2 May 2015 - Rochechouart Castle

Greeted by grey skies but no actual rain.  As the internet is misbehaving somewhat, there was no excuse to check emails and Facebook!  For our morning walk, Tim and I headed back to bend in the road and village near to the Charante and pond.  

The pond: serene, even in grey weather

Our baby!

It must be the mother in me or even the midwife, but I felt compelled to check on the baby calf we saw yesterday.  At first we couldn’t see it, nestled in the long grass, looking like a lump of manure, and then it raised its head and slowly got up on its still wobbly newborn legs!  It was the only other calf in the paddock apart from the other calf we’d seen yesterday.  No doubt more calves will be born over the next week.  As we approached, the mother “mooed” at us, warning us not to come closer to her baby.  Her mothering instincts were good and the little calf nuzzled into her.  I saw the farmer who we’d seen yesterday for the “birthing charade” and he waved and said “Bon jour”!  We had a connection despite the language barrier.

The choice is mesmerising!

Map detailing which regions of France produce what in the supermarket.

On our return, Saturday morning was in sort of happening mode.  Shopping was a priority today.  Alex, Garry, Karl, Annika and I decided to head into Rochechouart, our nearest town with shops, and chose Carrefour for a change.  We left Karl in charge of cheese and wine gathering which for someone who usually detests shopping, he loves!  It seems the French are so proud of their food and choices that even"home brand" items like chocolate are sensational.  In Australia, generally, "home brand" means lesser quality and taste. The rest of us cruised the aisles checking out tins of duck livers and jars of duck fat, enticing chocolate and fancy biscuits.  There were a few items which we knew we could get cheaper at Aldi and it also meant that Garry and Alex could see another shop as part of the cultural immersion tour! 

Memorial for the Great War

So much for the “rude” French people we were warned about.  Everyone we have encountered has been lovely and very patient with our feeble attempts at French!  Perhaps Paris will be different! We had to fill up with Diesel today and having never driven a diesel car before and consequently never being confronted with a choice of 2 Diesels: Premier and Excellium , we marched into the service station and tried to elucidate the difference. With no common language and a lot of gesticulation we conclude that the cheaper Premier was fine!  The guy was really helpful and smiled with us at our attempts!

Rochechouart Castle

We called into the Rochechouart Castle and despite the drizzling rain had a lovely time photographing the wonderful 13-15^th Century arches and draw bridge. The columns were carved in spirals and we noted that the church also had a spiral roof design. Someone liked spirals back in the time of building these amazing old buildings!  The castle had resisted English attacks in 14^th Century.  

On the drawbridge!

Love the craftmanship

Karl and Garry underneath the arches, deep in philosophical discussion

Twisting around the pillars

By the time we got to the admission counter, it was 12.30 and lunchtime for the French, who close the gallery for lunch!!  We decided, that it was lunchtime for us, too and headed home!

Lunch Chez Les Trois Chenes

Lunch, our usual feast of local food and the mandatory baguettes was not hurried.  As the boys were not interested in going to a contemporary art gallery, which is now housed within the castle walls, they decided to stay home whilst we trundled back to the castle.  

The building is in really good condition and was taken over by the Haute-Vienne council in 1836.  Whilst the art was interesting, quirky and slightly maniacal, I was more interested in what remained of the original castle.  Some frescoes were only discovered in  1965 and although IMHO, some of the grisaille (shades of grey) frescoes, dating back to the 16^th Century, were unfinished, the depiction of the Greek myth of Hercules, was wonderful!  

We had never seen frescoes in this style

The  grisaille frescoes

Salle of frescoes

 Another Salle (room) had colourful frescoes of the Rochechouart Hunt, with a painting of the castle included.  These frescoes, although very different from the grey frescoes, were also painted about the same time.

Rochechouart Castle featuring on its own castle walls!

Other frescoes from the Hunt Salle

Scene from the Hunt Salle

It wouldn't be fair to ignore the fact that Rochechouart Castle is now a gallery of contemporary art and there were a few pieces that grabbed my interest.  One was a video presentation of two people being slowly stripped by people cutting off bits of their clothes and them narrating their story, seemingly unperturbed by their increasingly naked state.  The result was a collage of their clothes stapled to a frame!  The other artwork which was more captivating in shadow form was by Tony Cragg and called Eroded Landscape out of white glass bottles and other white glass shapes.  The top gallery housed some completely mad inventions which, although amusing, were weird, and beyond my scope of "art appreciation".  I suppose "art" is in the eye of the creator and the viewer!

The piece of "art" was created by someone having her clothes progressively cut off until completely naked!

"Eroded Landscape"

Looking out of the windows was art in itself as were the windows!  The misty rain did not detract from the loveliness.

