Summer is on its way!

In a rather uneven fashion, spring here is slipping into summer. We’ve finally opened our pool but it’s going to be some days before it’s warm enough to enjoyably swim in. After the prolonged wet winter and spring, our robotic lawnmower with its ceaseless activity, is the subject of much admiration from visitors. In the part of the garden where we’re allowing grass some measure of free reign, we have been delighted to find a number of orchids appearing.

A less welcome manifestation of wildlife was that a wooden nest box mounted fairly high in a tree housing breeding blue tits, had the roof brutally ripped open and the inhabitants devoured. We’re fairly certain that the culprit was a large dog-size polecat which we’ve seen in the area.

A beautiful but empty nest

It’s been a challenging week getting anything done here in France because in addition to Ascension Day on Thursday, Wednesday was the holiday for the commemoration of the end of the Second World War, at least as it concerned France. (Of course in Britain, WWII continued until the surrender of Japan.) So on Wednesday, along with various dignitaries and veterans, we gathered at a local monument which commemorates both the losses of the Second World War and the courage of the resistance, with a special mention of the Section Spéciale de Sabotage which was big locally. Indeed in another local village, Javerlhac, it ignored Resistance wisdom, took on the occupying forces in direct battle, and won.

It’s a sobering thought that there are now almost no veterans left of the Second World War. We did however meet someone who had served with the French forces in Lebanon and had been there at the dreadful explosion in November 1983 that killed over 50 French peacekeepers. Having heard the explosion, we had a rather curious and unnerving sense of being veterans with him.

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One of the three mayors involved read a speech from the Minister of Defence. There was the raising and lowering of the flags and the inevitable Marseillaise. This being France, there was of course no mention of God.

The combination of two national holidays in the middle of the week inevitably meant that a number of people have decided to make it a very long holiday by skipping work on Friday. Writing this on Friday afternoon, the normal tranquillity around us is broken by the sound of strimmers, pressure hoses and lawn mowers. Summer is definitely on the way.

Poitiers

At last it seems we are slowly it seems edging out of the rainiest winter in memory. And we realise that this is our 500th blog.

A couple of weeks ago on a wet Saturday we took the train to Poitiers, around 120 km to the north of us, between 30 minutes and a hour away by train. We’d visited there on a holiday many years ago on a warm summer’s day and it was interesting to see how different it was at the end of winter. Although it’s not very far away from us, in travelling to Poitiers you cross the vague, invisible but important line that separates the south and the north of France. Angoulême with its white stone and tiled roofs, likes to think of itself as part of the ‘Midi’, whereas Poitiers, with its slate roofs and half-timbered buildings, is definitely in the north.

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Given that it wasn’t a very pleasant day we spent a lot of time wandering in and out of churches, some of which were very gloomy. We’ve seen so many churches in France that frankly we’re inclined to look for new elements. The most famous church in Poitiers, the 11th-12th century Notre-Dame La Grande, fits this bill, with its wonderful 12th century carved façade and its painted columns.

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In another church there was a monument to some companion to Mary Queen of Scots (who we remind you was for a short period a Queen of France), who spent his last days in Poitiers.

We did however find other fascinating things. One was what seems to be the umbrella shop in France, with a range of colourful handmade umbrellas, including some with high-tech carbon-fibre frames, all at an appropriately elevated price. The family firm have been based in Poitiers making umbrellas since 1870. We didn’t buy anything but they have had a good winter.

We also enjoyed the vast hall in the Palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine.

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All in all a good trip to Poitiers but no French city is at its best until there is enough sun and warmth to sit lazily outside on some café terrace watching the world go by. We need to return on a better day.

An early summer walk 2

This is the continuation of last week’s blog about the walk we did from Rochebeaucourt. Much of the second part was across pleasant if unspectacular countryside. One notable feature was the presence of a number of tiny communes/hamlets (hameaux) of often no more than three or four houses. It’s easy to imagine how these worked in the past, with a bigger house for the landowner and smaller properties for the labourers. It’s less easy to see how they work today with big mechanised fields and farms three or four times the size they were in the past.

Actually this picture was taken for the blossom, but you can see the roof of an old farmhouse behind, with an imposing well on the left.

Eventually after winding our way through many lanes, woodland, settlements and passing the odd chateau, we came down to the river Nizonne (the boundary between Charente and Dordogne), which was running very high and fast after the recent prolonged recent rains.

We then crossed the main road and climbed back up onto the ridge, where we came to the tiny cluster of houses which is Argentine today. The hamlet takes its name from the fact that in the past there was silver mining and for much of its history it appears to have been a separate (and bigger) community than Rochebeaucourt.

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The medieval church, like so many country churches, is now simply a monument. It’s been recently restored by the state and voluntary organisations and now has some modern stained glass, which gives the inside a rather curious red glow.

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Heading back to the car we went past relicts of the older, now vanished Argentine: wells, shrines and a very substantial and imposing graveyard.

Finally, back to the car and then home through Rochebeaucourt, which, increasingly it seems, has ruins of its own.

House, or remains of, in Rochebeaucourt

A good day’s walk, and we were very fortunate with the weather, which felt like the beginning of summer. Since then, however, the weather has deteriorated and as we write this blog it is pouring with rain. Again.

