Thursday and another day spent blowing away the cobwebs. The question was where to go, where could we get some fresh air but without risking getting soaked. The answer was The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton.
Just a short twenty-mile drive from home, the museum is set in the heart of the South Downs and is encompassed by the South Downs National Park. It is home to around 50 historic buildings that were previously facing destruction. Those buildings were carefully dismantled and have been rebuilt here. All of the buildings, spanning the period c.1300 to c.1910, originate from the Weald and Downland of the counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. The museum is set against an ever-changing backdrop of the Sussex downs.
A small portion of the Sussex countryside
Brilliant scenery, interesting historical buildings with animals mixed in. What better way to get fresh air and exercise.
On entering the site and paying a quite modest entry fee you pass through the Hambrook Barn. The barn has an interesting audio / visual display, with many photos of past and present artisans, some of whom may have worked in some of the buildings in the museum
Barn from Hambrook, Sussex
Passing through the barn you are presented with a high level view over The Market place and down to the pond which has a wind powered water pump. The pump was relocated from Pevensey in Sussex.
The Market PlaceWind Pump
As you stroll down to the pond area you pass the old Tollhouse which was originally from Beeding in Sussex.
Tollhouse
Sat below the pond is the mill that the water drives. The mill is in operation and you can go inside and view the workings as well as purchase fresh ground flour and other goodies. We came away with a number of packets of local biscuits. Yuuumy !!!
WatermillPond
Further round the site there is a working Smithy. The building originates from Southwater which by the way is where some of my family have lived in past times. My grandfather used to work the horses on farmlands around Sussex and who knows he may have visited this building or may have had his horses fitted with shoes from this forge and anvil.
Outside the smithy there is a vertical sculpture. The photo below is a close up of just a part.
Detail From Sculpture near the “Smithy”
Although the buildings are the main reason for the museum one cannot avoid nature. The museum setting means that you are surrounded by beautiful trees, open fields and water.
Naked TreeLower Mill Pond
Around the grounds there are various animals most of which are traditional breeds including Shire horses, Sussex cattle, South Down sheep, Tamworth pigs, geese and Light Sussex chickens. The shire horse can be seen working around the site.
A plump / pregnant sheepOne of the shire horses pulling a cart
It is estimated that you need around three hours to take in all the museum has to offer. That is presumably if you don’t just sit on one of the many benches to absorb the sunshine, the beautiful scenery and the peace and tranquility.
Well for the most part anyway. Our little piece of tranquility was punctuated by a very yappy French Poodle and a large family group who could only communicate by shouting and screaming at each other.
Despite the minor negative moments we had a brilliant time and sadly we had to make our way home.
Yes, good luck to 61 year old Chris Pitman who is attempting to become the oldest British woman to swim across the English Channel.
Chris, from Bedhampton, started her attempt earlier this morning at around 03:15. Leaving from Dover she expects the crossing to take between 15 and 18 hours.
Just over two weeks ago I set off to France on vacation.
Every time I go away I make several promises to myself. I’m not going to overeat, I’m going to eat lots of salads, I’m going to lay off the bread and I’m going to get some exercise.
Of course I jettison most of those within about two nano-seconds of arrival. Salads are easy and I’ll always eat plenty of salad stuff, box number one ticked. The exercise one is sort of easy too since we are going sight-seeing and maybe swimming so that’s tick number two in the boxes. So that leaves the overeating and the bread.
As it happens I find that I actually pick less, no meals between meals if you see what I mean and when I am sightseeing i.e. busy then I don’t get hungry. So the overeating box is lightly ticked as I will go for the full three courses at the main meal and of course I’ve probably had some kind of breakfast.
Which leads us neatly to box number four.
BREAD
How can one go to France and not eat bread ?
Every morning the ritual was to get up and head down to the nearest boulangerie, just three kilometers. The joy of walking into that shop with the fresh loaves displayed behind the counter and the smell, Wow !!
