Tracey Emin, Leonardo and the Superduck

Unmade bed at  Chateau des Arpentis  Delightful stay here.

Time to see the view from Leonardo's bedroom window too, up to the Chateau in nearby Amboise. There were full scale and model builds of his inventions in the beautiful grounds. And then there was super duck!

Three ducks flew into the pond. There was a little ice and one skidded in until plop, he (a mallard) found himself incarcerated. We laughed a little as he tried to break through the thin covering and went on to see the next machine. M turned round and alerted me. It seemed the ice was a bigger obstacle than we thought. Another male (presumably the father) gave him a tow. A flying tow. Using his tail! The younger one grabbed onto it and was towed 20 metres across the ice to safe ground while his father flew just above the ice, he hanging on gratefully. We were dumbstruck. We had missed the communication and engagement bit between them, but somehow it all worked. Dad waddled off obviously in a bit of pain and had to readjust his tail feathers, to join the mother and son a bit later. 

I need to research a bit... Is this common?

Anyway, we got back into the car and travelled up to Brussels for our last night of this great road trip. Back to EU prices at the airport hotel. Great time though, love my M.