Admittedly the local restaurants and sandwich shops do good business,however most of the cars head out of town, as people go home for their lunch and afternoon rest.
We found a sunny spot to eat our lunch, sitting on a stone wall of some ancient ruin as we couldn't find any park benches in a warm spot.
Down into the town we walked up and down and round to the local church which we had read about. We were to be disappointed as we should have realised that on Fridays its only open from 230 to 5 during certain months etc etc. France is a very strange place and have some very strange traditions that to us seem to be keeping it way behind the rest of Europe.

When we saw an old man puttering in his little car it reminded us about why we keep seeing them. Most of the cars are older AIXAM's which are about 6oocc. They can only carry 2 people and go about 60 kph top speed. When we asked Elizabeth about them she explained that you don't need a licence to drive them, nor do you need to take a test. The people who drive them are those that have lost their licence through drink driving, speeding,or too old etc. They still need to get around especially if they live in the country villages and towns .There is very little public transport, no buses or trains, except in the bigger towns and then they really only operate for the commuters in the mornings or evenings. So that's why they are allowed to drive them. The practical French at it again!
However I believe the new ones are much better and can get up to 70 mpg and are now available outside of France.

Lit the fire when we arrived home as we could feel the cold evening closing in. Had to keep the place warm so we could watch the rugby tonight between France and Argentina and then the big one tomorrow night!
Watched the sun setting across the fields, a great big red ball, going down earlier and earlier every evening. We don't see too many sunsets dipping below the horizon at home so its always a great sight to see them here.