Getting the still warm loaf back to the gite, cup of tea or coffee and then slicing through that crust unleashing more fresh aromas. Slapping on the local charentaise butter and taste buds all jumping for joy.
I can taste it now.
Now, I failed this promise in a big way. Bread (toast) for breakfast, bread before and during meals. So many different styles of bread. Many times I started of the day full of bread. Full but never bloated.
So why is it that after just two slices of Hovis, I feel both full and bloated ?
I know the style of the bread is different and this Hovis stuff is effectively production line, factory bread. What do they put in it that has this bloating effect.
I am seriously thinking that I must take up bread making again even if I have to do it by hand. No Kenwood Chef and Dough Hook, No Kenwood Bread Maker.
Another day with an itinerary planned. Since we are in the Cognac region we felt it would be rude to ignore such a significant subject. So our task for the day was to visit the significant towns of the region, Cognac, Jarnac, Segonzac, Chateauneuf sur Charente & Rouillac.
So off we set, sun shining, for Cognac.
Cognac
However, our entry to the town was a little hectic. Noisy roads and difficulty finding a route to the historic areas had soured our moods a bit so we decided not to stay.
You know what it is like when you don’t like the feel of a place. Can’t put your finger on quite what it is but you know you can’t stay. Perhaps if we had entered on a quieter road we would have stayed.
I know that we are doing Cognac a huge disservice and have probably missed a huge amount, which is why it has not been struck of our list of places to visit. Just not on this trip. So we headed out to the next place itemised on our personal itinerary, Jarnac.
Jarnac
The feel and pace of Jarnac is entirely different and we rapidly found a place to park, free, on the Quai Orangerie, near the Hine buildings. As it happens we were also very close to the Courvoisier buildings too.
Courvoisier, Jarnac, Charente, France
Jarnac is equally proud to be the birthplace of François Mitterrand, one of France’s more recent presidents.
We walked alongside the river, past the boats moored with myriads of fish darting around just below the surface. We crossed the road towards the Courvoisier building before crossing the bridge and heading further along the river to a park.
Quai Orangerie, Jarnac, Charente, FranceJarnac, Charente, France
Given the days temperature it was nice to get under the shade of the trees. A group of school children were enjoying some team sports while on the grass, while over in river shallows a group of lads were lobbing a ball around. They were joined by a lady and her dog who was soon lunging after the ball. A little further down on a small island two lads were fishing although I don’t think they really expected to catch anything with all the thrashing around in the water.
Alongside the park there are weirs and channels set up for kayak slalom racing.
Slalom, Jarnac, Charente, France
The park itself is on an island and the paths around its perimeter give one a direct view into to some lovely gardens some of which have their own moorings or pergolas and barbecues.
Charente @ Jarnac, France
After a delightful time in the park we headed back into Jarnac to get ourselves a drink. We sat and people watched while we had a couple of beers and nibbles at L’Alambic, Place Du Chateau. It was quite entertaining as opposite the bar there is a small car park with a Tabac off to one side. The comings and goings, the double and sometimes treble parking was exposing the dark side of some of the drivers who were dashing into the Tabac, we presumed, to get their lottery tickets.
After, we meandered through the streets window shopping, and made our way back to the car, passing the church and numerous architectural features some of which I have attached below…..
Clock Tower, Jarnac, FranceChurch Door, Jarnac, FranceAn artefact of the church of St Pierre, Jarnac, France
Once back at the car we rested in the shade and topped up with water. This was one of the hottest days of our holiday so far. Given the time, nearly 17:00, we had to replan our itinerary. Obviously we were not going to be able to visit and tour all the places on our list. So we decided to move on to Segonzac with a view to seeing what we could and maybe getting a meal.
Segonzac was only a short drive away and we were soon parked up a short way from the town square.
