The Loire

As the last remains of the early morning mist clung to the forested gorges of The Loire we set off north to follow the river, which would eventually lead us to Amy's. Within minutes it had cleared to reveal a perfectly blue sky, this was in beautiful contrast to the array of greens displayed by the variety a trees covering the volcanic rock. We followed all the 'Route des Gorges De La Loire' tourist signs leading us from one bank to another, and then back again, despite the river eventually meandering north there were times that the early morning sun told us we were actually travelling SOUTH!! However after 40 miles we DID end up further along the river in a NORTHERLY direction and are now just west of St Etienne. We found a great aire overlooking a lake, with an area designated for swimming, it was so hot that even Rache joined Bri for a dip. Due to his open water obsession he never goes anywhere without his thermometer (must be a joke in there somewhere), the water temperature was 20c and the air temp (in the shade of course) was 30c, I even managed a little paddle myself, great to cool the paws off :-)

View from our aire & proof that this is not just an alcohol fuelled trip