We are travelling north to Vivonne today which is 30km west of Poitiers. We tried to visit Poitiers years ago but had a train mishap so hoping to get it right this time and visit tomorrow.

There’s no rush to leave Saint-Junien as we can’t get into the campsite until 3pm. It’s a journey through mostly rural France on narrow roads but we time it well arriving at 3pm fitting in a quick shop at Lidl along the way.

The campsite is alongside the river Clain and has lovely large pitches but not quite enough shade. We eat lunch outside trying to keep cool and failing. There’s a party we’re told in Vivonne tonight so we get ready and wander out about 8pm. It’s a two minute walk into the village. There are tables gazebos and music and quite a few people. The streets in the centre of town are blocked off by trucks parked across the road. All very informal. We enjoy a cold one, soak up the atmosphere and watch as it’s gets busier and busier. It looks like 95% locals as everyone seems to know one another.

We wander further in following the sound of live music to another bar where we enjoy the duo performing mostly ballads a lot of which we recognise. They like a bit of Simon and Garfunkel and Ed Sheeran.

Feeling peckish we return to the first restaurant and enjoy a meal. The meat is being cooked on a bbq in the street and the place is now packed. It’s a lovely atmosphere with a DJ and kids dancing. It starts to rain a little so we pay up and find a spot under an umbrella to finish our evening with a final beer. It’s been a lot of fun. After a bit of googling we realise it’s a Fête de la Musique celebration held across France every year on the summer solstice!

It’s well after midnight when we leave and there’s still plenty of people around.

An unexpectedly joyful day.

20:06:26