Deux-Sèvres

We had set an alarm to make sure we were up this morning. A restaurant we had been to a couple of times previously - Auberge du Noyer at Londigny - had started last week, to do a full English breakfast twice a week. Tre had seen the advert and booked us in. We’ve not had a full English for months.
So we were up and at it and ready to leave in plenty of time.
We hopped into Roxvanné and pulled off the driveway into the country lane - our only route to anywhere. At which point Tre shrieked at me and pointed to a very large bird waddling down the centre of the lane, blocking any traffic - had there been any apart from us.
The bird which we now know to be a Muscovy Duck, wasn’t much for moving until I got right behind him and revved the engine a little. At this point it took off like an overloaded WW2 Lancaster bomber.
The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a large duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada. Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in parts of Europe.
It is a large duck, with the males about 76 cm (30 in) long, and weighing up to 7 kg (15 lb). Females are noticeably smaller, and only grow to 3 kg (6.6 lb), roughly half the males' size. The bird is predominantly black and white, with the back feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab. The amount of white on the neck and head is variable, as well as the bill, which can be yellow, pink, black, or any mixture of these colors. It may have white patches or bars on the wings, which become more noticeable during flight. Both sexes have pink or red wattles around the bill, those of the male being larger and more brightly colored.
Obstruction dealt with we drove in the sunshine to Londigny and parked up.
The breakfast was blooming lovely, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tre eat so much so fast - and never have I seen her eat fried bread, so without doubt we will be back.
We headed back to Sauze and stopped at Bricomon - we forgot it was Monday and also now lunchtime, so it was shut. A quick stop in SuperU to check for some cleaning bits we might need next week and we were heading home. Nearly at home we noted the Lancaster Bomber had taken up residence on a roadside pile of compost and gravel.
After a very brief stop at home we were heading out again on our way to Niort, again to check for some bits we might need next week but also car hunting.
We found our way straight to the Peugeot and Citroen site which also housed Spoticar - so lots of cars on site. We spent the best part of 90 minutes looking for specific models we’ve sort of settled for and sitting in a few to check sizes. Each year model is obviously different to the previous year - some better than others.
After finding nothing that met both our size and financial needs we departed and headed to Leroy Merlin.
Once parked up near to Leroy’s we opted to quickly pop into GiFi which is another B&Q/The Range type affair - only to find nothing in there we were really looking for.
Across the road we quickly checked out Leroy but by now I think we had both had enough and shopping boredom had set in, so we very soon gave up and found ourselves back in Rox heading home.
Nearly back at Melle we stopped into DSI Automobiles, a garage we’ve visited before and there saw the same guy as previously ‘Charlie’. Again we trolled through the cars he had on the forecourt but with no luck. He is a lovely guy though, so always good to have a chat with him - in pigeon French/English.
From Charlie’s we headed for home, still bathed in sunshine.
At home unfortunately the patio was in full shade as it was late-late afternoon.
We bother skipped evening meal as the brekkie this morning was still filling out tummy’s!
It didn’t seem long until bedtime called - the days are now slipping away quickly towards the new house at Chenay.Read more