Whenever we hear helicopters overhead we are taken straight back to the flood in Boscastle which happened 20 years ago in 2004 when many people were rescued over several hours by the very skilful pilots flying that day. Last night we were casually chomping on our galettes and salad when we heard the throb of a very low chopper above the van. It turned out to be a SAMU rescue helicopter and it landed extremely close to us in the field across the road. EEEK! The pilot did a fabulous job not hitting any of the pylons surrounding the field. I managed to get a few shots as it took off into the night. We hope the person transported to hospital is ok.
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| Skilful flying |
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| Off we go |
Strangely enough, where we have parked this evening also has a flooding vibe despite being tranquil and relaxing - for now. We drove along the Loire today after a change of plan. Vendôme was our original target but we thought we’d check out the Chateau du Clos Lucé in Amboise instead. It was the home of Leonardo Da Vinci until he died (I had no idea he lived in this area) and sounded really interesting. Unfortunately, the Aire in town was closed due to roadworks so we had to quickly reorganise our target overnight spot. We’ll have to save Leonardo for another day.
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| Worrying water height marker |
We spotted Chouzy sur Cisse so headed there. It’s a lovely lakeside area with a river running through it but we have since learned that it is prone to flooding, particularly in winter. As we walked around the lake we (well, especially me) were horrified to see the flood marker that showed a 2 metre mark from 1961 and just under a metre from 2001. I’ve checked the weather report and there shouldn’t be any rain tonight - fingers crossed. I hope we don’t find any more flood prone areas on our trip. Let’s see where we end up tomorrow.
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| Let’s hope the water stays in the lake |
