Tuesday 3 August 2010

Round and About - Le Lindois

On Sunday, I went for a cycle ride, as the weather was a little bit cooler.   I thought that it may be interesting to cycle to the village of Le Lindois, where a Bric a Brac sale had been organised (similar to a car boot sale) and a Vide Grenier  

It was a lovely day for cycling, we had  full cloud cover, but the temperature was still well over 20°C. I cycled through Montemboeuf (see here and here) and then on to Le Lindois.  The village was packed with cars and people, with hardly a space left to park a car and there was little room to walk around. Having to wheel  the bike as well, I gave up the idea of trying to see what was for sale.  I had no money with me anyway and had no intention of  carrying anything home on the bike!

I did take a couple of interesting photographs though.

Church St Pierre:
The old church of Lindois was located in the court of the castle.  But the bell-tower broke down after the festivals of Christmas 1922. The town council then decided to rebuild a new church in the borough, by re-using the stones of the old one. The current church St Pierre was inaugurated in October 1924.

This porch and the wall-pinion which framed the original building are the only vestiges which remain of this church. In 1928 they were classified as Historic buildings.




I could see no remains of the castle but perhaps there are still bits hidden around that I did not recognise.
Of course the village would not be complete without its war memorial.

I then made my way home through the village of L’Arbre,  which is the highest point in the Charente (345m or 1130 feet above sea level).  I made it back home just as the clouds darkened and the thunder started to bang and crash overhead.   At 32 kms, with a number of  little climbs, the whole trip was good exercise!   The storm didn't come to much and we only had 2mm of rain, but it was still very welcome for the dry and thirsty garden.  The thunder carried on rolling around and rattling the windows for most of the afternoon and evening.

36 comments:

  1. Your cycling seems more relaxing than mine - up at 5.30 am Dark and cold with lights flashing amongst drivers on the way to work. A brisk 35kms along the Beach Road and back to our cafe for coffee and fruit toast at 7.10 am and then home for a shower and off to work.
    I'd rather do it your way.
    Leon

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  2. Hi Leon, I would also rather do it my way:) I have only used my lights once since I have been here and that was to cycle to the late night fireworks! It was also a very enjoyable ride that late with almost no traffic around. Diane

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  3. At least you were carrying your digital camera around for us to see what you discover along your summer!
    Still, you must feel lonely sometimes with your hubby stuck in England!
    At least you spend your time in the best of ways!
    Lovely pics, Diane!
    Cheers!

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  4. Can you imagine ripping down a medieval church now to build a new one??? Heads would roll! I am very impressed with your ride.. amazing to be able to do that... Americans are so bad about bike riding and take the car everywhere... yours is the better, greener and healthier way!

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  5. Thanks for your recent visits and comments over at News From Italy. With all our visitors now departed I am catching up on my Blog reading.

    I assume you have your camera again with the latest photos, and also that you are now on your own again. The weeks just seem to fly by don't they. How can it be August already?

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  6. Carine loneliness is something that has never bothered me. I have so much to do that there is no time to think about it. I have always been fond of my own company. That is of course not saying I prefer it when Nigel is here with me:) Diane

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  7. Longpastremembered, yes I agree nowadays there would have been some way to restore it. It is quite sad as the castle must have also been quite a sight. Diane

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  8. Hi Lindy, hope you had a good time with your visitors. Yes I have Nigel's camera and he has sent mine off to be looked at. Hopefully it will be fixed or replaced as he needs a camera for work!

    Nigel only returns now in the middle of October for a day so he can drive back with me. I often do it alone, but he said by then he would need a break if only a couple of days. It is much nicer with company driving the long trip. Diane

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  9. That's about 20 miles in American K's. Pretty good exercise, I'd say. Love your pictures.

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  10. Sounds like a nice bike ride after all. It's still a little hot to bike too much here. October is perfect! I don't take my camera each time I really should, but then we don't have the fantastic old buildings and sigtes that you do. We do stop on the bridge every time to see if we can catch a glimps of the otters. The one time I wasn't with them they saw it. Usually it just my husband that sees them!

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  11. Susan I usually try to do at least that much when I go out on my bike, but sometimes I further. I have to say I am slowing down with age so I have not always got the time. Diane

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  12. Lyndsey it has been too hot here as well unless I am out on the road before 07h00 and home by 09h30. Sunday's cloud cover made for a nice change. Taking the camera slows things down, so I often hope that I am not going to see anything interesting! I would love to see otters though. Diane

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  13. I laughed when I saw your description, a bric and brac sale. I didn't know cars wore boots. LOL I actually love these kind of sales yet haven't been in a while. No one has yard sales in the park. The church and wall are quite interesting. Nice ride. Glad you made it back before the rain.

