La Ferriere-aux-Etangs

Woke this morning to the sound of rain on the roof, but it didn’t last long and we have had beautiful day here in La Ferriere-aux-Etangs. A little village full of surprises. The Aire here is empty and we are the only ones camping here by the lake - we have water, as my darling husband can testify (his clothes have dried off now 😂) and are therefore self sufficient. All free so decided to take a real break and stay another night. This is the first full day we have had anywhere since we left the UK as the aim is to see as much of France as we can on the way down to Spain and the same on the way back. We started the day with a walk up to the village and were so surprised to see a UK Red Telephone Box in the centre which had been converted into a library, as many have been back home. A lovely walk, although we are early birds so not a lot was open. Stopped for a coffee at a little tabac before heading back and giving ‘Dolly’ (our Moho) a bit of a spruce up - it has been so wet and muddy and the darling dog doesn’t help matters! Anyway, all looking good so we decided to go for a long walk and noticed the entrance to a religious garden - I can only describe it as that. However, once we entered the area and climbed a very long way to the top - because everything is in French it is quite difficult to pick up what this place was all about; so we did some research when we came back to the van and it is a very special place indeed! Mont Brule in on the site of an old chapel “St Cler du Brusley”. This religous site has a Stations of the Cross leading to a replica of the Lourdes Cave. I hope the pictures do it justice. What a wonderful find. We walked around the lake afterwards and watched a wonderful sunset. Planning the next sector of our trip takes a bit of time and wrestling with maps can be quite testing. Poitiers is our next goal over the coming days - we are in no rush and, if we find some nice sites to stay on the way, it might take a bit longer.