Fleurance, France

The rain fell into the trees above us all night, Then this morning when a watery sun broke through early, they slowly shed the water caught in them all over Marge. The last twenty four hours had felt miserable. In fact life had felt miserable for the last few days. Thanks Marge. As the morning brightened, the sun gained warmth and the bronze leaves that covered the cycle path glowed. We were away in good time. Keen to just get on with the drive, and hopefully arrive at our next destination around lunchtime. But we'd only travelled about a quarter of a mile when we had to stop and look at the pretty village church.

But we must away Marge. John had rigged up the nano-com diagnostic device so that it was in front of him and he could monitor it himself without Angela constantly reading out figures to him from it. Our journey was slow as we weaved our way across the French countryside, driving up and down dale, all the time crossing everything for Marge not to let us down. Every few miles we found ourselves stuck behind farm vehicles too wide for the road, so we were unable to pass. We were in the Midi-Pyrenees region and the vendage, or grape harvest was in full swing. Up on the slopes sunflowers, their heads blackened and bowed in defeat awaited their turn for harvest, and alongside the road, the corn cobs now hidden behind dried brittle leaves knew the combine would come for them soon. We were in Armagnac country, and every few miles a sign invited you in for a tasting. Tempting, but a no we're afraid. The seductive aroma of the countryside filled our nostrils. High above the surrounding countryside with spectacular views over the open French countryside we happened upon an art exhibition.

At first we though it was something to do with sheep and wool. It wasn't. It was art! Marge performed well. Well, well for Marge of recent. No major dramas. John thinks her problem may be an airlock in her coolant system. Do you have trapped wind Marge? It was nice to arrive at Fleurance by early afternoon.

After lunch we walked into town, the architecture a mix of medieval, modern, with a banana tree thrown in. We'd missed this.

Our days of late seem to consist of worrying about Marge, visiting garages, googling coolant faults and thinking too much about all the negatives. Come on Marge, give us some positive vibes now please. The aire we are staying at is free. So there's a result. Nearly everyone here is French and they're not very friendly, which surprised us as it's the first time we've experienced this since arriving in France over four weeks ago. So it's us, a German and Dutch van. The Dutch van behind us, as we do have their smalls hung out to dry. The Dutch bra swinging in the breeze outside our back door perhaps not so small. You could carry a couple of edam cheeses in that! A few days ago when we were at Ondres-Plage we discussed where do the van lifers in France hang out, as you very rarely see any. Well it seems here at Fleurance. There are at least four here, and they're not youngsters. John wanted to work on Marge's coolant bottle but didn't have the right size socket, but he knew one of these people would probably be carrying tools and may be able to help him out. Opposite us is a family of three living in a bus. Result. They had the socket set he needed. Is life looking up? We hope so Marge.