The Château de Chenonceau is built spanning the river Cher and is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire Valley.

On the first day in Fondettes we headed out for an evening walk along the nearby rivers - we'd expected to be able to take a circular route, but it appeared that the return route would be through a field of sheep which we decided probably wasn't best with Nova so we retraced our steps back along the way we'd come from.

We took the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, arriving in Cherbourg at 8am. We then started our journey south to the Loire valley, stopping at Utah Beach on the way.

We then continued our journey to our destination of Fondettes near Tours.

We took the ferry to Iona from Fionnphort which is a short 10 minute crossing - mostly passengers and a few vehicles delivering supplies to the island. First we visited the Abbey which is looked after by Historic Environment Scotland and they provide audio tours.

The monastry on Iona was founded by Colomba and his 12 companions in 563. We started the tour by going up Tòrr an Aba (Abbot's mound) - the site where it is understood Colomba's writing hut originally stood overlooking the Abbey.

Inside the abbey church there are a number of clumps of rare Sea Spleenwort (Asplenium marinum) growing around the walls. These enterted the church whilst it was open to the elements and the remaining presence of them is said to indicate that the restoration was successfully completed and the building is still breathing.

After finishing the tour of the Abbey we decided to head up to the top of Dùn Ì (Hill of Iona) which is the highest point on Iona. We stopped at the top for amazing panoramic views around the island for our picnic lunch. From here we could also see across to Eilean Annraidh (Island of Storm) and beyond to the Treshnish Isles.

We then headed down and across the island to visit the white sands of Traigh Ban nam Manach (Strand of the Monks) where there the rocks are black granite and the sand is white from crushed shells.

We then headed back across the island to get a drink and chips before catching the ferry back to Mull.

Ulva is a community owned island with a current population of 6 people. The first experience visiting Ulva is the ferry which you summon using by sliding the indicator on the ferry board to show red. I didn't initially spot this, but Kai and Laura did and managed to summon the ferry for us - otherwise we'd have been waiting a long time! This ferry is for passengers only and is a very short crossing across from Mull.

We started our visit with Sheila's cottage which gave an interesting insight into life on Ulva in the past and then a stop for coffee and cakes at the Boathouse Restaurant. We then went for a walk around the near part of the island taking in some of the sights. It was really peaceful with only a couple of other groups of walkers we saw on the way around the island.

The tracks were good, the paths were well marked and the nature unspoilt.

As we reached the higher points on the route, there were fantastic views across to Mull and around the surrounding area.