A visit to Tusson in the Charente and four years of blogging!

On 8 February this year, I will have been blogging about My Life in the Charente for 4 years! At times it seems like I have been doing it forever! My posts have slowed up quite a lot, but I thank all of you who have been consistent followers! Since this blog started, I have set up two more, one about my Life Before Charente, (but digging through old diaries and photos is slow!) and my photo blog, the Daily Diary.

In May last year, Ann from Oxford was visiting us, and one of the many places we visited was Tusson. She has already written about it well here, so I am not going to repeat that - you can just look at her blog! I took a few different photos, so here is the village from my perspective!

The village of Tusson was situated on the old Post-Royal road from Paris to Bordeaux. Until 1950, it was very famous for donkey, horse and mule trading, which provided important prosperity for the town.

The settlement owes its existence to Robert d’Arbissel, who founded an abbey here in ancient times. Ruins of its two churches, which were destroyed during the French Revolution, still remain.

Some of the ruins.

This is the  entirely Gothic designed parish church of Saint-Jacques,  founded in 1227 for the town which had grown up around the abbey.  The supports of the West arch of the nave which date from about 1230 still remain. The church was extended in the 15th century; the steeple shown here was added at the same time. Some time later the whole church was restored. 

The murals in the bay under the steeple are the work of a Dutch painter, Emile Viagers, and were painted  in 1946.

The amazing stone vaulted ceiling. What craftsmanship!

 The Way of the Cross was painted by a Parisian artist, Robert Mantienne, who took refuge in Tusson during the Second World War.

Much older murals demonstrate their complete contrast with the 20th century works.

The monumental statue of Saint Jacques in the entrance is the work of a refugee from the Moselle during the same wartime period. Among other artefacts are a 17th century lectern and a fine 16th – 17th century crucifix which probably came from the great neighbouring abbey!!

Outside the church, life seems to go on as normal.  These are workmen from the Marpen club - see later -  on their way to lunch!

Since 1976, many houses in the village  representing the style of the town's traditional buildings have been restored by the archeological "Club Marpen", using the labour services of an international young peoples organisation.  The club also promotes public awareness of local heritage (See Anne's blog) and performs an important function in the area.

The door into the Robert Farmhouse. This imposing farmhouse was built in the Neo-gothic style, which was so popular in the 19th century. It was in this lodge that the inventor Joseph Alexander ROBERT (1807-1885) is said to have developed several of his inventions, one of which was an entirely new type of artillery rifle.

Below the farm, on the way to the fountain there is a well and a lavoir, both supplied with spring water.  I am sure that my followers are now more than aware that a lavoir is where the ladies used to meet to do their washing!

Library of old books.

The publishers Lérot, fairly recently founded by Jean-Paul Louis in Tusson (in 1982), are installed in a set of three old buildings separated by courtyards and gardens. These three buildings house an antiquarian bookstore with offices upstairs, an offset printing workshop and a finishing department respectively.

The Lodge of Marguerite

This lodge, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, was situated outside the abbey wall and close to the convent. Marguerite de Valois (1492-1549), the sister of King Francois 1, stayed there several times with the rest of her household when travelling between the kingdoms of France and Navarre (an ancient kingdom in the Pyrannean region), of which she was queen.

The buildings now house the museum of regional antiquities, the monastery garden with its medieval herbs, and plants arranged according to medieval designs and the regional heritage training centre.

The House of Heritage is an institution run by the  Marpen club, which consists essentially of a museum of arts and popular traditions and a monastery garden behind. 

Apologies for the odd spacing, Google has a mind of its own!!

See also my daily Photo Diary Here

My Life Before Charente New scanner - New post 11/02/2015

A visit to Nanteuil-en-Vallée.

The town of Nanteuil-en-Vallée is located in the north of the Charente department. The population fell quite sharply after the losses suffered in the First World War, but subsequently recovered and in 2012 numbered 1452. It has a mixture of house styles, mostly of stone and some half-timbered, all very traditional - dating back at least to the 12th century. A historic and popular area for all kinds of outdoor pursuits!

The maps shows the topography and suggestions for rambles and view points.

The village lavoir, a subject on which I have often written, where in years gone by, the ladies used to meet to do  their washing and exchange gossip.

The thirteenth century Church of St. Jean the Baptist  is open to the public again after ten months of closure. The roof was seriously threatened with collapse and much work has been done. There is still a lot of restoration needed, but costs are high and it will take time. Meanwhile the church is back in use while work continues.

