In the morning, absolute peace. Not a soul, not a sound, not even a suspicious buzz. Just the trees, the sky, and me, who dedicated myself to exploring the surroundings with all the professionalism that characterises me: methodical sniffing, tracking every blade of grass, and an extra wee to mark territory, just in case. Dad took it easy, because as he himself says: why look for incredible places if you then run off without enjoying them?

The plan was to have a quiet day. But Google had other plans.

As soon as we set off, it sent us down a forest track that started well, but soon became a vegetable tunnel. It wasn't narrow on the ground, but because of the bushes that squeezed us from the sides and the branches that slapped us from above. At first we went slowly, pushing leaves and twigs as if the car were a botanical plough. Luckily the campervan's paint is tough. But the road kept closing in and in the end... we had to reverse.

That's where things got complicated: without the nose acting as an icebreaker, every metre was a manoeuvre, and every manoeuvre a suspense. After a while of reversing under the branches - with me supervising from my observation post, of course - we found a clearing full of mud where we could turn around with dignity. Well, with mud, but with dignity.

After that adventure, the paved roads seemed like luxury motorways. We stopped for a moment at an E.Leclerc: fuel for the car and a few bits and pieces for Dad. And then we continued along quiet departmental roads, crossing gentler landscapes, cultivated hills, all with that countryside air where everything goes at its own pace.

At about three o'clock, with our stomachs singing the Marseillaise, we found a perfect spot to eat: between a forest and a wheat field. Not a road, not a path, not a lamppost. Just nature at 360 degrees. We ate there, in the sun, and decided that that was *the* place. We weren't going to find anything better today, so we turned off the engine and settled in.

Dad, as always, can't sit still: he did some cleaning, adjusted I don't know what thing in the kitchen and reorganised something that, according to him, was already "too well placed". I dedicated myself to my thing: a nap in the sun, with my ears half down.

That said, when the sun went down, the temperature plummeted as if they had opened the Jura fridge. So late in the day we were already inside, warm, with the heating on and zero desire to move.

Today there were no great mountains or epic lakes, but we had silence, infinite greens and a good rest. Which is not a bad thing.