Vive La Difference (again)

This year's french vacation was to Brossac, in the Charente region of France. We went san enfants this time, instead we accompanied my eldest sister and her husband for a week of R & R.


We stayed at a beautiful 18 century manoir with bags of character, totally unspoiled, plenty of wildlife and, if a car drove past, this seemed to be an event! The boulangerie was a couple of miles down the road in Brossac and there was a fabulous restaurant overlooking the lake nearby.



Early in the morning and early evening was the best time of the day to see the wildlife. It seemed to get very hot from 11am to 8pm but, once the temperature had cooled slightly, the buzzards came wheeling overhead, searching for carrion. At dusk we saw bats swooping and there were plenty of swifts too. During the day we saw the occasional hen harrier and we had a friendly swift who would sit in the tree every day, chirruping and clicking.



The views across the Charente countryside are fabulous with woodland, corn fields and rolling hills.