Sées

On the way back North we stopped at Sées, where we took the historic walk of the town and admired the Cathedral and Bishop's Palace. 

Bonnes Vacances

Things we have enjoyed: Empty roads, free parking, beautiful sunsets, miles of sunflowers, excellent value lunches. Amazing how doing very little, can feel so busy! Our time at Chez Le Merle ("at the blackbird"), revealed not one sighting of a blackbird. However, this hamlet is popular with swallows, who swoop down to take a drink on-the-wing from the pool (with you in it). They like to hang out on the telephone wires like a bunch of hoodies before transforming into flashing darts and giving an entertaining aerobatic display, as they clear the skies of insects. We had a walk in the woods yesterday morning and again saw boar. Most of the woodland is hunted e.g. "Chasse Nonac" (Nonac Shooters) so the wildlife sensibly tends to run away from you. We thought 'our' 45km sign was unique, until we saw another one in The Dordogne. Even the French don't seem to rush, around here; they need two hour lunch breaks because there's not a hope of getting served lunch inside an hour and a half. The maize and the sunflowers are a little battered from the storms, while in contrast, we are relaxed and rejuvenated by our little piece of peace in The Charente. Dans l'ensemble, très agréable en effet. There was a rainbow this morning. Time to go now. 

Villebois Lavalette

The town of Villebois was the one we had trouble leaving last time. Despite it's signage issues, we deemed it worth a return trip mostly due to the show-off chateau with it's six watchtowers. First though, we walked up past the 1665 vintage covered market, then up the hill, passing the church of St Romain. We arrived just not-in-time for the guided castle tour, which we joined anyway. This was a fantastic opportunity to test our French comprehension in a archaeological context. We think we did quite well; although since leaving, we have noticed a few discrepancies between what we thought the guide said and the official leaflet. Maybe Robin Hood didn't have a holiday castle here after all. 

The chateau is an eclectic mix of Roman (site of old fort), medieval, and Rennaissance. Comme tous les autres français chateau. 

La Tempête

Overnight, a storm of exciting proportions rolled in, shaking the house and rattling the shutters. It's leading edge and trailing foot were not nearly as passionnant as the centre de la tempête, which brought multiple flashes of des éclairs, at such frequency it was like strobe lighting, accompanied by a whole orchestral grand tonnerre concert. All very exciting. The day soon shook off any suggestion of temperate climate and swiftly headed North of the 30 degree mark. We took Phillipa for a pleasant lunch at La Boule d'Or at Barbezieux and then stocked up on wine for our last few days. On the way back, Claire remarked on the beautiful fields of rolled hay so later I went for a promenade photographique to capture these in pixels.

Mission accomplished, I then had to explain to a kindly French gentleman who stopped his car, why I was rooting around in a ditch. "J'ai perdu mes lunettes de soleil" I said, which seemed to satisfy him. Needless to say, I found my lost sunglasses elsewhere in the field 20 minutes later, nowhere near the ditch. 

En Canoë

We headed deep into la Dordogne region to Brantôme, the oldest part of which is on an island encircled by the river Dronne  The Benedictine Abbey was founded in 769 and held sacred relics of Saint Sicarius (probably his toenail clippings or the sole of his sandal). Being on the (aforementioned - see previous posts) pilgrim route, these relics attracted pilgrims to the abbey, who also brought a bit of cash to Brantôme, (rather like the expat community does now). Unfortunately the Vikings, of all people, rowed up the Dordogne and Isle rivers to the Dronne, and promptly laid waste to it in the mid 800s. It's had a few knocks since then but essentially what is there now is from the mid 1500s and looks really rather nice. 

We wandered the narrow streets and had lunch by the river, feeding the trout morceaux de pain. Then we decided it was time for an adventure. 

Allo Canoë are purveyors of paddling trips and for a fistful of Euros provided équipement nautique, to facilitate this extravagance. From their centre d'opérations, we travelled West to Bourdeilles, passing chateaux, weirs and overhanging river-carved rocks. As ever, canoeing is such a fantastic way to see things, quietly passing through a place is très tranquille.  Accompanied by thousands of dragonflies, we arrived just in time to leap on the bus for a lift back to the car. Then home, where a bottle of Bordeaux waited.  

On the way back we passed through Villebois-Lavalette, where they don't use roadsigns in the traditional way (to assist smooth passage) but do have a rather fetching chateau to make amends: 

Abbatiale St Gilles de Puypéroux

on a cooler day than of late, we risked a longer cycle as far as Puypéroux and it's 11th Century Abbey. During the Middle Ages many pilgrims used to pass through on their way to Santiago de Compestella. This was one of many pilgrim halts to be found on the way South on the route known as 'via Turonensis', which crossed The Charente. The adjoining church also dates back to the 11th Century and is magnifiquement préservé. The pillars are marked with Knights Templar red crosses, alluding to their presence in the area in the 12th Century. We decided to stop for lunch just before a summer storm, so were able to smugly watch the rain while enjoying a quite superb meal, including crevettes starters and divine apple tart. By then the day had cleared up again and we were on our way rejoicing. 

Au Marché

A pleasant run down to Chalais (and it's proximity to la Dordogne) provided an opportunity to rub shoulders with Brits enticed by overpriced goods at the busy Monday market. Although the nearby 'Intermarche' is moins cher, it doesn't have the same vibe, although it does have air conditioning! We came away with freshly ripe Charente melons which will provide a refreshing alternative to icecream. 

