I mentioned earlier that this area where we are currently staying is famous for growing cattle and crops, and every day on our walks, we get to see that up quite close.

About 600m up a small road from our house is a cattle farm – we walk that way becasue it gets us to a forest walk which I really like.

The cattle are very well cared for at this farm – they have a a range of accommodation options including two of these domed weather-proof sheds, but they also get to range freely in the lush green pastures. Just recently the farmer relocated three groups of his cows to different paddocks so he could spread some lime on them and give the paddocks a ‘rest’.

When we walk past them, often the cows will come over to the fence to see if we have anything for them.

 But not this morning – they had already been given some extra food and were not interested in saying ‘hello’.

This area also grows lots of timber, and farmers and locals here love to stock pile it.

These are only some of the many stock piles we have seen, and perhaps this lot will be used for more than firewood.

Our morning walk takes us through a small neighbouring commune, and sometimes there are a few cats to chase, hence the dogs must stay on their leads here.

There is no shortage of barns and old stone farmhouses in this area, either being used for what they were originally built for, or under renovation to be converted into accommodation, or hoping for a would-be buyer to come along and buy it cheaply to renovate. Mick noticed only yesterday in a real estate’s window, when we were in a larger centre, that old barns were for sale for around €18,000 and stone farm houses, that were liveable, were for sale for less than €90,000. This helps explain why there are so many non-French people living in the French countryside. We have noticed that this area has quite a few Dutch people – more than Brits. And, the Australians of course we are house sitting for.

But my favourite walk is through the forest – it is usually only me and the Airedale, because the little dog is still recuperating from her operation and Mick’s knees can only take so many kilometres each day.

Mr H certainly blends in well here. I am trying to imagine what this area would look like in a few months when all the leaves come back, but at the moment it has a certain majesty.

We spend about 40 minutes in here each afternoon before making our way back past the cows for home.

One downside to where we currently are staying is the lack of people with whom to engage. I would really like there to be more people, French in particular, so we could engage in conversation and socialise.  Mick and I love that.

But for the remainder of our stay here, I am very happy to spend time in the French countryside. Feeling pretty lucky!!