An early summer walk 1

As with much of Europe, the weather has been very curious here in Charente. We’ve had two short spells of very warm weather (touching nearly 30C), but also extended cold patches, and indeed with something of a frost yesterday. We did however did make the best of one of the nice days to do a long walk to the south of us. Not far from us is the village of Rochebeaucourt-et-Argentine. The village is just on the border between our own department of Charente and Dordogne, and lies where a number of roads join each other. Parts of the town are lovely and evocative of the rural past, others frankly are falling into depressing disarray. The number of empty and desolate houses is slightly curious given that it’s the headquarters of a major estate agent that appeals to the British. No names mentioned….

Going out of the town there is a restored sentry post on the notorious demarcation line between German-occupied France and the free Vichy zone which existed from June 1940 until late 1942 when the Germans took control of the whole of France.

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The sign warns that it’s forbidden to cross and anyone not stopping when challenged will be shot. A special permit was required to pass between the two zones, and the checkpoints were continued even after the end of 1942

Not far beyond that the ground rises into a splendid and protected limestone ridge, which has a number of footpaths, some intriguing old buildings, and at this time of year, an extraordinary number of orchids. We particularly like it because it has something of the air of the great limestone plateaux of the south of France and indeed shares some of the flora and fauna. We heard and glimpsed what were almost certainly Calandra Larks

Early purple orchids on the top of the plateau

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Blue flax with an early purple orchid in the background; the purple pom-poms don’t have an English name (they are one of the Globularia family); Green-lipped orchid; Lady orchid

We walked along the ridge past something that claims to be an aerodrome but has no planes, and down to the remains of an old railway line which within living memory ran south to Périgueux. Then across the road into rolling agricultural country – but more on that next week.

The old railway line with the cliff of the plateau on the right

Lille (part 2)

One of the virtues of rail travel is that you end up breaking your journey in city centres rather than windswept airports miles from anywhere. As we mentioned last week we had something of an 8-hour stopover in Lille city centre on our way back from the UK and had a good time sight-seeing.

Having had a very satisfactory lunch – there are innumerable restaurants – we went to the magnificent Palais des Beaux-Arts. In this case the word ‘palace’ is not an exaggeration, as you can see from the photos.

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Lingering in our minds is some sort of claim from someone that it’s the best art gallery outside Paris. We’re not prepared to dispute the claim. Even though some of the rooms were closed there was an enormous richness of art.

One particularly striking feature was that given the large scale of the building there was no sense of feeling cramped and pictures had space about them. There’s a wide range of material on display, including medieval works of art (sculptures, reliquary boxes, etc) in the basement.

One particularly distinctive exhibition is the floor displaying 3D representations of towns, made in the 17^th century. They were for military purposes but give a remarkable insight into the urban structures of the time, which are displayed in enormous detail.

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So, we very much enjoyed Lille, and have no problems about another protracted stopover in the future. It’s certainly very convenient to get on the train there and four hours later get off in Angoulême. And the train is environmentally friendly.

Lille (Part 1)

As we mentioned two weeks ago, we took the train on our most recent visit to the UK. We deliberately chose to avoid changing trains in Paris because we have not yet mastered the fiendish intricacies of the Metro, which will probably swallow entire Olympic teams forever in the summer. Instead we skirted Paris and changed for the Eurostar at Lille. The only problem with this carefully constructed route was on the way back when we had to spend nearly 8 hours in Lille. Neither of us were terribly looking forward to this, having visions of a bleak coalfield town gutted by war and deindustrialisation. Lille, we owe you an apology!

The belfry of the Chamber of Commerce and the Vielle Bourse (old stock exchange)

It turns out to be an utterly charming town with very distinctive architecture which all the textbooks describe as Flemish. There are lots of high, thin buildings, cobbled streets, large squares and a quiet air of comfortable prosperity.

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It’s also very lively, full of students and artistic ventures. We were very happy to wander around for most of the day and don’t mind doing it again. But if you do get the chance, don’t miss Lille, the centre at least is full of charm.

The other side of the 17th-century Vielle Bourse, a symbol of Lille’s economic prosperity

Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques !

Yes we said we’d post photos of Lille this week, but we’d forgotten that this blog will be published on Easter Saturday. In the photo below from our church the crosses are empty but the stone is still over the tomb. We look forward to Sunday when the stone will be rolled away and we can celebrate the good news of the risen Jesus.

And here is a picture taken this week from the hill that Sers is on looking northwards to Angoulême. Yes it is very green. It’s been very wet recently but dry weather is on its way.

A premature summer?

We went to the UK for six days recently to visit some of the family. A high point was seeing our second grandson Joseph playing clarinet in his wind band. (His brother used to be in the same band but has moved to the jazz one.) Below is a very truncated clip – clarinets on the right of the conductor.

We came back via Lille and had a good time exploring that under-rated town. We’ll post pictures next week.

When we left Angoulême by train spring seemed to be just on the point of beginning. When we returned it was as if summer had already started, with temperatures up into the mid 20s. The result has been a sense of nature frantically racing to catch up. The flowers have been out, the trees are sprouting leaves and blossoming rapidly.