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  14. Well done Gaelyn, I will have to tell the UK to change the name of their yard sales LOL.

    This reminds me of a story during the war years in what was Rhodesia. The police stopped a car and told the driver to get out and take off his boots. They were duly checked and he was allowed to continue. At the next police check he asked the guy in charge why he had been asked to take off his boots. The answer was 'silly fellow I told him he must stop every car and check the boots'.
    Diane

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  15. It's such a pretty little town! Good thing you beat the rain home; my Thor would have been cowering beside you throughout the thunder!

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  16. Marjie I would love to have Thor beside me but not under those circumstances. I know of one dog who always used to jump in the bath at the first sign of thunder, he obviously felt protested there. He did it one day when there was water in there! Shame he had such a double fright. Diane

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  17. Diane, it sounds like you had a good time and got some exercise also. Your photos are great as usual and interesting history. A car boot sale is all new to me - people sell things out of the trunk of their car? Glad you didn't get drenched! It's pretty warm and humid here and looked like storms all day but no rain. I went up into Wisconsin to find sour cherries today and they had sold them all. Boo hoo!

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  18. Such beautiful places to ride. Not many safe places to ride here once you are out of the neighborhood. Ocassionally you will see a bike club on the road -safety in numbers.

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  19. It sounds like a lovely way to spend an afternoon, even though crowds made browsing impossible. The story of the church is interesting and highlights the frugality and sense of history these townfolk have. I hope all is well. Blessings...Mary

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  20. That is a good way to stop spending Diane, dont take any with you!! :)

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  21. Pam, sorry about the cherries! A car boot sale in the UK is probably similar to your yard sales. Most people arrive with their cars full of items, and then yes, either sell out of the boot (trunk) or put up tables next to the car. Of course there are the ones who arrive with vans full and have several tables! It is simply a case of each country have their own names for these sales I guess. Diane

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  22. Mya it is sad that one cannot enjoy the countryside alone as it is not safe. I cycle in the UK country on my own quite happily during the day, but I have to say I would not go out at night alone like I do here. I would probably think twice about it though if I lived in a large city. Diane

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  23. Mary, history is so important here in France. Hopefully the younger generation will appreciate it equally. Have a good day. Diane

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  24. Joan this has been a 'trick' of mine for some time. Carry little or no money. I am a born gambler, but if I go to a casino or horse racing, I put in my pocket what little I can afford to do without. If I win it is wonderful, if I lose it doesn't really matter as I cannot go over the amount I have limited myself to. Diane

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  25. I would to to cycle with you and look at these interesting places you've been!

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  26. Lani there are so many interesting places here it is such fun looking for them all. Diane

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  27. Sounds like a lot of fun cycling around.. I do cycle into my town, but that is about it. Far too dangerous to go further . Such a shame as I would love to get out further.

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  28. Hi Anne thanks for visiting. I have never worried about cycling around Oxfordshire during the day when I stay there over winter. Certainly I would never go out at night alone though as I do here. Diane

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  29. We did thanks now frantically trying to catch up all round. I bet you are pleased to at least have a camera if not your own, important to us bloggers. I am sure October seems a long way off to you but the time passes so quickly. I do not like the thought though of winter approaching, do you continue blog from the UK, You have always been in France since I started following you earlier this year. Linda x

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  30. Hi Lindy, yes I will continue with the blog but I will cut back on quantity! I have a lot of photos that I have not used, so hopefully I will have enough. The news from a 2 up, 2 down in the UK, with noisy neighbours is non existent!! As soon as I arrive I just start looking forward to the end of March and my return to France:)

    I have visitors arriving 29 August for 10 days. I will have my work cut out during that time to keep up everything so the blog may suffer for a few days then as well.
    Diane x

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  31. Enjoy a well earned break with your visitors in the real world and forget us virtual friends for awhile. We will still be here later.

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  32. Thanks Lindy. It is amazing how many virtual friends we all have now. Diane

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  33. Beautiful doorway on that amazing wall!

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  34. JM I agree it is wonderful. When I went to Le Lindois I did not know any of the history of the place so I was amazed when I saw this. Thanks goodness I generally carry the camera nowadays! Diane

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  35. Diane, I am trying to get logged on and with no success soI am going this route this time and see what happens. Its so great to recognise the places we visited with you during the summer.
    The garden looks much different now....ready for winter !! when do you get back to UK? Have a safe trip and hopefully this will get to you this time. D & D x

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  36. Well done Deanna you have made it, comment received :-) Diane

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