La Fête Nationale

Known to English speaking countries as Bastille Day.

I have been absolutely spoilt for choice today as what to blip and I'm not convinced that I'll keep the above photo, but I chose it as I've never seen a live cycling race before and I really like the blurred effect of the front riders.

Our friends took us to Issigeac market this morning which is a wonderful medieval Dordogne village. The market filled nearly the entire village including tiny alleyways and had something for everyone as we all came away with some little treasure. I took loads of photos of the winding alleys and market sellers and fascinating ancient buildings.
On our way to the village we passed a number of sunflower fields which made my day as they are my favourite flowers and I have always wanted to see a filed of them. I didn't think we had any chance of seeing any on this holiday as it is too early for them to be in full bloom, so I was quite surprised. There were only a few of them flowering but we stopped so that I could take photos.
We headed into Bergerac old town for lunch which again was another delightful find. The town had recently celebrated a fête so the whole place was adorned with garlands of red, yellow, white and blue which looked really pretty. After lunch we strolled down to the river where we watched some kind of rowing gala. Rowing is one of those sports that I've never tried but would love to one day.
On the way back to the gite I asked if we could stop so that I could take some more photos as on the way we had driven through farmland with fields of rolled hay which looked so picturesque and I was really pleased with some of the photos that I took. Our friends were very patient with me and were happy to encourage my enthusiasm for the area!
We then had an afternoon of rest (and more cherry picking) as we have decided to drive through the night to get back to Brussels. We've never done it before but rather than drive through the day tomorrow and get back late we thought we'd give it a go, as it'll be better for the kids, we hope.
Late this evening we all headed into Mussidan where the plan was to watch the fireworks for Bastille Day and then start the long drive home. However the bike race took longer than expected (the above photo was taken at approx. 10:45pm) and the fireworks were going to take place after the race. As the kids were finally showing signs of tiredness (they have been like duracell bunnies this holiday) we decided to get them in the car and say goodbye to our friends. We really weren't expecting to have such a lovely ending to our holiday and the Dordogne is certainly another area of France which we need to explore further.
The kids were asleep within ten minutes.
I wonder how far we can get before they wake up?