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The birds are almost irritatingly noisy. We’ve heard hoopoes, and cuckoos as well as seeing short-toed eagles overhead. Chris is particularly pleased with his firecrest photo taken a month or so ago. It was the other side of the bathroom window – they are tiny birds and notoriously difficult to photograph.

The abrupt shift into high temperatures after a wet winter has meant that gardens and garden centres are remarkably busy. Our normally quiet area is buzzing with the sound of strimmers and lawn mowers and trimmers. Talking of which, we have managed to install a robot lawnmower which we bought last year at an end-of-season bargain price. It basically wanders around slowly on its own and when it feels run down returns to its charger. It mows the lawn slowly but steadily in many random, gentle undramatic cuts but it looks as if it’s going to be very useful.

The temperatures are such that pools are being opened and we think one of our neighbours has even been swimming in theirs. However, the temperatures are expected to drop to something more seasonally normal, although these days normality is not a word to be used of weather or climate.

As we write this on Friday, we are hoping that the good weather will continue over the weekend as we have the old and new church council members meeting in our house for a bring-and-share lunch on Saturday. The reason they are meeting here is that despite his best efforts to avoid it, Chris has been elected to the church council of the Église Evangélique Libre. Those who pray, please do so!

Saint Savinien

First, we’d like to thank all those who sent congratulations for our new French nationality status!

Having spent some happy hours in Saint Jean d’Angèly (see previous posts) and found a good restaurant, we headed westward. We’d been told that Saint Savinien was worth visiting, and so indeed it proved to be. In fact we were very grateful for the tip because it’s not a town that advertises its presence. Because it is nestled down along the banks of the Charente, in the valley, it’s very easy to overlook it. There are some charming buildings and picturesque streets, but the dominant feature is the Charente river.

This is not just a rather pretty river but until relatively recently was important economically. The town is first mentioned as a port at the end of the 13^th century, but by the 18^th, it was actually known as Saint Savinien le Port. Masonry stone, timber, wine and eau de vie (a high strength Cognac-type spirit) were among the products shipped down the Charente from Angoulême to the coast, to be sent on to other parts of France or abroad. Nowadays the only port is a ‘miniature’ one on a lake and the river seems to be entirely used by pleasure craft. Needless to say, on a cold February day, there weren’t many people messing about in boats.

We climbed up to the church of Saint Savinien, which stands above the limestone cliffs behind the river. In an area not short of big churches, this is actually quite impressive.

One notable feature of the exterior is attractive stylised statues of the twelve apostles. Judas takes his place but is turned facing the opposite direction, away from the church.

One other feature that we didn’t have time to explore is the town’s long Protestant history. In general, in Charente Maritime, the closer you get to the coast the more important the Protestant heritage is, with the centre of the faith at La Rochelle, enduring until it was taken in 1627-28. In Saint Savinien there remains a Protestant temple, that curious word used to distinguish Huguenot places of worship from Catholic ones. There’s also a Protestant graveyard. Some time, on a warm summer’s day, we will make the trip over and spend a bit more time there.

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Statures inside and outside the church, and by the river

An announcement etc etc

One of the bulwarks of the French state is the Journal Officiel. It comes out on line every three or four days and lists in precise detail new governmental decrees, rules and a seemingly infinite amount of detailed bureaucracy. It is not a gripping read, but we have however been anxiously awaiting its publication for the last few months for the simple reason that in its dull columns, it lists the names of those who have been granted French citizenship. So when Chris happened to check on Sunday morning before going to church, he was delighted to see that we have both been granted French nationality after a four years wait, each of us submitting well over an inch thickness of papers and having two substantial French language interviews. So we are now formally and officially French! This is not to say that we’ve given up the British nationality, but we are dual nationals and now if we are categorised as anything in France, it is as les franco-britanniques.

Everybody from the mayor downwards has been very positive about this and someone in the church who we’ve worked a lot with us said it was “bien merité”. We’ve not entirely sure that’s true! Practically, it doesn’t make a great deal of difference but before Brexit we were Europeans in Europe, but after it fell into rather a second-class category. (Boris didn’t tell us that did he?) It’s going to take a couple of months for the passports and identity cards to be issued and eventually we hope to have some sort of ceremony with a senior figure in the Departement. It will also allow us to vote in elections and, if we so chose, sit on the town council.

In other miscellaneous news, one unsung hero of these nearly 500 blogs has been our trusty Skoda Yeti which we bought new in December 2014. It has finally reached 200,000 kilometres and still runs in a smooth, trouble-free manner. Well done!

The weather has been somewhat frustrating. There have been a lot of cloudy skies and rain interspersed with glorious days of sun. Unfortunately the sunny periods have not been long enough to dry out either the garden or the countryside. The numerous streams in our area are running at very high levels and many low-lying meadows are flooded.

Despite it all however, spring is pushing its way into the world. Various blossoms are coming out and spring flowers.

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We’ve had a very large number of cranes flying north and because we live on a hill, they come over at a relatively low level. But as everyone complains, it has been an unprecedented wet but warm winter. The climate is indeed changing….