Marillac-le-Franc

Before I start, I apologise for the fact that this post is much longer than usual, but I did not want to omit anything, or split it into two posts.


A couple of weeks ago, we went to St Sornin for lunch. I have posted about the nearby Cave de St Sornin here.  Great little restaurant with a four course menu, wine included for €11 per head!!  As you can imagine, it is very popular, so you need to get there early.  I digress though, as this post is about Marillac-le-Franc,  through which we drove on the way home.  As we approached the outskirts, the first "person" we saw was this 'Gendarme', apparently watching us closely with his binoculars to see if we were speeding!

Further on, we encountered this elderly farrier on a road junction

We then turned a corner towards home, and there was a post lady thinking about her next post delivery!

We were so fascinated by these characters that we decided to return a few days later and have a good look around the beautiful, well kept village.  This time we arrived by a different route and our first point of interest was the village square and this lovely fountain, erected in 2003.

Presumably when the pump is switched on, the water runs out across the hand below, but while we were there, the water was just bubbling away merrily in the pond.

Behind the fountain is the X11th century church of Saint Didier

On leaving the Church and walking around, we saw a further number of interesting looking figures

Look closely and you can see a wire netting military figure guarding the gate; in his hands is a pikestaff.  You can  hopefully see his little circular nose sticking out below his hat!

Outside the village school, the hare and the tortoise are setting out for a race

 and a little further down the road, the hare is at top speed 

This chicken must be watching the race

 The wolf and a doggy Red Riding Hood going on a picnic perhaps

Outside the Mairie, a wolf hides around a corner

Meanwhile the tortoise has arrived at his destination, and the hare is not in sight!

Around another corner and this farmer is hard at work with his wire netting horse

Just on the edge of the town is the beautifully kept cemetery

 and of course, no village in France would be complete without its war memorial

Back at the immaculate town square once more

We discovered we had missed this swan, perched on a hedge

and the second weighbridge that we have seen in recent weeks, with this young man in charge

Finally leaving the village, this figure was there to see us on our way!!

What a fun and quirky village this is, with all the inhabitants obviously taking much pride in keeping the place immaculate, from the private gardens, to the streets and the central square.  The fountain, church, cemetery and war memorial are all so well cared for and a pleasure to see.  Well done to the citizens of Marillac - you have created a village to be proud of; we were very impressed.  

N.B.  Please read this link HERE; it concerns all of us who blog and it sets out VERY important copyright issues.   Thanks Denise for this information - who wants a $150,000 fine????!!!!

 

See also - My Life Before Charente updated  28 July 2012

Another walk Around St Adjutory

We went for a walk around this village at the end of February see HERE, and the leaders of our French leisure group decided to return last month for another country ramble! We left our cars in the village square, where I was taken by these beautiful roses and lavender plants close by, a display no doubt arranged by the local mayor's office.

We ambled for a short distance up the "main road" - this would have perhaps 20 vehicles per hour on it!! - before turning off onto a track into the nearby woodland.

Sadly, the blackberries were not ready to pick, but we know just where they are for a visit sometime soon!!

 The wild honeysuckle perfume was gorgeous.

The wild strawberries were ready, however, and once the walkers had moved onwards, there were not many left behind!! They taste more delicate than cultivated strawberries.

I loved the ferns that were everywhere. 

Our guides next brought us to the remains of an old water mill, disused since the 1850's we were told.

it was understandably in a pretty sad and overgrown state. 

We then came to a small stream, where there was a sweet little wooden bridge. 

 The water was crystal clear and running quite quickly.  We were led to believe that somewhere around this area there is a pool which remains warm all year round.  If you have ever tried to listen to a crowd of French people all talking at the same time, you may well understand why we were not too sure what the full story was about.  Nigel's French is fine when talking to one person at a sensible speed, but it has its limitations!

There were a lot of these plants near the water, and to us they looked like aspidistras.  I can just imagine them in beautiful pots in someone's fancy mansion!   We are not saying exactly where they are though, as they are so beautiful in their natural state.

 I was fascinated by this little cave under some tree roots; I am sure it has to be home for some tiny creature!!

 I have no idea what this  wild flower is, but I thought it was quite pretty.

These looked like a long-lasting variety of daisy; note the little hopper on the flower at about 2 o clock.

Finally, we made our way back to the  village square, where we noticed, for the first time, this lovely old weighbridge. We have seen a few of them in our travels around the villages, and their purpose seems to be for weighing grain and crops of various kinds. They are invariably quite well kept - note the flower troughs!

Looking through the window, it was possible to see the old scales inside.  Sorry about the reflection but ....

Hope that you enjoyed this stroll through the French countryside.

 About me Before the Charente updated 14 July 2012 

St-Germain-de-Confolens

Earlier this week, we took advantage of a clear, sunny, calm but very cold day to visit St-Germain-de-Confolens; a very small medieval village, now accommodating only 98 souls, situated at the confluence of the Vienne  and Issoire rivers, not far from the Charente boundary; the village grew up below its chateau walls and the inhabitants occupied themselves in the industries of milling, tanning and granite extraction, all of which have now virtually ceased. Milling and tanning declined in the 19th century and granite extraction took place until the 1970's. Once again, I took too many photos, but I have tried to pick out the best for you.

The sort of view which an early attacker might have had of the imposing chateau, built on a promontory overlooking the river confluence. The castle was first mentioned in documents prepared in the year 1073 and was much rebuilt over the next 500 years. It has not fared so well in the last 500! It's a very steep walk up the narrow road to the top - cars not allowed!

Once up there, the panoramic views of the Vienne river are spectacular. A month ago, all was white with snow, and blocks of ice were floating in the water!

                     Again the Vienne river, upstream of the last shot

A view of the ancillary buildings, built within the chateau walls (as they were) and including the 12th century chapel of Saint Vincent on the left and what might be a house for the priest on the right.

Another aspect, showing part of the old cemetery, perched on a ledge overhanging the steep drop down to the wooded Issoire river valley, which runs on the rear side of the chateau.

Next, some more photos of the crumbling, but still very substantial structure. What an effort to have built all this, on top of a hill, 950 years ago, although the granite was close by!

Probably an embrasure from which the defenders could have fired down on those laying siege to the chateau.

One of the village streets; barely a small car width!

The Vienne bridge was originally built in the Middle Ages, but road widening works in 1901 regrettably destroyed much of this character. The bridge would have also had, at one time, a town gate or toll, to control access to the village as part of its defences.

Across the Vienne bridge and on the way out of the village, a faded example of a  tin advertising sign, once so common all over France fifty or more years ago. It's always good to see such reminders of past times!

Once again my thanks goes to Nigel for all his research.

P.S.

I am a verification free blog. The new system introduced by Google of two words, quite often almost impossible to read, I find infuriating and time consuming.  Your comments will be sent to me for approval only, no verification needed. I am hoping that more people will follow this lead.  I get very few spam comments but when I do I can remove them at will .

Go to Dashboard, then ‘settings’, ‘comments’ go down to ‘Show word verification for comments’ click on No and save settings. If you are using the new blogger you will need to revert back to the old interface and take the same route.