We left Nantes at 10am, when we were dropped on the main route to Bordeaux. Unfortunately, the hitching post presented itself when we were dropped off was rather quiet so we decided to trek an additional 3 kilometres to the nearest toll station. This involved passing a rural farm with a cockrel crowing and a donkey. Luckily there was also a farmer, a lovely gentleman who approached us and asked if we were lost. He directed us to the toll, and we continued our trek until he approached us again another kilometre down the road - this time on a red moped. He had gone out of his way to make sure we were on the right track, and also to inform us that the police were sitting at the toll booths: not a problem for us, but we kept a low profile nonetheless. We only needed to stand the other side of the toll booth for 5 minutes before being picked up by a white-van man. This was not an ordinary white van man, this was a chocolate selling white van man, on his way past Bordeaux to replenish his stock of organic confectionary. His name was Jean-Baptiste, and he works everyday in order to fund his travelling habit. Jean-Baptiste advised us on the highlights of his travels through both Morocco and Spain. When we stopped for petrol about 1/2 hour north of Bordeaux we saw a familar and welcome sight - a pair of weary travellers sporting dark green LCD Hitch t-shirts. They were making better time than us, having only departed from Nottingham on Sunday. We bade them farewell and bonne chance and Jean-Baptiste got us to the outskirts of Bordeaux by 2.30pm, and left us, a short walk from the nearest tramstop, a bar of chocolate better off. We took the tram into Bordeaux, and found a place to stop for the night, and an internet café in which to type our blog...