Peter Sprot

Being several hundred kilometres north helps...
The poor weather continued this morning so after a lovely breakfast which even included a sprinkling of rose petals on the table the day started with the hood up on the car and both of us wearing rain coats inside the car. It wasn't hard rain like yesterday but it did have is moments and one of those was when we stopped at McDonald's for a coffee. It wasn't raining when we went in but the heavens opened just for five minutes as we drank our coffee which was enough to soak Mandy's seat and the Michelin map book she left on it.
Once we got about 50km north of Limoges it became noticeably warmer and the sky began to clear so off came the jackets. We still didn't get it enough to put down the hood as we could see rain falling to our right.
We are now at Issoudun in a budget hotel and have just had a nice meal at a nearby La Boucherie steak house which was recommended by an Englishman at the hotel who had admired the car. He works for an English company who upholsters aircraft seats for a nearby Boeing factory. He said he had upholstered an MGTA when he was an apprentice.
Before the meal we had a walk down town to see the church which was closed and the river which flows well after all the rain. A beer at a sit outside bar gave us the sustenance to walk the 3000 steps according to my phone back to the hotel then a further 1500 to the steak house where we meet the Englishman and his colleague again.Read more

Last night we could hear very heavy rain outside our hotel and in the morning it had reduced to drizzle so I folded the very wet tonneau and put up the hood. Within a few minutes of starting of the rain began to fall harder and harder until it was bouncing off the road and I had to slow down to be able to see road ahead. It stayed like that for two hours. Thankfully the hood is very good and the side deflectors I added to the screen stopped most of it coming in so we continued without the side windows. Breakfast was bought from the supermarket before we set off and eaten in the car as it was raining too hard to stay out of the car for more than a few seconds. Eventually the rain relented to on and off drizzle so we stopped and had a kabab sandwich and a coffee. Mandy's left sleeve of her jacket was wet and so was my right one. The afternoon was better weather but the hood stayed up. At lunch we decided on a destination for the night and set of towards it only to see the sky darken again and more torrential rain hit us. The car was great it never faultered.
We arrived without booking at this lovely place and I drove the car straight into the sheltered garage then asked for a room. Take a look at the pictures it really is nice. After a rest we walked the 2 kilometers into town and had a look around. The restaurant we ended up in was fantastic. The owner noticed we were hurrying to finish when thunder roared close by. He insisted we take our time and gave us a lift in his car back to the hotel. What a nice man. As I write it is raining very hard again but I am not bothered as our little car is nice and snug and dry, and so are we!Read more