Faith in human nature restored

This picture of historic Agen probably makes you think it is an interesting medieval city. It isn't! It was actually a bit of a disappointment.

The campsite we stayed in was lovely and we wanted to visit the city before we left. The excellent free Park and Ride service promised great things (Why is Britain such a rip-off?)

So far so good - until we got off the shuttle bus and I realised I had left my backpack on the bus containing my phone and my wallet with all my credit cards and over €200 in cash. Panic stations ensued and we waited in the heat at the bus stop in the hope that the bus would return the same way and we would recognise the driver.

After about 15 minutes a guy turns up at the bus stop "Are you Monsieur 'Arris?"

Amazingly, the bus driver had found my bag and phoned his mate in town (who was still in bed) He got up and went looking for us. He started at the bus stop and found us there. He told us that my bag had been found and the driver would be coming back with it. I was successfully reunited with my bag and gave both guys a small reward for their efforts (and honesty).

All this delay put us a bit behind schedule. Apart from the honest people we encountered we thought Agen was a bit underwhelming. Apparently the folk of Agen are reputed to be the most contented in France - we thought there were a lot of dubious-looking characters hanging about.

To finish the Agen story, we went to the bus stop to catch the shuttle bus back. They come every 12 minutes but after we waited about 20 Jane joked "I expect they stop for lunch" at which point I checked the bus stop and guess what? - yes they stop for lunch.

We waited about an hour in temperatures over 30 degrees for the bus and were really glad to leave when we finally got back to our motorhome.

We havent moved far and are in one of our favourite places - Sarlat in the Dordogne - where we have just enjoyed a lovely meal.

This picture shows one of the few historic houses we found in Agen. It was really rather nice, particularly with the diagonal shadows mirroring the woodwork.