F. had the excellent idea to try a stop at one of the oft-advertised chambres d'hôtes. The little signs pop up everywhere, and I pictured a gruff French farmer's dinner being interrupted by a guy speaking marginal French, and then our being shown a squalid, hot, mosquito-infested room up the stairs with stencilled wall decorations. Not so! We drove up a small one-lane road to a large entryway with signage: "Fontaine des Oiseaux", turned left towards the huge stone barn and horses, past the geese, to find a clean swimming pool shimmering beside an even larger and immaculate stone farmhouse. A British couple greeted us (well, she did, in French, and we had bumped along for a few minutes before it became clear to all of us that English was our first language). An enormous suite was available at a very modest price on the second floor--completely private, and the price included breakfast. Sold! F. and I walked the acres of grounds, petted the dogs, talked to the birds, then drove into a nearby village for a good Italian dinner. The sitting room had wide-screen TV and several English language channels, including CNN. A very fortunate stop.