ELEPHANTS, BOOKS, MACAROONS AND CASTLES
Is the Vienne department (in the Poitou-Charente, west of France) an attractive one? It’s certainly very flat but entering a small town or Bourg on the top of a very sharp hill there is a Castle in ruins, a dungeon, gates which protected the towns during many medieval wars and even later.
There is a reward in climbing up these very steep slopes usually with steps and more steps to get to the top, the views. Rivers, La Vienne, La Gartempe, La Creuse...and smaller streams.
I have covered over 200 or more kilometres in the south of the department. Today is a rest day as there is a 5 kilometer trek this afternoon. Since I have been in this part of the world I have started out on many of the tracks but not being able to read the signs, have usually retraced my steps after two hours in one direction...now armed with a trekking map, I can see that it was just as well. Most that I started out on, were on a loop but to get what I started yesterday meant over 14 kilometers...
One of the most interesting towns I have visited so far was Montmorillon in the south of the department. I finally got there after a detour through Chauvigny where there was a huge antique market going on in the centre of the town. The traffic was as bad as in Paris and although I parked the car, it was well out of town. I climbed to see the chateau. It was Sunday and the old town was sleeping solidly without another person around. I moved on to my next destination. Such walks UP are very good for the legs but without a site to visit as all closed, disappointing.
Montmorillon and I parked in front of the Notre Dame Church. I could actually hear the choir singing and it must have been the end of the morning mass as people were coming out of the church. I locked the car, but had no idea where I was although I was looking for the City of books.
In June 2000, the mediaeval quarter in the old town was transformed into the «City of Writing and the Metiers of the Book». I was hopefully to find some 20 or so boutiques which sold all kinds of books - art, history - health - cartoons - you name it and also art centres dedicated to making paper and teaching calligraphy.
Turning the corner I found these....I had not come to this township to meet elephants. Yet there they were. I went over to say hello and a small dog yapped at me and told me to stay away.
A woman informed me that I had a 20 minute walk to the old town. Either I looked ancient or she walked slowly as I made it in 10.
By now it was lunchtime..
Everything was shut although I went
into an exhibition of typewriters and calculators dating from the 19th
century to today. The woman asked me to come back after lunch which I
did. Japanese machines, very odd looking contraptions of all kinds.
and of course the history of the typist. Even in the 30’s she must have had a rough time.
Nothing open to eat so back to the car for my lunch....
My humble health bar and two mandarines would have to keep me going.
Fortunately I found a café on some square as by then I had driven back to the old town and left the church and elephants behind.
The boutiques were are marvelous find.Although only four open. One in particular which dealt in old and new books but not the run of the mill. An art dictionary dating from the early 60’s was a much better reference book than some I have at home. I browsed for well over an hour. If I had let myself I would have been weighed down by books but only bought one. That was an outlay which I had not been counting on...."Histoires Terribles d’Animaux" an old edition with some wonderful drawings.
Then of course there was the macaroons museum. Who would have believed that this was macaroon country. Marie de Médecis brought the recipe back from Italy. The museum was of little interest, the macaroons were delectable!
Art shops, a paper making centre based in a medieval building, ateliers - yes I lot to see even if most of them shops were closed. And for those of you who have read IQ84 (Murakami) this was also the city of cats....
And if I had been able to find the same painting half its size...I would have cracked. A Chinese painting contemporary Japanese pictures....I like some of his work but he was very Chinese - hard sell
Saint-Savin and its Roman Abby is certainly something to visit. Once again, I am not giving a history lesson. As the Abby stands today and after the ravages of the religious war in the XVI century it was restored and reformed by the Benedictines. I heard a teacher explaining to a group of teenagers the horrors those monks had to go through if they didn’t respect their prayers....starvation, locked into tiny cells and more...would you have been a monk?
However,
«The Romanesque Abbey Church, begun in the mid 11th century, contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-century murals which are still in a remarkable state of preservation. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983».
But it was the columns which I found so beautiful and they were 19th century designs. Closing in on my period eh?
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| Looking down at Chauvigny |
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| At the beginning but the tiny tack is much further on.... |
One of the most interesting towns I have visited so far was Montmorillon in the south of the department. I finally got there after a detour through Chauvigny where there was a huge antique market going on in the centre of the town. The traffic was as bad as in Paris and although I parked the car, it was well out of town. I climbed to see the chateau. It was Sunday and the old town was sleeping solidly without another person around. I moved on to my next destination. Such walks UP are very good for the legs but without a site to visit as all closed, disappointing.
Montmorillon and I parked in front of the Notre Dame Church. I could actually hear the choir singing and it must have been the end of the morning mass as people were coming out of the church. I locked the car, but had no idea where I was although I was looking for the City of books.
In June 2000, the mediaeval quarter in the old town was transformed into the «City of Writing and the Metiers of the Book». I was hopefully to find some 20 or so boutiques which sold all kinds of books - art, history - health - cartoons - you name it and also art centres dedicated to making paper and teaching calligraphy.
A woman informed me that I had a 20 minute walk to the old town. Either I looked ancient or she walked slowly as I made it in 10.
By now it was lunchtime..
 |
| called Mignon |
 |
| Yes, a typewriter |
Nothing open to eat so back to the car for my lunch....
My humble health bar and two mandarines would have to keep me going.
Fortunately I found a café on some square as by then I had driven back to the old town and left the church and elephants behind.
 |
| Looking up and some open |
Then of course there was the macaroons museum. Who would have believed that this was macaroon country. Marie de Médecis brought the recipe back from Italy. The museum was of little interest, the macaroons were delectable!
 |
| Chinese paper making centre and artist's workshop |
 |
| She asked me to follow her |
 |
| Entering the old town |
Saint-Savin and its Roman Abby is certainly something to visit. Once again, I am not giving a history lesson. As the Abby stands today and after the ravages of the religious war in the XVI century it was restored and reformed by the Benedictines. I heard a teacher explaining to a group of teenagers the horrors those monks had to go through if they didn’t respect their prayers....starvation, locked into tiny cells and more...would you have been a monk?
However,
«The Romanesque Abbey Church, begun in the mid 11th century, contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-century murals which are still in a remarkable state of preservation. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983».
 |
| Inside the Abby looking up at the mural paintings |
But it was the columns which I found so beautiful and they were 19th century designs. Closing in on my period eh?
 |
| Every one seemed to be different |
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