St Marguerite de Carrouges

Freshly showered, the following morning we were off again - we would take in some miles to get further north, it was Friday and we were booked on the ferry on Monday night... (NB all of the Passion sites we have stayed at have had showers and toilets).

Driving from Lanzac we popped into the posh Greggs again (Marie Blanchére) for more tasty treats and "une baguette" before setting off.

The plan was to drive for 3 - 4 hours, take it leisurely and then find a place to stay.

This took us to just north of Angouleme, and to a campsite just on the end of town, a functional overnighter on hard standing, as it was getting towards the end of the season it was sparsely populated, nevertheless it was a pleasant stopover as we continued to head north.

Our final French Passion site was in the village of Sainte Marguerite de Carrouges, just north of Alencon, on a vast cider farm.

The host, initially a rather grumpy chap, although his smile did come out after we opted to buy a few bottles of his Pear Cider after the "degustation" and a bottle of his beloved balsamic vinegar.

His cider farm was lovely, the oak barrels, apples and pears, we sampled a both, opting for the pear being the favourite.

Our host did smile more when he insisted we took a "shot" of his apple balsamic vinegar, explaining it takes 20 tonnes of apples to boil down over one month, to end up with one tonne of balsamic.

The vinegar measure was put in a shot glass to swig back in one - it was unexpected - not unpleasant - yet not pleasant either!

Despite the strangest shot ever and at 20 euros a bottle, we were not put off and made a purchase, plus some pear cider. Czytaj więcej