The plan was to do school and then head out on an excursion at lunchtime and make good use of the lovely weather and our surrounding towns. Karl had done a bit of research and discovered Mortemart, listed as one of France's most beautiful towns.
Despite the knowledge that we would have an excursion and that he would have friends to play with in the afternoon, Luke fidgeted through the morning. He was more interested in Annika's science about geology, and in fact gave her some of the answers, but he does have his own work to do. I am all for shared learning and learning across the age ranges, but it was all getting too distracting and bothering Annika.
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| Looks can be deceiving: this swan snaps! |
We finally headed out for Mortemart and still laughed at the very narrow roads which suddenly merge on to the motorway. Mortemart is indeed a pretty town. It has a chateau, two convents, beautiful church, market place and charm.
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| Chateau exterior |
Our first port of call was to be the bakery but we wandered around the town checking out the lovely buildings. Half of the old buildings seem to be inhabited whilst the lower and upper storeys have thick spiderwebs in the windows!
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| Looks like a good setting for Rapunzel! |
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| Convent reflection - the bell tower is really on quite an angle. |
The moat surrounding the chateau was still and a graceful swan soon swam over to us and suddenly made a bee-line for Tim and snapped at him! We figured that it must be defending a nest close by. The Chateau des Ducs was started in 995 AD and has undergone a few changes since then. Today it stands majestically surrounded by its moat.
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| The old market hall - still has markets on Sundays in summer |
We felt free to wander through the convent grounds and admire the grand old buildings and architecture. There was an Augustinian and a Carmelite convent there as well as a covered market area indicating that in bygone days, it would have been a buzzing town.
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| Entrance to the Carmelite Convent. |
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| Oh to go on a buggy ride... |
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| The leaning bell tower of Mortemart. |
At my plea, we went into the Church of Saint-Hilaire. We were immediately struck by the ornate baroque altar and the flat interior ceiling. It was originally the Chapel of the Augustinian Convent in the 14th century,
and in the 17 th Century became the village church.The carved oak pews were really stunning and seemed to have different mythical creatures carved on each of them (15th century). But by now the kids were demanding lunch.
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| Baroque altar |
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| ? ancient tombstones |
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| Oak carvings - each one different |
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| I don't know who this female knight is but she was very lovely! |
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| St Augustine? St Francis? |
Everywhere was so pretty and well kept and the day was stunning. Despite being hungry, we still had time to have fun and enjoy it all. Apparently, Mortemart can be crowded in summer, but not today!
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| Blonde moment! |
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| Tree elf! |
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| Our bakery search led us passed lovely buildings but kids were not amused! |
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| Not many of these left...a public telephone booth?!! |
Now, if a town has a post office, it would be reasonable to expect a bakery, non?! We walked around the entire town, feeling less and less optimistic and didn't find the bakery. I asked in my best French at the post office, and when the woman finally understood me. she said the bakery was 6 kms away in Nouic, near the church. Again, I was optimistic but the bakery was closed! By this time, the kids were past rational thinking and grumpy when Karl and I ventured into the little church there.
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| Stop - it is time for a boulangerie! |
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted "Vival", which I thought might be a small shop and it was. Ice creams all round put a smile back on their faces and we drove on to Rochechouart for a bit of supermarket shopping before heading home. The French take their lunch breaks so seriously. The idea is to buy baguettes etc. early in the morning!
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| The simple church at Nouic |
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| Simple and lovely altar in Nouic |
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| The Mairie and the war memorial but the bakery was not open!!! |
It really was a great afternoon excursion. That was long enough! A picnic would have been the best idea but I was certain there would be a boulangerie. After shopping, a cup of tea and dinner we went on our lovely track we discovered last evening. So very peaceful!
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