More of the 'racing round the ramparts'!

Well----- great day out for petrol heads! Huge English following! Crowds everywhere!

But not my thing!

Motor-racing at Angouleme

Although we've had a couple of mid-week visitors, the last two week-ends have been very quiet. Marvellous for us to get out & about and enjoy the end of summer entertainment!

Last week-end had so much on that it was hard to choose where to go or what to do! In the end I plumped for a girlie Saturday at the Slimmercise Health & Body Beautiful event at the salle de fete in Lessac ( not far from Confolens) where we inspected make-up, clothes, jewelry,--had morning coffee with slimline cakes!--but couldn't get an appointment with the tarot reading lady as she was already so booked up!--bought some Christmas cards and then enjoyed the wonderful ( and very modestly priced!)slimline lunch that had been prepared by Lynn's chef husband and helpers from some of the slimming classes.

I then spent the afternoon in the pool. The water temperature has been on the decline for some time now--it was 24*C then, but now is down to 20! Whether we'll get another dip this year seems doubtful.

I should have gone to Charroux in the evening to see the 'Spectacle'-- a series of historical plays, renacted by local villagers--French & English, and which I'm told was most entertaining. But I didn't-- mainly because we had an early start the next day ( well, Geoff did!)

He was off on a boy's outing with the lads from Beauregard. The 4 of them were off to see the 'Racing round the Ramparts'-- the street racing event held every September in Angouleme.

I am told the place was heaving so they parked at the bottom of town by the in the railway staion car park --and then walked up to the top--for the action!

More pictures, and the rest of the story of the day out at Angouleme with the next posting!

Le Conge Annuel!

We've had a few B&B's since I last wrote in the blog.

The 'most interesting'-- were a Dutch couple who phoned to see if we'd a vacancy on the day before their arrival.

They arrived on pushbikes and were on a 5 week holiday during which they planned to cycle from Holland along the ancient historical pilgrim route of St James Way, along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

I knew that Charroux was along the route-- it is frequently a subject of discussion in the village--and cyclists frequently stop to see the tower in Charroux-- all that is now left of the Abbaye which was once one of the biggest in France.

On chatting with my B&B's--who planned to cycle between 50 & 100kms per day--depending on the weather, the terrain etcetc--& then fly home at the end!-- I realised I knew very little about it. So ..........I googled it...........& discovered:-

1985 there were 2,491 pilgrims--who completed the route & claimed a 'compostela' afterwards!

( no--I've no idea either!)

1995 19,821 pilgrims claimed their compostelas!

2005 93,921 pilgrims walked or cycled the route.

Of course, many more go---& are unrecorded if they do not claim their compostela, but it would seem that ever more people, religious & non-religious, from all over Europe are heading through France, across the Pyrenees and along the north coast of Spain ( apparently there's a coastal path & an inland path through the mountains) to Santiago de Compostela on the far west point of Spain.

Quite exciting--n'est ce pas?

We have just returned from our 'conge annuel'-- as the summer break is known in this part of the world!

We headed off to John & Chris's holiday home near Charlieu in La Loire. This isn't the departement all around the River Loire, or Loir, to the north of Poitou-Charentes. It is the departement in the Rhone-Alpes where you find the source of the Loire-- about 5 hours drive due east from here!

We last went there about 3 years ago, so it was great to see all there home improvements. The sad little cottage that had those dark damp rooms which backed onto the mountain had all been opened up and dry-lined. A new bathroom had been installed upstairs--and a new kitchen downstairs-- but the ' piece de resistance' was the new outside doors and windows throughout. Very much food for thought!

Our 2 days there wasn't marred by the continuous rain--good food, good wine (they live by the Beaujolais vineyards and are friends with the owners of Les Bulliats, who produce Regnie wines)and good company--who cares about the weather!

On leaving John & Chris we headed through the 'Montagnes de Madeleine' towards Vichy--with a view to spending the day there --and possibly finding a city B&B where we could spend the night.