Segonzac, Charente, France
We would have been parked closer but a stupid woman, stopped her car directly in front of me in the entrance to the car park. Got out of her car and crossed the street. Leaving her car blocking the entrance to the car park.
The Hotel de Ville was very prettily decked out with many flower baskets.
Hotel de Ville, Segonzac, Charente, France
The church was huge but nice and cool inside giving us some respite from the heat and the brightness of the sun.
Church of Saint Pierre, Segonzac, Charente, France. Spire is made of stones in the form of pine cones.
We were beginning to realise that we were still too early for a meal in a restaurant and nothing else being available we decided to head on to Chateauneuf-sur-Charente.
Châteauneuf-les-Charentes
Only a short journey and we were soon parked up and walking the streets hunting down a place to eat.
Chateauneuf-sur-CharenteHotel de Ville, Chateauneuf-sur-CharenteStream, Chateauneuf-sur-Charente
Unfortunately the only places open were doing fast food. The evening menu still an hour or two off. So, we headed back to the car having decided to aim back to the gite going via Rouillac which was on our original list of places to visit. I had also spotted a couple of signs indicating the existence of restaurants on the road out of town.
So we followed the signs and visited the restaurants…..you guessed it. Closed.
On to Rouillac and a quick motor round the streets which showed no sign of open eateries. We were getting concerned about the time. If we just headed home to the gite it would be too late to think about cooking. At our age late eating can play havoc with the digestive system and I wasn’t prepared to go without a proper meal. Snacks are OK but not really fulfilling.
Then I had a brilliant idea. Why don’t we use the SatNav to identify restaurants in the area. Sure enough it started to identify the ones that we had already visited and determined that they were closed. So we decided to hedge our bets a bit.
On previous visits to France and during our journey down to Barbezieres we had seen instances of a food chain “Buffalo Grill”. Usually near to other eateries such as Macdonald’s and close to retail parks. We thought they would probably serve food all day and almost be guaranteed to be open
So we asked TomTom to find us the nearest Buffalo Grill. It did what it was asked and we duly plumbed in the route and set off to the restaurant which was located in Chateaubernard just two miles from Cognac.
We had in fact passed through Chateaubernard on our way to Jarnac after we had jettisoned Cognac earlier in the day. Well what the hey.
We sat outside on the deck and had a nice meal courtesy of Buffalo Grill. I had a burger, medium rare, and my wife had a Rump Steak also medium rare. Very well presented and filling.
So we had circled Cognac and what seemed like most of the towns in the Cognac region. We had a great day even though it looked like France was determined to starve us out.
The gite was finally illuminated in our headlights around 22:30 after a lonely drive through the French countryside. I nearly squashed the lettuce, gifted by Didier, left by our front door some time earlier in the day. Of course I had to wash that straight away since we didn’t know what creepy crawlies had decided it was their birthday. We added it to the two other lettuces we had in the fridge, also courtesy of Didier.
So a cup of tea while we gentle ceased circling and thence to bed.
Today is a sad day. As we will be travelling home tomorrow we have to pack our kit and give the gite a bit of a clean.
I made my last 3km run to the boulangerie earlier this morning. Picked up a “petite boule”. It has been hard during the last few days, the decision making that is. A petite boule, a grand boule, a pavee or perhaps a baguette. I am going to miss the daily bread trip. I don’t know where the nearest artisan bakery is at home. The nearest we have is in one of the supermarket chain stores.
I’m not likely to get a bright smiley Bon Jour from a bland, help yourself, bank of loaves. Let alone the same varieties of bread.
So we have packed and scrubbed, rewarded ourselves with an ice cold beer and relaxed for a while.
We visited a local cave to buy some local wine. This descended into farce as I initially tried to ask concrete truck drivers mate if the cave was open. He of course couldn’t understand me but wouldn’t know anyway. He did indicate a guy on a tractor. So I went and introduced myself asked if he spoke any english. He shook my hand said something in French, climbed down off his tractor and ran off behind a building. In the meantime a black and tan dog came and introduced himself.
