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Joy Saunders travelled on our 'France - La Brenne' holiday and submitted this entry to our writing competition.
Night Heron by David Morris
La Brenne? Where on Earth is that? I thought I knew France like the back of my hand. Ah well, the date fits, and, oh blessings, we are using the Eurostar. Our small U3A contingent met up with the leaders, Simon and David, and boarded the train. Two hundred pages and a lot of chat later we disembarked in Paris. Then train to Poitiers, followed by a bus to our centre at Mézières-en-Brenne. The hotel was delightful, with 1960s style linoleum and candlewick bedspreads, rickety stairs, rustic charm, but the showers worked, the host was charming and the food was marvellous.
The morning dawned fair. We devoured our breakfast and set out. La Brenne turned out to be a large National Park, full of woods, heathland, meadows, lakes and marshes. Distances were short, so we spent little time in the bus, but the varied terrain was a great bonus. It was not exactly a strenuous trip – physically at any rate. We strolled in a relaxed way along paths and lanes, stopping to admire butterflies, dragonflies and many varieties of orchids, in between hides or bird-spotting areas. Mentally, the effort to distinguish between warblers, orchids and insects meant that certain exertions had to be made.
There were some great highlights. La Brenne has its own orchid, growing on one grass verge only. Diligent searching unearthed a few specimens on the patch of grass that the dreaded council mower had failed to immolate. Triumph! An evening visit to a wood to track down Nightjars was lovely and spooky. A recording of their calls brought them out to circle round our heads. Breathtaking! Another amazing viewing was a Night Heron that stood on a little promontory in a small lake, a small distance from the nature centre café where we were carousing. He seemed to spend the whole day there, totally unfazed by our presence. This led to (so far) my only successful bird photo. No great avian rarities were seen, but all the expected species of bird were there in profusion. We saw lots of Whiskered Terns, Black Terns, Montagu’s Harriers, Golden Orioles, a Hoopoe nest etc. Purple Herons were admired – they seem to favour tenement blocks to nest in. The most exciting fauna was a Beech Marten – road kill, alas. An argument ensued about whether to count it or not. Moth trapping was new to me. New wonders unfolded – I am hoping for a moth trap for my next birthday present.
Lunch times were to be savoured. The reserve warden (English) turned up at lunch time, his 4x4 full of goodies from the French supermarket. Wine, pâté cheese, French bread, salad, fruitcakes … talk about Ratty’s picnic hamper in the Wind in the Willows!
The last day. Relaxing over a glass of vino I unwisely noted that continuing education courses in Cambridge used to require us to write essays or do a test. Simon, our leader, leapt on the idea and he and David concocted a quiz. What a horrid trick. But I do not think anyone suffered from exam nerves. I recall quite a lot more wine going down and a lot of frivolity and, I fear, some cheating. In revenge I gave our leaders a test, by singing the ‘Tit Willow’ song from The Mikado. They correctly guessed the name of the bird, and gained 100% in their exam, as they did for their leadership and good humour. And so to bed.
To summarise: wonderful organisation, a lovely area to explore, lots of wildlife, a relaxing atmosphere, knowledgeable and helpful leaders, great company and a lovely area to explore. Thank you, Naturetrek.
Read more about our 'France - La Brenne' holiday.