Autumn afternoon.

A few puffs of white cloud, bright blue sky and  warm sunshine - a perfect Autumn day in late September - Tuesday the 29th.

We drive to Reville-aux-Bois and climb the roads which twist and turn through the surrounding forests.  The view at the top, on the Meuse Heights, is wonderful.

Then down to Sivry-en-Meuse where we find a pretty spot by the water.

Out come the picnic chairs and our books which we read between drinking in the pretty surroundings.

My heel is less painful this afternoon and walking easier so I walk, without a stick, a short way to investigate a flurry of ducks.  Of course by the time I arrive most have disappeared but I get a photo of one…

  …the reeds…

...some cows in a meadow...

…and some of the flowers, bark and berries…

…and a distant shot of Ron, reading his book.

An hour or so later, the clouds join to partly hide the sun and the blustery east wind starts to become a nuisance so we leave, passing Sivry church en route.

We take a slight detour to Vilosnes where the Canal de l'Est and the river Meuse merge for a while.

Then up to Haraumont where I take distance shots of the communication towers (as promised in a previous blog post)…

…and again through forests and farmland to Ecurey-en-Verdunois and back home to Damvillers.

We were only out for two hours but it was a welcome change.