Sunshine in Saumur

The boys had an appointment at a Vets in Saumur this afternoon to get their passports ready for the journey back home on Saturday, so we decided to make a day of it.  It's yet another lovely town on the Loire river with another amazing Chateau .  As we strolled around, we came across a street covered with these umbrellas - obviously they're for shade and not to protect from the rain lol!  

We decided that seeing as we had the boys with us, and they don't particularly like the heat, that we'd get on the tourist train to get a better view of the town.  It was a great idea, Milou & Bobbie enjoyed sitting on Alan's knee watching everything, and we saw lots of things that we just wouldn't have had time to see had we been walking.  The train took us to the opposite side of the river so we got a great view of the town and the chateau, and then we crossed back, wound our way through the little streets and up to the chateau where we could get out to take photos (see my extras).

Alan wanted to go to a tank Museum, the Musee des Blindes, so I dropped him off on the way to the vets and then picked him up later.  He thoroughly enjoyed it, but it's not really my thing so I was happy for him to go.  The boys were very good at the vets and the Vet himself was so nice, he literally had them eating out of his hands!

On the way back home we saw yet more sunflower fields in bloom, but this time I could see them from above, so stopped to take more pics - I've put one in my extras.  And then we stopped off at the Troglodyte village of Turquant, where houses, shops, restaurants and even hotels are built into the caves in the rocks.

Tonight, there were fireworks in Montsoreau as tomorrow is Bastille Day - I'm not sure why they were tonight and not tomorrow, but we went out at 10.30pm and sat on the banks of the river to watch them.  They were amazing and I've put a selection of those pictures in my extras too.

It was also a sad day today, as it's the fourth anniversary of the day  we lost Dad, so I shed a little tear thinking about him.  I think of him all the time, but I guess anniversaries are always hard.  So each of those fireworks were for dad and I particularly like the little stars that seem to be in them.

Here's a poem that I thought appropriate, I didn't write it, but I love the words:

If I could write a story
It would be the greatest ever told

Of a kind and loving father
Who had a heart of gold

I could write a million pages
But still be unable to say

Just how much I love and miss him
Every single day

I will remember all he taught me
I'm hurt but won't be sad

Because he'll send me down the answers
And he'll always be MY DAD