There are no language barriers betwixt man and dog.
A couple minutes later another guy turns up on a tractor. Speaks in French at 1000 words a second while first pointing at his cement covered wellies then at the building works and the truck. Eventually I understood him to be saying that he couldn’ deal with us as the concrete truck had arrived late. That he now had to deal with the concrete before that went off and could we come back tomorrow morning after nine.
We said not to worry, we couldn’t come back as we would be travelling home. As we were leaving he came running after us with a bottle of wine. Presumably as a consolation for not being able to buy his wine. I protested that it was not necessary, but not too much, and accepted gracefully. We bid our adieu’s and headed off to Aigre.
In Aigre we headed into the supermarket, to hedge our bets and buy some commercial wine. After that we went to research the two restaurants and decide which one should have our custom for our last relaxed meal in France.
The lucky winner was Le Square, who provided us with an adequate meal which with beers cost us over 50 euros. This compared to a really good meal with wine and beer which cost us just over 31 euros at Les Colombiere the night before.
And so back to the gite, a couple of games of Rummikub and early to bed.
Decided today would be an unstructured day. Just drive out into the countryside and see what we can see.
Our initial direction took us to the next village, where there is a small chateau, and on to Chives (pronounced sheeve). Here there is an unusual church with what looks like a garage attached.
Church @ Chives, Charente, France
From Chives we headed deeper into the countryside where we came across a shady stream. Photo opportunity methinks. Soon I am laid on the ground, all professional and artistic, even got the external flash attached. Turns out that the batteries have enough oomph to drive the flash display but not enough for the flash itself. So I made do with what I had and plugged away.
Then we thought, “Why don’t go walk round Aigre ?”. We have passed through the town several times just to visit the nearest supermarket. It was time we paid a visit.
Hotel de Ville, Aigre, France
It turns out there is not a lot there but Aigre provides all the basics. Post Office, bank, pharmacies, a Spar, tabac and a couple of restaurants. We plan to give at least one of them a test in the next few days.
Decided to stay around the gite today so not much to report. We were loafing. Well we were both reading and my wife was catching the rays.
It was not a wasted day though. Enter Guided Tours by Didier. Initially this was an offer he made following a conversation we had about birds in general and owls in particular. The conversation had moved on to a particular bird that is a migratory visitor to the region. Didier’s bird guide had a name but no picture so we couldn’t tell if this species had an English name. Didier suggested he take me out to see if we could spot them out by the fields. Apparently they prefer to run, rather than fly, and are quite often seen on the roads.
We didn’t spot the elusive bird but did discuss many other things.
Charente View
Didier explained how his family used to dairy farm but had moved on to grapes and other crops. Didier’s father had felt tied to the farm when they had cattle as they require 24/7 care. They then switched to grapes but discovered that they required a different kind of attention but were nonetheless demanding. Other crops are now the order of the day. In this area, in addition to the ubiquitous grape there are fields of various cereals, sunflower, maize, pea’s and Colza, used for its cooking oil although Didier claimed it is also used to run the tractors.
As Didier drove us around the maze of roads criss-crossing the patchwork of fields I wondered how the farmers kept track of which field were theirs. This potential confusion has been further exacerbated by the undocumented “swapping” of land to allow for a form of crop consolidation. The details of these swaps, he tells me, are held in each persons head.
At one crossroads I pointed out a large earthen, obviously man-made, structure. He informed me that it is a water reservoir. The water is stored during the winter and used during the summer to water the crops. This takes the burden off the local streams and rivers and also off the local water table. The local farmers were further encouraged by a government subsidy. A sensible and green action you might think.
However, something about this scheme has enraged the green activists who have obtained legal injunctions. So no more reservoirs will be built for now.
Go figure !!
Many vineyards have been cleared and the land now used for these other crops. There are also tracts of land that have been cleared and just left.
