Issoudun

It is almost 4 o’clock and still so hot…it says 29°, feels like 31° on the app, and certainly feels like it. But am sitting up in a conventional hotel room in Issoudun, very nice, Amr is doing yoga and I must do some yin as I felt a tingle in my SI joint again…the thunderstorm is predicted for about 7 pm and I think it will be a relief and cool everything. I gather there has been a very cool and wet August and most people are delighted with the hot burst…but not me. It was good to get moving again after our lazy rest day in Bourges. It was better to be walking and doing something, than not getting the energy to get up when you don’t have to! But today we were very clever we thought.

Our instructions were to walk from St Florent to Issoudun. We had walked more than 5 kms off the track to get to St Florent from Villeneuve, and from Villeneuve to Issoudun added up to about 23 looking at the instructions…total of possible 28 kms…so we called the taxi to get a lift back, and he was the same taxi that was booked to take our bags anyway, so no problems. And a bonus was that, as it was going to be so hot today still, we got the taxi to drop us at a closer town - Chârost - so we only had to walk about 17 kms by the time we got to the hotel - Les Trois Rois. Thank god, because I’m still boiling.

Last night remained a delight..we had dinner outside by the pool…salad and a veg tart (all from the garden of course) and chicken and potatoes, goat cheese and melon. Just divine…still light till 8.30-9pm. We found out that the main house was once a Royal hunting lodge in the days when kings and princes went hunting. Now such a peaceful oasis.

Went back to our little caravan after dinner - amazing how everything worked in that small space…Amr had to watch his head with one low beam, but otherwise all you could want..perfectly functioning bathroom, even a TV! It took a while for the cool evening air to enter and cool the place down - but Amr annoyingly fell fast asleep at 9.15!! It took we till after 11, because firstly it was much too early for me, and also I had to wait till the air got deliciously cooler…that is one thing here…there is usually just a big doona on the bed, so it is all or nothing…no chance of a light covering.

Breakfast again outside by the pool and we hopped in the taxi with our luggage at 9 am. Uneventful walk, but still the vast fields in every direction, with occasional clumps of trees in the middle. Got a little off track on our way in through a boring rather industrial part, we cut across a field as we could see the main road we would soon need…came across a big supermarket and bought supplies for lunch, and for tomorrow, and walked on an sat in a little square on a shady seat, and found we were exactly where we should have arrived, from a different road, by the correct route. Easy to find our hotel, and now showered etc will go and explore before the storm…Read more