drive to Italy: day one

...day one of our two-day drive to Tuscany, started with sunshine and ended with sunshine, but there were plenty of heavy showers sandwiched in between. We arrived in Folkestone about 90mins before our scheduled train as usual. Normally, we manage to get on the train that leaves one hour before the one we booked but, today, this did not happen because the two trains before ours had been cancelled (no idea why). This meant we were an hour later than normal as we headed from Calais to the Champagne region near Troyes where we stay overnight.

The weather in France was very wet and windy, plus the temperature was even cooler than it had been in the UK. We stopped a couple of times to stretch our legs and look for an insect blip but it was so windy and not much was flying in the cool air. On our second break, we found a meadow area that had several white butterflies that were active - too active to photograph - and, also, one beautiful blue. I tried getting a couple of frames but it was much too windy and I was not even able to identify the species.

As there were plenty of grasshoppers down amongst the shelter of the grasses and bushes, I decided to capture a few of those instead. Grasshoppers are not my subject and, without my books, I am not sure what species this is but would love to be told!

Friday's back blip will follow shortly...