A Snake in the Grass

The unbroken run of perfect days has continued with no end in sight. Each day dawns cool and clear, and then gradually heats up to a top temperature of around 28 C by the late afternoon. I cannot remember the last time we had wind, and, in some ways, it feels like we are immersed in some sort of idyllic Ground Hog Dog, where each day is a repeat of all those perfect days that came before.

This morning we headed off to discover new areas of the village that we had not explored before. We soon found ourselves at a Roman Laverie (wash house). This place had been heavily restored, but it served to give a good indication of what life might have been like in this area around 2000 years ago.

After the wash house, we made our way to the Gare (station) to try out the village's other cafe - the Cafe de la Gare. It turned out to be a much more pleasant experience than the one we had shared the previous day. The street was quiet and tree lined, and the proprietress seemed happy to see and serve us.

On the return walk we found that the quiet little village had burst into life. Several shops which had been closed since we arrived last Saturday, had now opened. There were even people in the streets. It was quite a surprising transformation.

It was only as we were walking up the drive to the mill house that we received the biggest surprise of all. Without warning, Maggie let out a huge shriek and pointed to the path ahead. I thought at first that she may have seen a small spider or something. When I finally located the object of her terror, it really was not what I was expecting. Slithering across the path was a quite large, pale brown snake. I had to admit that it did give us a bit of a shock, however the fellow obviously meant us no harm. In fact, he was quite beautiful.Read more