Another two days of moving east across the Sologne and Jay and I are nearing the end of the woods - we think. They have yielded up a great deal of pleasure and one or two surprises. For example, this enormous Robin Hood oak - the trunk had a circumference of about 25 feet.
There is much of the following in the Sologne, which limits any short cuts and off-piste excursions from the footpath, the GR.
But with the many private estates, seeming to impede easy progress, go some lovely little chateaux. This is the Château de Montfranc.
And this the moated Château de Chaon. The 2CV did not seem to have been placed just for the photo opportunities.
Chaon's bread-buying possibilities are a big step up from a baguette machine. We bought our bread from the mayor's secretary, the Mairie being the 'dépôt de pain'.
Yesterday brought a great deal of road walking for once. But today it was some very pleasant shady canal walking. The Canal de la Sauldre, built in the mid-19th century, is unique in France for being unconnected to any other navigable waterway. Its 45 km served only to bring water for irrigation into the Sologne and, even more important, marl to serve as fertiliser to improve the acid soil. This photo is taken from one of the frequent bridges crossed by estate tracks, all with the same distinctive iron railings.
The canal is fed by the largest of the Sologne's lakes, the Étang du Puits, which on a glorious windy afternoon seems almost Mediterranean.
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