Looking through the "diamond window" - for those who watch ABC's Play School

Rainy days never stop enjoyment and fun!

"Pillaried"

The hill on which the castle is built towers over land below.  This geographically advantageous position was in act created by a meteorite some 240 million years ago. The rocks that the castle and church are built from are rocks formed by this event!

The church from the castle

Despite the misty rain, we decided to walk up to the old church which was also depicted in the hunt mural.  It is the parish of St Xavier (I think that would be the anglised equivalent).  The church also had magnificent frescoes and stained glass windows.  Our eyes soon adjusted to the dark interior and we were able to enjoy the art on the walls.  Delightful!

Rochechouart Church - St Xavier's

Fresco of the Last Supper

Adam and Eve

St Xavier's Church - stained glass windows

More beautiful stained glass

The Virgin Mary, in her grotto, lit by candlelight.

Psalm 23 in the old church Bible

Our plan for an evening stroll was stymied by the rain and dinner preparation.  Luke seemed to be really tired and was climbing everywhere and we really needed a circuit breaker for him to behave.  A shower worked wonders, and quiet reading time.  He had way more screen time than usual and not much outdoor time so no wonder he was stir crazy.

 Rochechouart doorway

The internet is still patchy, through no fault of our hosts.  We are in a country area and it is the weekend after a public holiday.  Patience required!

1 May 2015 - New life in Videix

Rain, rain, rain!  And that’s why this area is so green and lush.  Tim, Annika and I set out for an early walk with the optimistic attitude that of course the rain would stop and we’d return refreshed and ready for the day!  Wrong!  The rain was set to stay, heavy and consistent.  Annika and I were wearing our wellies but none-the-less with that type of rain, we were drenched on our return.

 

The Charante looking a bit more like a river

Wet looking Tim!

The trickle of a river at the bottom of the hill was a running torrent, no longer a little ford.  We saw a dark coloured wet rabbit dashing by but all over animals that we might have seen at that hour, were probably sheltering.  We saw the dear old farming couple out tending to their poultry.  Otherwise it was so quiet today.

Wet as wet!

It is May Day, 1 May, and probably given the size of this tiny village and surrounding villages, we were unlikely to see much going on.  It is a public holiday, so very quiet.  Luckily we were prepared and had food!

Walking down to the local pond!

School happened but Luke was particularly wriggly today.  The weather remained dismal, but he finally finished and was raring to play with his friends.  Then it was time for me to help Tim and Annika!  I really needed another walk by late afternoon!!!

Annika, Garry, Karl and I walked back to the road crossing of the Charante and little pond there hoping to see some more of the cute little coypu, the swimming rodents which are about the size of an otter and look like a small capybara with a tail!!    

Can you see the coypu?

On the way passing a paddock of Limousin cattle we noticed a cow giving birth who seemed a bit perturbed by our presence so we thought we should give her privacy.  We walked down to the pond and we delighted by a big family group of the coypus grazing and swimming.  The rain pelted down but we weren’t too bothered (or surprised!)

Corn for the cows!

We saw the farmer parking his tractor and I felt I should tell him about his cow giving birth.  He spoke no English and I attempted a charade of a cow giving birth and he seemed not to understand.  We walked back up the hill, and there was the little newborn calf, still lying on the ground, in the rain, with its mother licking it and the sisterhood of cows surrounding her in support.   We felt it was our citizen’s duty to watch until the little baby could stand and feed.  He slowly wobbled to its feet, became stronger and finally found its mother’s udder to have its first feed.  Relief!  He had conquered the first obstacles in life and we felt we could leave knowing he would probably be alright!  As we were walking away, the farmer who had been the recipient of my charade pulled up in his car and climbed through the fence.  Another little Limousin calf for the herd!

New baby Limousin - so sweet!

Finally the little calf found his feet!

Back to the house, warm and cosy, with the wood heater churning out good heat.  I was so warm last night that we have kept our door closed today so our room stays cool. 

After a quick gas bottle change, our dinner was well on its way and I didn’t even feel guilty about eating the local beef!  Annika made some apple roses again for dessert which we gobbled down with mascarpone cheese on top.  What a perfect dessert!  Meanwhile Luke had helped himself to half a dozen teaspoonfuls of the delicious honey we bought at the market the other day which seemed to send him into a sugar high and frenetic behaviour.  Definitely past bedtime!

Apple rose for dessert - thanks Annika!

He is really enjoying a book from home” “My Place” by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins.  It is a picture book and one of Annika’s hear 8 texts and full of history, stories and discussion points as it goes back over the decades focussing on a particular house, tree and canal which have meant different things to the children who narrate the book.  It is a TV series in Australia, too, which I haven’t seen yet.