Extraordinary visitors

I've just waved goodbye to an elderly ( aged 81) Frenchman and his lovely wife. They stayed here at Maureville for 2 days and ate 'table d'hote' each evening at the kitchen table with us. Madame spoke superb English, whilst Monsieur wasn't bad. They preferred me to speak French though, so it was quite a challenge, but not impossible as they helped out when I got stuck.
So, why were they extraordinary?
Monsieur de Fleury was a descendant of the de Fleury family who were 'seigneurs' of Maureville and Beauregard for centuries...selling the estate & moving to a chateau in the Charente in approximately 1850.
He has done extensive research into the family history and, indeed spent most of his 2 days 'chez nous' in the Mairie in Asnois, searching through records. There he was quite successful, although he could find no de Fleury headstones in the cemetry.
The de Fleury's kept hold of the chateau at Beauregard during the Revolution due to a fearless lady. I would guess she was the 'Chatelaine'. Her 2 sons fled to Germany along with many other young rich men of the time, where they joined an army to fight back against the rebels. When rebels from Civray arrived at the chateau, she said she was a woman alone & persuaded them to leave her alone. 10 years later her sons returned & took over the place.
I believe the last family member living in Beauregard was the great-grandfather of my guest...Dr. Maurice de Fleury. He was the local 'medecin' and travelled around the countryside in an old horse & cart. We were told the story of Dr Maurice's courtship with a young lady that was rudely interrupted, and also ruined by his horse,bored with waiting outside, barging into the lady's cottage & wrecking the windows!
M. de Fleury also told us a bit about Maureville. We'd always assumed that some of the stonework around the doors and windows, and the enormous stone fireplace were the result of receiving stolen goods during the sacking of the nearby Abbaye at Charroux. They are quite outrageously ostentatious for an ordinary farmhouse. ..............But, said Monsieur, it wasn't an ordinary farmhouse...it was much grander than that, it was part of the 'Seigneurie'....?? ( Not too sure what that involves!-- a manager, or Dowager's house perhaps?!)
The last little anecdote that we were told was of M. 's childhood. He was brought up in a chateau in the Charente. He called his mother 'La comtesse'... obviously an upper class family. The upper classes throughout Europe were more happy with each others company, than associating with the lower classes. One afternoon in 1940 a high-ranking German officer, whose troups had encamped in the nearby village, arrived at the chateau to be greeted by 10 year old Philippe (our Monsieur). 'I'd like to speak with your father' he said to Philippe. 'No, it's impossible,' he was told. 'Isn't he here?' said the Officer. 'Yes, but he is taking his siesta and I dare not wake him' said Philippe.
The Officer departed saying he'd come back at a more convenient time. Such was the power of the upper classes, at least early on in the war!
M.et Mme de Fleury were fascinating guests. Of course, now that they've gone I've a dozen queries for them. They've promised to stay again and I hope his research will carry on...I must make a list before the next visit!

Ps. As well as his ancestral interests, until retirement at 75 M. was a serious yachtsman. Six years ago he was crossing the Atlantic with a crew of 6, when the rudder fell off the boat. SOS calls went out (I believe it was a bit of a storm) and a British 'Tall Ship'-- umpteen metres of 'voile' (sails), manned by a disabled crew of youngsters, came to their rescue.
It was impossible to save their yacht and so it had to be scuttled. The French crew then spent a week aboard the British ship.
M. de Fleury said, whilst recounting this story, 'it was then I understood how the British won the war. The discipline and tenaciousness of the disabled crew was phenominal. A French crew wouldn't be the same at all.'
Interesting little anecdote!

The randonnee--beautiful countryside scenery

Saturday May 28th saw us joining about 150 folk from nearby Charroux on their annual evening 'randonnee'.

Organised walks & rambles are a strong form of village entertainment round these parts. Asnois has 2 or 3 randonnee every year. We missed the last as I was catching a plane to the UK that day, so yesterday's outing in Charroux seemed a good time to find out what all the excitement is about.

We got tickets (12 euros per person) from the tourist office in Charroux & were told to meet up in the big house by the car park at 6.30pm on Saturday. There we would be entertained by a band, & be given 'aperitifs' before we set off on our way. The destination was to be Richmeau chateau.

It was a hot day--like every day this month. What an amazing May we've had! We arrived to see Sandra, with her cardy tied around her waist & walking stick in hand. Geoff had a small rucksack...and was prepared for a cooler temperature later that evening. I was more concerned about being too hot and decided a body warmer was all I needed over a tee shirt. More people arrived...mostly French, but quite a few English & we set off round to the garden behind the 'Big House' ( This is a commune house used in Charroux for events, displays and meetings. The garden is an extension of the 'aire de loisir')

We received a map of the route, & tickets...'aperitifs'...'tagine+ fromage'..'dessert+tee ou cafe'...and, within a few minutes had handed over the torn-off 'aperitif' ticket in exchange for a glass of the ubiquitous rose wine with pamplemousse and a slice of quiche alongside a slice of pizza! This we ate on long benches that had been dotted around the garden, but mostly in front of the 'oompah' band which started up with 'Winchester cathedral' and continued in that vein for the next hour.

Eventually ( about 8pm!) there was a stirring & we all set off..but it didn't equate to the route on the map, as we headed up the road towards the church, along some of the back lanes and onto a track. A couple of friends were convinced they were on their way back to Vieille Metive!

