Day 79, Friday 1/6:

Today we started our activities a tad earlier, at 11am. We headed for the village of St Céneri-le-Gérei. En route we stopped for coffee in what turned out to be a very noisy location in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe before continuing into the very scenic Alpes Mancelles. Here we had our picnic lunch in a very picturesque valley, beside the River Sarthe near St Léonard-des Bois. We then reached St Céneri-le- Gérei, supposedly one of the prettiest villages in France, and the garden ‘Les Jardins de la Mansonière. This garden was quite different to the one we had visited yesterday, much more spread out. The plants were also at a different stage in their growth cycle. It was a very pretty garden and it was nice to stroll around it. Afterwards, we checked out the village and went for a short walk along the River Sarthe, with Patsy and me trying in vain to locate a geocache. We returned home via another scenic route. Serge and Annie again joined us for dinner along with Yyves and Evelyne’s son Dominique. The highlight of the meal was two thick pieces of steak cooked over the charcoal fire. After dinner, Yyves presented a slideshow of his work in Madagascar, which included the construction of several remote schools. Patsy and Philip also showed some of their photos of Australian rivers.