Silent Saturday Solace

4th August 2018

Foret D'Ecouves, France

Yesterday's choice of the Foret D'Ecouves as a venue to hide away from possibly the busiest weekend of the year on The French roads was a good one as we have found a wonderfully quiet location that is practically immune from tourism - and the bit there is seems mostly just local folk out quietly taking the air. Most significantly, I am delighted to report, there is a delicious dearth of the dreaded Eurocamper fraternity. So far, during my stay here I have yet to see a single one - all clogging up the coast presumably?!

Last night was wonderfully silent, if a little warm and Amy played hide and seek with a vixen who announced herself to be both very nearby and looking for a bit sexual solace at dawn. Confused signals from both parties of that little scenario, I'm thinking!

Our early morning walk through the forest in cool air was outstandingly good. It was the first time of properly exploring our immediate area as the temp hit 38 degrees C yesterday afternoon and the only sensible option was to sit quietly in deep shade, alternatively reading and snoozing. I try to be careful in very high temps these days as I once got prickly heat at about 40 degrees C in Portugal and that was not nice, like falling naked into a clump of nettles - at lest what I image falling naked into a clump of nettles must feel like........! I had to take Pyriton to combat the worst of the irritation which took over 48 hours to completely go away.

I have been reliably informed by an expert that a Beech forest at this time of year should be good for mushrooms and to look particularly for chanterelles but I fear its still much too dry and even in the moister areas near streams there is currently no evidence of any fungi activity whatsoever.

So, the intention is a slow, lazy weekend here in our haven away from the hordes. I say slow and lazy as its another hot one today. Although a good ten degrees cooler than yesterday its still a bit warm to go marching about unless one absolutely has to. Continuously travelling is very tiring so a few days in a convivial spot spent in quiet contemplation is always a welcome respite - and it also saves on 'feeding' the Jeep with costly diesel!

Mind you I saw a potential 'business' opportunity to make some useful money this very morning - in Lidl's carpark.

When I went to Lidl, yesterday mid morning, there was a young (young to me, anyway!) man sitting by the entrance doors with two likeable dogs and a bowl for people of a susceptible nature to deposit coins into. I being one such soft touch!

My assumption was he is homeless or, at the very least, struggling a bit to get by. Imagine then my surprise to see him turn up to 'work' today at 08:30 driving a very decent car!

Obviously, his 'job' pays far better than I ever could have imagined.

Friday Frazzle

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