Un Circuit de Localisation

With today heading for the hottest one so far, we had an 'early' ride on quiet roads through the surrounding terres agricoles. Suspicious birds of prey scanned fields from atop hay bale stacks, Red Admiral butterflies flitted beside us along the banks and crickets chirped applause as we passed. An hour on the bikes was plenty and we soon retired to the piscine fraîche and the promise of ice lollies in the shade. 

Conseiller de Voyage Locale

I must have looked like a local when flagged down on my bike by a passing motorist for directions (it may have been the beret and onions that clinched it). I gave detailed travel information to Nonac: "Tourner à droite à Deviat" and after a cheery way and a "merci beaucoup monsieur" we went our separate ways. My boucle de cycle later passed through his intended destination so I was pleased to note that his distinctive little voiture was safely parked in the square there. I took a picture to prove it. The entent is certainly cordiale here n'est-ce pas? 

La Pluie Et Un Plus Beau Village

After a sticky hot night with 'Hurricane Merle' (the rotating fan) at full whack, we enjoyed a day at base, with thunder rattling around surrounding valleys. All that energy in the atmosphere had to go somewhere. Eventually after a downpour, equilibrium was restored and we enjoyed a relatively cooler day and another spectacular sunset. Next day we set off for one of the most beaux villages de France. Obviously this involved a détour as usual, but we got to see extra sunflowers en route so why not? Aubeterre sur Dronne is a très agréable fortified village, nestled above a loop in the river. We climbed up to Place Ludovic Trarieux and explored the narrow streets, views and assorted artisanale offerings (including nice pottery). We settled in for a long 'menu du jour' lunch under the shade, involving salade, truite bio, mousse au chocolat and a small carafe of fermented grape. While we listened to everybody else's conversations, we were entertained by the delivery man who blocked two streets and then offloaded half pigs into the butchers, clobbering the doorframe and the window on every pass. Suitably rempli, we set off for the subterranean église de Saint Jean. This amazing, cool space was carved out of solid limestone in the 12th Century; complete with crypt, baptismal pool, cemetry, font and galleries. The Charente is on the pilgrim routes, so having somewhere to put your relics was really important. Aubeterre is also blessed with a river beach, so exhausted from our discoveries, we spent the afternoon not-canoeing on the river, just watching everything dériver lentement passé. Another journée bien remplie!

Culture Extrême

Chateauneuf-s-Charente proved less than exciting, although the river was picturesque, so we hurried on. However, just East a bit at Angouleme, we found fortified ramparts on a steep hill overlooking The Charente and more than enough to do on another day with temperatures in the top thirties. We climbed two of the towers in l'hôtel de ville to get magnificent views. The musée also proved excellent value, (I wore my Indiana Jones hat because we would be dealing with valuable artefacts). All the pre-history, neolithic, French colonial and regional exhibitions came in at a modest zero Euros per adult, pas mal indeed. This meant that we had enough for a pipette of cola and a petite dribble de bière by the river later. The Cathédrale St Pierre was our final destination, respendent in gleaming white stone inside and out. 

Route Barrée

Setting off from Montmoreau-St-Cybard, we came across 'route barrée' signs so we foolishly devised our own alternative to the handy circuit route card we had picked up. Obviously this would lead to two things: Extra distance and getting hopelessly lost. Much later, at a crossroads, we hailed a passing cycliste who fourni une assistance, explaining that we would be able to get through the roadworks ahead on our bikes, it was just the cars that couldn't. He also gave us a potted history of his life and wished us well. We were glad we took his advice because otherwise we would have missed St-Amant, a beautiful village on a hill, where we stopped for petit repas. Back in Montmoreau, it was past midday and therefore shut and time for sieste. 

50 Ans de Jeune

A birthday trip to Chalais market included a comedy moment when I asked for "six pieces" at the tomato stall. The lady serving found this so amusing that she told her husband and his pal (who I think had been on the pastis all morning), everyone had a good giggle before confirming that yes, I wanted six tomatoes s'il vous plaît, not one tomato cut into six. We took our picnic and had a walk from Rouffiac to check the vines in the chilly 36 degree air. 

Later, we had a 50th pool party

Bastille Day

A 25km cycle from Brossac took us past chateau, sunflowers, maize, vines, streams, lakes and deer. It being the 14th of July, marking the start of La Révolution, we particularly enjoyed the liberté of the car-less roads. Our picnic on a lake beach was enhanced by an extended family who (faced with plenty of room) set up virtually on top of us, complete with little enfants and travel paddling pool. As the shade moved round, so did they, until we truly knew the meaning of fraternité. Anyway, when in Rome.... 

Settled Down

Yesterday we celebrated 27 years anniversaire de mariage. After some floating about on lilos, we whiled away the afternoon in the shade of our favourite tree. We did manage a short bike ride in the evening, which yielded delicious cherries from a roadside tree. 

We visited Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire this morning, where they have the grandest information touristique, in the chateau. After supper we walked the local woods, seeing wild boar, deer and a petite grenouille the size of my thumbnail.

TravelBug

Having safely conveyed Luke to the airport for his Spanish adventure, we went South, taking the overnight ferry to Caen and continuing down to The Charente region, to stay at David's place for a few weeks.