We travelled on to St Emilion in the middle of the Bordeaux vineyards, arriving mid afternoon in a heatwave. We set up camp and managed a swim in the pool before the thunderstorm struck. We ran to the on site restaurant which was really busy and then watched a terrific storm outside, while we ate.

Wednesday

We spent a while talking to our neighbours this morning who were a couple from Tamworth in a brand new VW camper. They had travelled all round southern Spain and Portugal last year and were heading for the south of France and north of Spain this time. Later in the morning we set off towards Bergerac and went to Jaubertie and Peroudier vineyards to do some tasting and buy some wine. A cloudy, drizzly day but fresher after the storm and heavy rain last night. We called in for some lunch on the road and then to the supermarket on the way back home.

We then spent ages trying to rescue my iPad which first of all decided to stop charging and has basically hibernated although its only the middle of September. We tried all ways to reboot but it didn’t even recognize my date of birth when trying to reset so eventually gave up. Hence I hadn’t written anything for the last couple of days.

Thursday

We went into St Emilion which is a very pretty hilltop village. We went to look at the famous Monolithic church  which was carved out of a limestone rock cliff and there was a sign on the door that said tickets to go in were available from the tourist office. We walked up the steep streets to the top of the town only to find the tourist office closed for lunch from 12-2pm. Nothing gets between the French and their lunch break. So we decided to join them and sat in the square in the sun and had a good lunch. We then visited Soutard chateaux on the way back, where you paid for wine tasting and their attitude left a bit to be desired so we didn’t buy any wine here.