Lovin' France

We just spent the last week camping on the Loire.  Last week, I did have a hazy idea that the Loire was a river in France, but that was it.

Glow worms.
I was standing at the edge of the Loire, night had just fallen (at 10:30) and there was a cell phone being charged in the grass, on the bank.  I was mystefied, since that would have been a strange place for an outlet.  On closer inspection, I realized it was a bug, and not an green LED.  I got so excited, I forgot to pull my pants up before I called everyone over to check it out.

The Circus.
It was our last night on the Loire, and Dutch had come back from his evening wander with tales of a circus.  So we trekked out again. He took me across the bridge (every village has an arched, stone bridge) and down to the opposite bank.  From a distance we could see lights and horses.  As we got closer, we saw the collapsible bleachers, the gypsy caravan style carriages and all the other accoutrements of a horse-drawn circus.  We saw the posters in French, and at the same time we realized that it was not starting the day we were there.  We missed the performing chickens!

Medieval Towns

We stayed at the campsites of three old Loirian towns; Bourgogny, Amboise and La Charite.  We were in Bourgogny on Bastille Day, and watched the fireworks from the bank of the river.   All three towns had a huge 12the century church, an ancient bridge, and an ancient town center, complete with crooked streets, old houses and boutiques.

more later...