All things come to an end and its time to go home. We decided to stop over night at Le mans again, this time in a slightly different place.
Reports of the disruption with the ferries and the tunnel was giving us some food for thought though. On tuesday we left the gite and were making good time until we were about 14k from Le Mans. I had slowed down to about 115 KPH as we were getting near to our exit, when I heard that grinding noise. The front tyre had gone completely flat. Quite annoying as I had had 4 new tyres about 2 months before.

Fortunately the Gendarmes turned up tout suite but it took about 2 hours and a bit to get lifted on a truck and of the Autoroute and a tyre change. we did manage to find a bit of shade, but I did not have quite the right outfit for scrambling through brambles. It was also about 37c and we were getting a bit low on water by then. Unfortunately the spare was knackered so we limped in to le Mans off having come off the Autoroute. After arriving at our accommodation we had to figure out a plan. We did not at this point know if Le shuttle was running either. After a very hot and sleepless night we had avery quick breakfast and drove off to find a tyre fitters. we found a Mr speedy (French quickfit but better) and using some very bad French and sign language got the tyre changed, however there was another problem, the very through mechanic invited us in to the workshop to feat our eyes on the back of the rear break drum which was liberally coated in brake fluid. he opened it up and the cylinder had failed and there was an interesting mess of broken seal and gunge inside. After more bad french he said he could sort it and it would take une huere, and true to his word it did.
I suspect because they needed to get it done before lunch

At just about 12.15 we were rolling again and needed to get to Calais for a 4.50 check-in. The first hour we had to hold the speed down to get the tyres run in then there was the usually slow bit going around Rouen then 130 kph to the port apart from a quick pit stop to wee. As we approached Calais the tale end of the dreaded buchon loomed in to sight but fortunately the passenger shuttle lanes were clear and we checked in and quite quickly got loaded. We did spot a few guys wandering about on the side of the road eyeing up the trucks, but not much else.

At this point there was a technical fault on our train as the smoke/fire alarm had gone off so the train left about an hour later than it was scheduled.

At the Kent side it soon got interesting as the M20 was closed and being turned in to a giant Lorry park so much wandering about to get to Maidstone where the M20 was open again. Finally got through my front door at about 10.00.

I have just got back from a trip to the Charente region staying near Angoulême in a small village called Crotet.
A couple of gigs and a bit of a break as well which and its been nice to be somewhere else, and to take walks among the fields and get a bit of sunshine on the aching bones and also to just have a bit of solitude, and less sound and fury for a while. Its been very hot, consistently above 30c from about the second day.

We did the journey in 2 stages from London down and on to the Shuttle then off at Calais and down to Rouen and then to Le Mans for an overnight stay at Chambre de Hote just by the Cathedral which was very comfortable. We went and found a suitable restaurant just a short walk away and had a couple of very welcome Belgian beers and a pretty good meal too. The youngish guy serving us was very in to music and we had along chat with him about all sorts of stuff including Jimmy Hendrix. The part of the city we were in is the old walled part and quite a something to see. There was a spectacular view from the room across the river and down across to the newer part of town, and the loo was in a turret, and it also had quite a view.
Plus a stained glass window in the second room.

If your staying down that way I would highly recommend

La Demeure de Laclais

4 bis Place du Cardinal Grente, 72000 Le Mans, France. This 17-century hotel is located in the historic center of Le Mans. Central Le Mans is full of sights, which guests can explore such as, the Roman ramparts (city walls) and 50 yards from Saint-Julien Cathedral. They do a very good breakfast too.

The next day we drove down to Les Amis The Gite at Crotet 16170 Saint Medard De Rouillac which is basically a hamlet surround by crops and Vineyards, though it does have a transport depot full of trucks not far away, but they are out all week and only return at the weekends. Part from the two gigs both on Sundays mostly I went for stroll around the fields each day and we played music in the house and in the garden, rehearsed some new stuff.

We took a trip to the local Super U most days for supplies. We went into Angoulême to eat on a few evenings. We have have also gigged at the Kennedy Bar on previous visits there. Angoulême is another city that has a lot of history and ramparts with spectacular views.
Formerly the capital of Angoumois in the Ancien Régime, Angoulême was a fortified town for a long time and was highly coveted due to its position at the centre of many roads important to communication so therefore suffered many sieges. From its tumultuous past the city, perched on a rocky spur, inherited a large historical, religious, and urban heritage which attracts a lot of tourists.

Nowadays Angoulême is at the centre of an agglomeration which is one of the most industrialised regions between Loire and Garonne (the paper industry was established in the 16th century, a foundry and electromechanical engineering developed more recently). It is also a commercial and administrative city with its own university of technology and a vibrant cultural life. This life is dominated by the famous Angoulême International Comics Festival that contributes substantially to the international renown of the city.

I managed to forget a lot of the French I had learned in practice, but we managed OK ish

The place Pub Gabariers that we played at is in a really fab location called St Simuex and its on the river. The first gig was great fun but the second one was hard work as 7 days later the temperature was hitting 38 to 40c and almost too much. We were playing on a sort of veranda type area with shade from the direct sun but it was hard going by the end.