Thursday, 18 October 2012

Wednesday 3rd October 2012 - La Ferte-Beauharnais


Yesterday we started having second thoughts about our itinerary for the rest of the holiday. We had intended heading south down the Loire to its source and then heading over to the Rhone valley. However the journey so far had been slower than anticipated because we had found so many places of interest on the way. We decided to review the situation!
We drove on to the aire at St. Brisson-sur-Loire, a short distance south of Gien and on the opposite side of the river. After looking around the interesting village, we sat in Henrietta with maps spread over the table and guidebooks in hand. In the end, it was a unanimous decision to head west rather than south and stay close to the Loire.
The journey took us through La Solonge, an area of forest, mash and lakes that is very popular with French visitors. It is a very important hunting, shooting and fishing area with signs on the road warning that deer and wild boar are likely to jump out at any moment. Unfortunately, not a single wild boar did we see – we have seen lots of deer before, but we didn't see any of those either. However it was a very pleasant drive with lots of lakes and heather-strewn forest floor. We passed a number of aires, including a tempting one by a lake on the edge of the large town of Lamotte-Beuvron and finally weakened when we got to La Ferte-Beauharnais and parked up at the aire next to the small lake on the edge of the village.
We walked around the village with its interesting architecture – old wood-framed buildings that look as though they needed a lot of attention.
Photos: Jane inspects a potential second home in St. Brisson-sur-Loire but we might need my mate Les to help with the building work!; The Trois Canard (Three Ducks) bar in La Ferte-Beauharnais next to one of those houses in need of some tender loving care!


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