What a perfect day for weather! Sun shining, we parked up both vans by the village plan d’eau (little lake basically) – man made, and particularly in this case in Langourla, very pretty indeed, and somewhere we walked regularly when we owned the cottage.

Lunch was rather naughty! Almond croissants had been craved by 3 members of the party (not me surprisingly!), and en-route we had, with final success, visited about 3 boulangeries in different villages before finally managing to buy some at Super U, in Broons. They were not the artisan ones hoped for, but beggars can’t be choosers and any port in a storm! I have not considered them a favourite of mine (a bit of a coffee eclair girl me when I’m France!), but a buttery, flaky, caremalised ‘Croissant aux Amandes’ wasn’t something I declined!!!

Having eaten a couple each (yikes!!!), it was just as well we took a good walk over to the cottage. Shutters now adorn the property, but so far, those are the only addition that we could see.

I didn’t envisage feeling sad, and that proved to be so, so just as well. It was good to have pilgrimaged back.

back and seen the old place and walk those familiar lanes, and tracks, and remember the ‘Forth Bridge’ challenge of trying to keep brambles and nettles at bay!!!!!! Somebody else’s problem now! – but no regrets having owned it for that stage of our lives, but glad to be free of that responsibility and burden now (as ‘magical’ as it was to own in many ways).

My hope is to enjoy Langourla ongoing in fact now, calling in for brief stays over with the van as we travel about this local part of France.