5 May 2015 - Underwhelmed by local Gallo-Roman ruins

Tim had organised a Skype call with one of his teachers but a few things got in the way of its success.  The patchy internet was only part of the problem as he didn't have her Skype contact name, and with the time difference, it was all too tricky.  All was not lost as he had already run to the lake and back and felt like he'd had a good start to the day.  He is pretty good at getting organised and had some encouraging feedback from one of his last assignments.  Annika is also beavering along with her work and Luke eventually gets there but I remain unconvinced that conventional school is the best way for him to learn.  He has done a few online courses with Karl about dinosaurs and geology and can now outrun the big kids with his with his geology knowledge about rocks!

Diagram of Roman Bath complex.

 I had been keen to go to Cassinomagus near the local town of Chassenon.  The reviews about this archaeological site indicated that it was well worth visiting.  We have been privileged to visit and explore many Roman ruins on our travels which we have all loved.  Each time I have remarked how great it was to just be free to explore and climb all over the ruins.  We thought we would be able to do this today, too!  Wrong!!

The Roman baths behind the barrier.

Archimedes' puzzle

At the entrance, we had considerable "wrangling" with the cashier who couldn't quite configure our entrance fee (2 Adults and 3 children) and finally worked it out.  Maybe because Tim and Annika are tall, they thought that they were older, but, as their passports say, they are 13 and 16, and eligible for child prices.  She did tell us that the actual bath house was closed for restoration but that there was plenty to walk around.

One of the 49 circles which had some significance in front of what was the Sanctuary - filled with a weedy plant which tales over our garden at home.

The visitor centre was well organised and the film clip, although in French (only) was well done.  We looked at various artifacts and then set out to explore.  We walked through a garden of Medicinal Plants and I recognised quite a few as "weeds" so that was interesting but we had come to see Roman ruins.  There were various stations with Roman games to play which were well done, if a little sanitised,  but where were the ruins?!  I must say the mind boggles with the hoola hoop game and paintings of nude men!  I have heard that athletes in early Olympic Games wore few if any clothes!

Hoola hooping!

"Spearing" fake animals

Bath walls

Cassinomagus, was built on a hill, on the Roman road from Geneva to Bordeaux, near to the Vienne River and a strategic point in those days.  Now, it is quiet, very quiet and even the town of Chassenon's bakery wasn't open!  The baths sounded fantastic, and it would be good to see the finished display of what is seemingly a great example of a Roman Bath complex with its cold rooms and hot rooms and rooms for indulgence en route from Geneva to Bordeaux.  The rest of the complex was largely covered with long grass which hadn't been maintained and although there were signs indicating an ancient theatre, and other structures, there was little other than lumps in the overgrown grass to be seen.  The moles clearly had been doing their part of the archaeological digging but as for the "official" excavations they were not visible today.

Base of aqueduct

The one part we could see was the footings of the aqueduct. The locals probably used the rest of the stones from the aqueduct for building  their houses and farms so they are probably scattered throughout the local community!  Given that not long ago, we walked under the arches of the aqueduct in Istanbul which is still standing and sat in the town square in Selcuk (near Ephesus) in the shadows of another aqueduct, it is safe to say we were underwhelmed by this complex.  The historical significance is important, but what we could see today, especially after being treated to so many excellent ancient Roman sites in Turkey, really was disappointing.  My advice to any who would like to explore this site is to wait until the restoration of visitor paths is finished so you can actually see the baths and also to do your homework/research before you go (which we did) as all the signs and information are only in French.

We drove to Rochechouart for some groceries and managed to get through the checkout without any Lego although Luke was very creative in his requests and reasons for "needing" more: "How about an early birthday present? or a very late birthday present? or last year I wasn't old enough for that set and now I am or....."  All was well until Annika got her hand stuck in the car door - OUCH! - it seems ok but no doubt there will be bruising.  Karl dashed back into the supermarket for a packed a frozen chips to ice it - which we later had for dinner!

They chat and play for hours....that's what friends are for.

It was such a beautiful still evening that a walk was definitely on the agenda.  Tim decided to run the route again and the rest of us and our neighbour's daughter trotted along to the local plage (beach) by the lake.  Very tranquil.  What a lovely end to our day!

So tranquil!

Building sand castles!

Our lake at sunset.