Rambling Through the Countryside

Lungwort flowering on the side of a farm track.

Rambling (British English) or bushwalking (Australian English) is randonnée in French. We've decided to join our local group, who meet weekly on Thursday afternoons in Le Grand Pressigny. Here are some photos from our first walk, in the countryside around Preuilly.

Walking up an old farm track lined with trees.

 We enjoyed ourselves and the company was good. We walked 10.7 km and it took about two and a half hours.

A field of winter wheat (Fr. blé).

The most exciting thing that occurred was at about the half-way mark. As we passed a farm yard a Rottweiler cross dog came roaring out and went straight for one of our group's English Setter bitch. The Rottie grabbed a mouthful of hair before the setter's owner was able to land a kick on it and make it back off. The owner of the Rottie came out, shouting 'Don't kick my dog!'. One of our group pointed out that it had bitten the setter. 'How dare you accuse my dog of biting. My dog doesn't bite!' (This despite the fact that the dog had a chunk of pale hair dangling from its chops.) Our feisty setter defender (not the owner) was outraged -- 'How can you claim your dog doesn't bite!! You are obviously a person of bad character!' To which the response was 'Well you should remember you are at my place! Hurry up and pass by!'

It was a highly entertaining exchange, although not much fun for the setter and her owner. Legally I think the Rottweiler should have been wearing a muzzle, or not have been allowed loose on a public track. However, the farm is in a fairly isolated place and I'm not surprised the farmer didn't expect a group of people to come strolling down the track, with or without a couple of dogs of their own. Happily no dogs or humans seem to have been injured in the incident.

Canola (Fr. colza) in flower.