Seems I am not entirely well. Have the back door trots. Otherwise I feel OK. Opinion has it that following spending so much time outside yesterday, I possibly have a touch of sun stroke.
Spent the day at the gite and all evening asleep on the couch. No appetite so no dinner. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have to be ill to stay away from food. My evening meal was one slice of dry bread and that took a couple hours to see off. Nothing else took my fancy or was deemed sensible given the state of my tum.
I’m really annoyed as Didier came across to invite us over for an apertif but we had to decline.
Today we had a plan or perhaps I should say we had an itinerary.
The first stop was Ruffec, a small but busy town. One thing we are learning is that if you arrive near lunchtime things rapidly quieten down. All the shops close, the streets empty and rapidly take on the appearance of a ghost town. All that is missing is the ubiquitous tumbleweed and the mysterious stranger.
Wash House, Ruffec, Charente, France
Ruffec has narrow streets to explore with quite a variety of architectural styles. Ranging from ornate frontages with fancy balconies to the older buildings with exposed wooden beams. The 12c western frontage of the church is of interest as is the more but nonetheless very striking stain glass window at the eastern end of the church. Close to the church is a rectangular pool through which a river runs. Walking east along the stream brings you to a wooden structure with a tiled roof and many hanging baskets. Very picturesque but I’m not sure if it has any other purpose. Some of the leaflets we have acquired at the Tourist Information Offices have photos of similar structures and identify them as wash houses. Although they don’t clarify if the washing is of people or clothes. Further east there is a building, possibly a mill, with a waterwheel and the stream splits. One leg continuing east, one heading north.
On the leg heading north is a very pretty house and garden. The stream runs the full length of the back of the house and the garden while the road borders the other side, taking ground level to the second floor. The garden is at road level with a wall overlooking the stream. Running the full length of the back of the house is an iron balcony along which patrols a black dog. He was silent until I spoke to him. Trust me to break the peace and quiet.
From Ruffec we headed over to Nanteuil-en-Vallee, a pretty village with usual dominating church. This one built on the site of the Benedictine Abbey of Notre Dame.
Here on parkland, adjacent to the small car park, a family fete was in full swing with bouncy castle and barbecue. One thing we have noticed is how prevalent are village social events. I know we have them in England but here even the smallest hamlet seems to be doing something. Maybe it is another facet of the “co-op” farming methods which are spilling over into social life. Keeping people involved.
Another feature of Nanteuil-en-Vallee is the arboretum which features formal flower gardens, shady pathways and water gardens. This little oasis is worth the visit and entry is free.
Nanteuil-en-Valee
There are small trickling brooks, shallow ponds and a river which encourage all manner of wildlife. Dragonflies and Damselflies of vivid hues, lizards darting among the leaves and even some sort of water rat that stopped to clean his whiskers at the waters edge.
While in a flower garden our attention was drawn by the loud calling of what we were convinced was a water bird. But when we reached the pond there were no birds to be seen. Instead the huge sound we heard had been created by a frog that immediately dove under water as we stepped onto the wooden walkway over his domain. We could see him and another below the surface and, although we waited for some time, he never resurfaced, Seems his lung capacity was greater than my patience.
After completing our perambulations we headed back to the car and so onto the next item on our itinerary.
Verteuil-sur-Charente is dominated by two buildings. The chateau and church of St Medard. Both of these impressive buildings have prominent positions looking down over the Charente.
Chateau, Verteuil-sur-Charente, France
Alongside the main bridge the river is diverted through a mill race, the old mill effectively built on an island. The mill is now a very pleasant restaurant and tea room with tables outside overlooking water on two sides. Inside the mill is still functioning, creating a comforting rumble as a backdrop. Unfortunately they were closed to new customers so we were too late to partake of their wares. Ces La Vie.
From here we headed home to Barbezieres for a welcome dinner and a well earned rest.
WrAnTz 