Thursday, August 30, 2012

Low river level.

I thought this would be of interest to our guests who visited us in May and June this year, at that time the Vezere was very high and there were few canoes available to hire due to the dangerously high and fast flowing river. This picture taken from the Le Moustier bridge this afternoon looking towards La Roque shows what a contrast there is now, the island you can see here with the canoeists taking a break on had been well under water for most of the year, now parts of the trip toward Les Eyzies are so shallow that you have to get out of the canoe and drag it to the next deeper part of the river to continue your journey.
Still no sign of any significant rain as the forecast for next week is full sun and 30 degrees plus temperatures....lovely!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Summer nights!

Our local restaurant in Le Moustier, previously known as the Auberge du Vimont which now has been re-named the Restaurant Napoleonienne (now there's a name to test your french pronunciation!) has been very busy serving our customers over the last few weeks now that you can sit outside until any hour in the evenings. Good reviews from everyone who have visited so far so well done the new owners who have made the outside eating area so very nice.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

July festival

Every year Montignac holds a festival of music and dance in the town, groups from all over the world take part and when we arrived the events were in full swing. Chilean dancers took over one of the cafes and after this we walked further up the main street where an Italian group made the centre look more like a mini Sienna with their flag waving routine. We'll make sure we see more next year as it really was a spectacular show, even better, it was all free!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Birds eye view

A photograph taken on a recent bike ride in between Le Moustier and Plazac shows what i think is a military Sea King helicopter flying over Le Chateau du Peuch. This chateau has been featured before on this blog but every time I pass it always looks so grand.
A little bit more research has found that the original castle on the site was burnt down in mysterious circumstances in 1754, apart from that there's very little known of it's history.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The village next door!

Plazac is a small village just 5 minutes drive from Les Granges. Situated in the Vimont valley the church is at its historic centre and this and many parts of the village date back to the 12th century where it was used by the Archbishop of Perigueux as a country retreat. Rumour has it that there are underground tunnels beneath the village that were used during the many conflicts over the centuries. There's a spring which feeds underground passages sending water to the church and its attached presbytery.
It's a great place to wander around and there's always the cafe/bar to relax in and watch the world go by.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

One day in 1944.

Last week we managed to have a day out and decided to travel a couple of hours north to the west of Limoges to a place I've always wanted to visit since buying Les Granges. The place, Oradour sur Glane, a town that on 10th June 1944 was destroyed by an SS panzer division with devastating effect with the loss of much life, 642 civilians to be exact.
Since that day, the whole town has changed little except for the decay over the years, remaining as a memorial to the men women and children who died on that day. The visitor centre that precedes the tour around the ruins is excellent in the explanation of how and why the town was picked for such an atrocious act.
It is certainly an eerie place, maybe not a destination for every visitor to the area but if history is your thing, it's a must.