It was a long straggly crocodile..groups of 3 & 4 in a row, all striding out and chatting with their neighbours. The first section was slightly uphill, and we were going at quite a lick. Many youngsters over took us and gradually the group of walkers spread out...some marching out ahead, whilst others pottered behind more sedately.

As we walked along the 'chemins'..fields to either side of us...not a dwelling in site, we realised that we were 'doing' the route on the map backwards! The walkers were really thinning out now & we arrived at a set of arrows--those pointing left said---11kms, those pointing straight on said 8kms. We, and the 3 elderly French ladies in front of us headed straight on!

The countryside was beautiful. The River Charente was on our left, with a field of horses behind it and on our left was afield of Friesian heiffers. The French ladies were getting well ahead as we arrived at a clearing...not too sure where this was, but there were loos.....hooray!..and 3 lads in yellow jackets waiting to guide us over the little footbridge. We'd lost our ladies by then & asked the guides how much further...... the first said 5kms.............ohhhh dear we said............. peut-etre 2 ou 3 he said!

So we crossed the river, went through the field & up into the woods where we followed the track round to the right ( white arrows showed us the way) & were promptly overtaken by a group of teenagers who'd taken the long route! We knew the chateau was on the other side of the river--and the otherside of the main road and, on coming out fromthe wood, were pleasantly surprised to find that we knew where we were!

Over the road bridge, across the main road...& there were our 3 lads again. 'DEUX KILOMETRES' John said to them...'je pense c'etait 5'!!! It was a steep climb up to the chateau, but, on coming around the side, we were greeted with torches all around the edge of the lawns which we followed as far as the stripy tent. The second ticket was handed over & we were given tagine of chicken with cous-cous--a hunk of brie and a hunk of chevre-- and a glass of red wine. Trestle tables had been set out in the tent and loaves of bread ceremoniously dumped along them--about a metre apart! Much to our surprise, more people were arriving for food long after we had started eating..so we weren't the last after all..by a long way!

The entertainment this time was a quartet of 2 girls--one playing a clarinet, the other playing the accordion and 2 boys, playing bassoon and violin. An odd assortment of intruments, but they came up with some wonderfully haunting gypsy style folk music. We were told they were a Balkan group..but they spoke to the audience in French!

It was getting darker...and cooler.

We set off through the back entrance of the chateau & into the woods. It wasn't cold, but I was quite grateful to the 2 ladies in front of us, and the 3 teenagers behind, who waved their torches aound!

It was a lot faster on the way back & we arrived in a small lane just above the Mairie. We followed back lanes down to the main road, and were promptly hered staright across, round the back again & up the steps ( the final killer of the night!)--past the allotments into the church car park.............. where we were serenaded again by the jazz band! We stayed with them for about 20minutes by which time nearly everybody had arrived & we were taken back into the village where we had pudding in Les Halles!

It was 11.45pm when we left... we just about got into bed at midnight! It was a super evening!

May 2011--HOT HOT HOT!!!

The landscaping is finished but the tidying up is difficult when the ground is so hard.

But you can see that it is going to be very smart soon!

Mieke's willow sculpture..... at present here at Maureville... Geoff has been watering her garden at La Grange d'Amelie...but it was burning up, so he brought it back home where it had recovered well. We're going to have to return it soon!!!

Oh dear!

I've really rather neglected this blog this year...so now is the time to get going again.

We are having an extraordinary May. No rain for at least 6 weeks. The odd grey-ish day, but on the whole we've had temperatures over 24 for over a month and it doesn't look as though it is going to change for a while.

Geoff abandoned his indoor building project in April whilst I was away in England. I got back to find him doing mammoth works round the pool. We bought slabs to do a bit of landscaping last year, but the job has been on hold until the ground was suitable for work. Many friends with above-ground pools put decking around. It looks good, but we decided against this for 2 reasons. Firstly, the safety ladder we'd bought is ideal for keeping youngsters out. If we surrounded the pool with decking, we'd then have to put extra safety fencing around. The second reason for not having decking was because we discovered last summer, that, compared with that of friends with pools of similar size, our pool was 3 or 4 degrees warmer due to the sun shining on the surrounding walls. Today...May 21st.. the temperature of the pool is 26, yesterday it was even warmer!

The bizarre thing of such high temperatures for such a prolonged time so early in the season is that, not only is nature confused, but so am I! Somehow it feels like July...and I don't understand why there are no tomatoes ready to eat in the garden! ( well, of course, I understand...but it feels as though there should be!)

Well, the landscaping is nearly finished--just as well as the ground is as hard as concrete now. I have to finish building the dry stone wall around the top of the new paved area.... and the 'flowerbeds' above need weeding and planting now.

Of course--we really need some rain!!....but I do love the sunshine & don't want it to end!

2011-- HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Since October Geoff has built 2 new windows-- the pictures above show the progress--albeit in the wrong order (one day I'll master downloading and displaying of pictures on the blog!) of the construction of the bedroom window to the front of the house. This is to be the 3rd bedroom upstairs. It will be a double room with a small mezzanine above which will have 2 single beds. There will be a large bathroom--with bath & shower along the landing-- and we're hoping all this will be ready for use this summer. Ultimately it will all be part of the self-catering appartment-- which will not be ready this summer--short of a miracle!

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!