It boasts some wonderful stained glass windows and stone vaulted ceilings.

and this lovely carved entrance door.

The Auberge Le Saint Jean, which was a highly recommended and popular restaurant, has sadly since closed down.  You can see part of the church in the background. Happily, another hostelry still survives in the town, a blessing when so many country restaurants have closed down due to the economic crisis.

Fontaine Saint-Jean.  There are steps inside leading down to the water source, which runs through the town. It is piped from the abbey and appears here and a couple of other places nearby. 

Anne walking through the streets of Nanteuil-en-Vallee, when she visited with us in May last year.

I loved this old picture on one of the walls.

The remains of the 12th century Benedictine Abbey of Notre-Dame de Nanteuil are the main tourist attraction in the village.

Unfortunately it was closed that day and we could not go in to see it!

A narrow village street leading to the Treasury

The plaque recording that this present abbey was built on the site of an earlier, 8th century abbey founded by Charlemagne. At one time a very large abbey, you can now only see the sturdy Treasury building, its walls inset with high arches. Although given this specific name, its use is not actually known!

Little remains of the other main abbey buildings, but there are enough ruins to give one an idea of the original layout, so we are told!

Our last part of the visit was to the arboretum, created by the local authorities for the benefit of residents and visitors. I could have spent more time walking around there, but our schedule didn't permit it!

Ann taking photos in the well-kept gardens.

 The river here is named L'Argentor, a  30km long tributary of the Charente river, formed by the separate streams called L'Argent and L'Or (silver and gold), no doubt a reference to their perceived colours in the sunshine!

See also my daily Photo Diary Here

My Life Before Charente New scanner - New post 20/01/2015

Laundry and the lavoir at Massignac.

The view of Massignac taken from Lac Mas Chaban, a giant artificial lake just down the road.  For posts on Massignac see HERE and HERE.  Not sure why I missed out the lavoir when I posted these!

Lavoirs in France were first constructed around 1870. Before that, the village ladies had to go to the river (if there was one) or find a local spring or pond where they could wash their clothes. The process was aided by the use of large stones and timber frames. They were women's territory! Here, information and news were circulated; reputations were made and unmade and arguments were sometimes settled by fights with wooden clothes beaters, with the losing participant usually ending up in the water!

 A close up of the wash boards. See two on the side of the lavoir and two hung up on a roof beam. I wonder how long the clothes used to last with this scrubbing!

Piped water supply to the lavoir.

I would guess this bench is placed here in memory of one of the local people who was associated in some way with this lavoir. Perhaps in later life he used to sit and contemplate in this quiet, peaceful and pretty spot?

I should have taken a separate close up of the plaque on the bench, but only when I went through the photos did I realise my mistake! This is an electronic enlargement! Francois would have lived 83 years, through a great deal of the 20th century and all the change that brought!

At the back of the church garden.

There is a framed display hung under the lavoir's roof, informing visitors of stories and anecdotes of life at that time. The shots above and below, from September 2001, show local ladies re-creating the scene.

According to one anecdote, laundry washing at "grand houses", which possessed a lot of linen, was done twice a year, in spring and autumn  and the process wasn't a small affair! The calendar and state of the moon were taken into account and some luck was needed for drying! 

The washing procedure (called the  Budjedo) took place over two days and I'm summarising the French description of quite a complex process! I'd be glad to know if you have heard of this  activity! In the early morning of the first day, the "couleuse" (a woman skilled in this type of washing) arrived to supervise. Water was heated, over a wood fire, in a giant clay pot (a budjadier) with a cast iron overflow; a sack of wood ash being put in the bottom before the laundry was added to the very hot water. Cold water was added slowly to the pot all day while the laundry soaked. Water flowing from the overflow had always to be very hot, hence the skill required of adding wood to the fire as necessary to achieve this! 

Early on the second day, the ladies came to take their washing out of the budjadier, transporting it home in wheelbarrows reserved for the process (see photo!). They washed the laundry again with Marseilles soap, using river or other clear water and rinsed and dried it. Thankfully, it's all much easier now!

My thanks to Nigel for translating the writing from the framed display, and for writing most of this post for me.   Also for the use of his computer as mine is completely dead at the moment.  If I am slow on answering comments please note that my computer has not yet been fixed!!  (If it can be fixed!)

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.