We picnicked in the beautiful arboretum parks alongside the River Allier. We went to the old part of the city & had a coffee....but... we are not city folk, and we quickly decided that we couldn't bear the noise and the hustle & bustle...........so we moved on!

A quick study of the map & we discovered we were in that oh,so romantic sounding Auvergne! ( The haunting strains of Joseph Canteloube's 'Songs of the Auvergne' evokes this thought!)

We headed for the town of Riom-- just outside Clermont Ferrand. Not being able to find a B&b we plumped for one of the cheapy hotels that you find on the ring roads of nearly all the big cities in France-- and went to the burger bar across the road for supper! ( French beefburgers are 100% beef--and not to be sneered at!)

The next morning was grey and cloudy as we headed for Puy de Dome. It was well sign-posted & we reached the car park well before 10am. It was also covered by cloud.

I hadn't actually considered mountain climbing. The map looked as though you could drive to the top--but the car park was actually about 3/4 of the way to the summit! It was also busy with hikers, caravanners and builders who were erecting posters and signs. The cafe said it didn't open before 11am--but did advertise a large menu for later in the day.

We read posters-- noting one that said '45 minutes to the top' (less than we walk daily with the dogs!)-- and then decided to meander along the path to see what was around the first corner! At this stage the mountain was still in cloud--in fact visibility in the car park was fairly limited. i didn't think we'd be going very far--which is why I was still carrying my handbag which had a thumping great paperback and a large hardbacked address book as we set off!

The path meandered back & forth up the hillside. There were stopping places with seats and maps and viewing points--all of which we used as we pottered on!

The path crossed a road ( it does go to the top--but not for the likes of tourists!) and the mist started to clear. It was getting a bit steeper as we came across a post with a yellow notice on it--which said ( in 3 languages)-- 'you have covered a third of the journey since leaving the car park. Another 250 metres to climb to the summit!' I reckon we'd already taken 45 minutes at this stage, but it was all quite enjoyable, so we carried on!

The sun came out & the views across the countryside were stunning. The Auvergne consists of umpteen extinct volcanoes, leaving the countryside a series of green craters in all directions. The last part of the climb was a hard slog. We were overtaken by cyclists ( the 'tour de France' has been to the summit of Puy de Dome many times), by joggers and ordinary walkers ( who were younger & fitter!)--but we got there-- hot, and breathless, and very red in the face!

At the summit there were cafes ( all closed, in spite of the number of people--it was September, so the season was over!) --there was the 'Temple of Mercury'-- a series of standing stones!!?!-- and a French television station! A large concrete path went all around the summit , with telescopes and binoculars and posters describing the views in all directions. We carried on ( it was nearly the final straw which broke the camel's back trudging up the last few steps!) taking photos to the north, south, east and west!

We headed back down the path--noting the sign that said '45 minutes back to the car park'! I asked somebody the time--'12.26' he said.

More & more people were trudging to the top as we strode back down with a glowing feeling of superiority!! If we'd stepped out any faster we'd have tumbled. On reaching the car park I was told the time was 1.13pm...... 47 minutes!!

We ate the remains of the Vichy picnic lunch--just as well we had it as the cafe with all the promising signs proved to be selling coffee and kitkats--or so a very disgruntled Englishman informed me!

We'd planned to spend the last part of our holiday in Aubusson. We'd been told it was the tapestry capitol of France--if not the world, and well worth a visit, particularly since it was en-route on our return homewards.

We got there, did a couple of laps and parked in the car park next to the museum ( of tapestry).

Still on a high from the morning's exertions, we found it difficult to get very enthusiastic, but we went round the museum and stared in awe at the enormous wall hangings--dating from the 15th century onwards--before calling it a day and heading home.

The countryside got less green as we got further west. We'd left the place looking a bit like the Sahara-- fields and hedgerows were yellow, or even brown. Lawns were bare after the long hot summer-- and, although I think there'd been a drop of rain, it was nothing compared with what we'd seen over the last few days! Oh good-- it's still summertime-- not yet ready for autumn we thought!