Anyone who has fallen under the spell of Alain Fournier’s mysterious and evocative novel Le Grand Meulnes will want to visit the Sologne, his childhood home and setting for the book. A large infertile area of ponds, streams and woods, dotted with pretty villages and low brick-and-timber buildings, the Sologne has a strange, misty and moody quality. Nowadays it is prized for shooting and fishing. Souvigny-en-Sologne and Brinon-sur-Sauldre are peaceful and attractive Solognote villages, both with typical galleried churches; nearby, 13 km north-east of Brinon-sur-Sauldre, the Etang de Puits offers watersports. West of the A71 autoroute at Lamotte-Beuvron, the D922 is a signposted tourist route through the region, to the main town of Romarantin-Lanthenay, with a preponderance of fine old brick-and-timber buildings and an interesting Musée de Sologne (www.museedesologne.com); also the renowned restaurant Grand Hôtel du Lion d’Or, FFF; 69 rue Clemenceau; www.hotel-liondor-romarintin.fr.