Anne has a week's holiday in the Charente!

We are going away on holiday in the next few days and will be pretty much without an internet connection until we return in early July. I thought I would put a few photos of Anne's visit on a post before we go.  You can follow more of her travels (with more detail) and what we saw at her blog Anne in Oxfordshire. Be patient with her though, as she has 100's, maybe 1000's of photos to go through!!

Part of the  superb and very well preserved heating system discovered by archaeologists at the Roman complex of Cassinomagus, near Chassenon

Anne taking a photo of the privately owned Rochechouart chateau.

One day in the Dordogne at Brantome. The idyllic river Dronne!

Anne in Brantome at the weirs

Abbey de la Couronne;the ruins near Angouleme.

Waiting for a  storm to pass; the covered market in old  Angouleme

The ruins of the  Chateau of St  Germain.

We were lucky enough, while at the above Chateau, to meet up with  Citroën Traction Avant enthusiasts on a club run :-)

We both left with one of these badges.

Anne at the 13th Century courthouse entrance in Confolens.

Saw this flowery bike in Lesterps.

A visit to the chocolate factory in La Rochefoucauld. Yum!

Anne at the Lavoir in St Adjutory.

Eglise St Jacques at Tusson.

This strange coniferous tree was growing in Nanteuil_en_Vallee Arboretum.

Anne hugging a 250 year old plane tree at Peyrassoulat.

and another hug from me. Thanks Anne for taking this photo.

Time to say good bye at Angouleme station.  We all had a great week thanks to Nigel's planning, despite the constant and prolonged showers, which always threatened to disrupt things.

Hope you all have a good month; see you sometime in July.

Some nearby lavoirs (old wash houses)

A lavoir is a public place in France set aside for the washing of clothes in earlier times. They are generally sited on, or adjacent to, a spring or river, providing clean and clear running water. Some are set on small diversions of the main stream, often showing ingenious engineering solutions in their design!

Some are very basic, but many of them, as you will see below,  are provided with roofs for shelter from the weather.  To many people, they provide a fascinating glimpse into past French cultural heritage, where not only was washing done, but the ladies of the village could exchange gossip and information.

Ther are many thousands of them throughout France and 882 are logged in the Charente alone, all in various states of repair!!

Some lavoirs are said to date back to the 10th century, but as plumbing was put into more homes, and water became easily available, many of them fell into disrepair. in 1851, a law was passed to compel every municipality, (for the sake of hygiene) to build a covered wash place where water flowed.  The wealthiest municipalities built the fanciest examples! It is good  to see that many have been restored as a reminder of the old days and they are now great tourist attractions.

 The lavoir at St Adjutory, on the river Bellone, is believed to have been built just after 1840, next to a stone road bridge spanning the small river. Note the sturdy oak and stone structure!

This lavoir, as you can see, has a roof and a protecting wall on the north side; this originally had a door in it, which could be closed to protect against the coldest winds. Note the big piece of stone, used either for seating or as a surface for beating or scrubbing the linen.

 Despite the sides of the lavoir here being covered with mud from all the rain we have had, I imagine there would have been a clean place on each side to stand or kneel to do your washing!

To avoid draughts, the arched opening in the bridge is closed by a fixed wooden panel, with another sliding panel below it, capable of being raised or lowered, according to the water level.

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 This enclosed lavoir at Montemboeuf seems to be a total mystery.  It is marked on the large scale ramblers' map, which is how we found it, but there is no history that we have been able to find so far.  On a later visit to the mairie, we were told it was on private property and they had no information!

It looks very smart and well enclosed but sadly the door was locked!

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The lavoir at La Folie, Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure

 has a tiled roof with three sides walled.
  

You can see the presence of a wheel to raise or lower the gate, which controls the water flow. As the water was flowing fast when were there, it was presumably fully open !

it is situated just below the bridge on a small lane, beside the old road to Limoges, see red arrow, and would have supplied washing facilities for the houses in the adjacent hamlet of La Folie.

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This large, but very basic, 5 sided lavoir at Etamenat is now maintained  by a neighbour.  We are told that there is a constant flow of water here, winter and summer and fish have now taken up residence!  There is no obvious sign that it ever had a roof over it.

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I have left to last the one which I consider to be the most beautiful; this is at Lascoux on the river Son. "River" overstates it a bit!!; it normally has a width of 3 or 4 metres (10-13 feet), but has been flooding over the winter, as you can see below.

It  is again sited next to a road bridge over the river and has recently been restored using traditional techniques and materials.

Three washing  large stones still remain!

The water in the main river has been diverted by manually digging a side "arm" which runs through the lavoir, as you can see here. This was done presumably to create a narrower  and more protected water flow, and to perhaps reduce the  effect of the polluting washing soap on the main river.  

I hope that you enjoyed this insight into life in France as it was before water arrived on tap!   I have to say I am very happy that I have a washing machine and that I do not have to trudge down to a lavoir a couple of time a week, regardless of the weather, all year round, as ladies in former times would have had to do!

See also - My Life Before Charente Updated 04/03/2013

and my daily photo diary  HERE

http://photodiarydps.blogspot.com 

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