After a very leisurely breakfast at the motel, we wandered down to the nearby beach for a relaxing beach walk. There were very few people about, apart from a few surfers, some fishermen and some dog-walkers. Although it was a somewhat overcast morning, the breaking waves did their usual trick of inducing a semi-hypnotic trance.

As we walked, my mind kept wandering back to the events of yesterday, and while I couldn’t be in Melbourne to share in the celebrations at the old home ground at Glenferrie Oval, I decided to have my own little celebration of the back-to-back premierships on the beach.

After a few hours of walking, we reluctantly bid farewell to Mimizan, and started to head back to Moissac along a different set of back roads. As we travelled, we started to realise the size of the forested areas in this part of France, which must total about 500,000 - 1,000,000 hectares. Most of the “National Parc” is plantation forests which are harvested on a rotating basis. Given that the harvest cycle in Europe is at least 50 years, this means that although the forests are being continually harvested, and have been for hundreds of years, about 98% of the forest area is covered with trees at any one time. One therefore doesn’t notice the harvesting activity as much as one might expect.

On the way home we decided to visit a town, Auch, that we had seen on many road-signs, but had never actually visited. Auch is located on the River Gers, and the view of the old town and cathedral from down by the river is quite spectacular.

As can be seen above, the old town is perched on a hill above the river, and to get back up to the old town from the river requires a bit of climbing. The steps connecting the town and river are a well-known local landmark.

After a walk around the town and a meal at a local cafe, it started to rain softly, and so we called it a day and headed back to Moissac to the warmth and snugness of Kanumbra.