It’s always the last day when I am away from home that I tend to meet someone I enjoy talking to. Perhaps it’s because I am more disposed to talking to people as I know that I am going home. But this is a frequent feature in my life.
Not having the car I started out on foot this morning to go and photograph the Casino and next to it the Pharmaceutical company «La Roche Posay». Five kilometres which was not bad going in an hour.
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| Filling up water from the fountain |
There are three elements that must be retained about this town. It as a very important Spa for any problem touching the skin and scars. We are told to drink a certain amount of the Spa water per day but it is regulated by Doctors.
The company which L’Oreal purchased some 7 years ago has its headquarters here. The cosmetic products are known for their therapeutic benefits. And the Casino. I visited the latter early on in my stay and imagine that many people have a stiff arm after playing on those machines. They look like zombies with an arm going up and down and a face fixed on a screen. Someone had recently won over 245 000€ but how much had been lost on that machine before the win ?
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| The main Casino on the left and already people there at 10-30 in the morning |
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| La Roche Posay Headquarters |
The Pharmaceutical headquarters are virtually on the same property as the casino. I wonder if they are draining off the gains to finance their products? But to photograph the factory I had to do it in hiding. The guards at the entrance were hyper-active.
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| A new creature..... |
The first time I had come in the car and in a garden next to the Casino I had seen what you see above. I took a photo and a woman said to me «He’s beautiful isn’t he?» «He certainly is very prohibitive» I replied , «I’m sure he keeps people at bay»...she then went on to tell me that there had been three 10 kilos plant pots around him - which had been stolen in broad daylight. Stealing the animal might have been a little more difficult.
I started to tell her the story about the statue that was stolen in the Henry Moore gardens in the U.K. I have forgotten how many hundreds of kilos that was. Obviously Henry Moore was not on her list of known artists. She added "Oh you have a tiny accent....etc" Either she hadn't listened to me or it was the nicest remark anyone had ever made about my accent. It is not tiny.
«Come and see his Father» - «He’s ferocious» I said. «That’s why he’s in the back garden. No-one likes him».
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| Dad |
I asked the woman what the lion’s name was in the front garden and as he didn’t have one, I called him «Splendid» - she liked that. I smiled.
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| Splendid ! |
The market was on when I got back into the centre of the town. Friday it is food...but not much. And La Roche Posay does also have it’s homeless....
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| A swinging market |
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| A very colorful "train" |
In the afternoon we went to Saint Pierre de Maillé. I had been told there were 6 private chateaux in the region...
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| One of the 6 private Chateaux |
Finally I was on foot and could photograph the Colza fields. I had discovered the name at last.
The cows actually came to the fence to greet us.
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| The Windmill is lived in |
The windmill on the Creuse river was old and mysterious....
It was a lovely walk and a delightful group of people. The two young woman I joined up with were fun to talk to and had something else to say apart from describing their bumps and bruises. That was a pleasant change....
A nice way to finish the three weeks stay.
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| A Bio teatime at five kilometres - half way |
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| Philippe our guide serving bio tea... |
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