Limeuil

We made up a picnic after breakfast and drove to the picturesque village of Limeuil at the confluence of the Rivers Dordogne and Vezere. We sat under the shade of graceful willows while the boys pottered in the shallows. A local dog appeared to investigate - apparently it belonged to the little tabac over the road and was a friendly creature. After a couple of hours it suddenly barked loudly and an English voice yelled to the French couple sitting on the bench between us and them "keep your bloody dog under control!" The French couple said it wasn't their dog but the man did not apologise. Sometimes it is so cringe-making to be British abroad. We and the French couple indulged in a bit of eye-rolling at each other.

We spotted some lovely dragonflies on the pretty river plants, and the boys enjoyed trying to chase minnows in the river. The boys came back in the van with us, despite the temperature in it being 40 degrees.

Their swimming is really coming on - Thomas was diving down for his goggles with no fin or armbands, and James swam the length of the pool with his armbands on. Both of them spend hours jumping in. It's lovely to see them so confident in the water.

I made a chicken dish, flavoured with lime, coriander, garlic, ginger and soy sauce - the boys ate it all - as we did.

The boys and dog are the dots on the right in the river - photographed from the bridge.

Sent from my iPad