Rambling around the villages 2012

Today we did our first "Ramble round the villages" of 2012, the village in question being Ligré.

Ligré lies approximately 7km south east of Chinon and 20km north of Braye. The surrounding landscape is undulating and the village nestles in the hollow. A natural 'amphitheatre' outside the Mairie makes for a sheltered, well-tended garden area.

Of more interest to us, however, was the Dolmen, or megalithic monument, located on the hill top approximately 300m north north west of the village.

Designated a 'Monument Historique' in 1887,  it is said to be one of the most striking of the Dolmen de la Touraine. At 7m long and 3.5m wide it dominates the landscape. The interplay of light and shadow on the stones is shown to full advantage by the following monochrome images.

 

 

 

Whoever built this Dolmen certainly knew the importance of location, location, location....

Stairway to heaven

When I first saw this in Le Grand-Pressigny it reminded me of my next door neighbour, where I used to live in England. He has a stone masonry business and built a staircase like this out of stone... It wasn't quite as big though!

 

So Shaun if you fancy a repair job... I am sure Jean could put you up...

Rambling round the villages - Part 2

Our Sunday walk/drive this weekend took us to the villages of  Marcay, Beuxes and Ceaux-en-Loudun all to the west of Braye and on roads we haven't travelled before. This time we took the map (Serie Bleue 1cm=250m) to supplement the sat nav!

Marçay is a small French village, roughly 20km north west of Braye and 8km south of Chinon. Its inhabitants are called Marcéens and Marcéennes. The village has been in receipt of grants to renovate it and the area around the church and Mairie is now looking quite pristine.

 
To the right of the second photo you will see a huge trough situated by the roadside. We have never seen one quite so large! What it held we don't know but we guess it must have been water or some type of feed for animals.

The Lavoir has undergone some restoration work. Steps behind it lead up to the presbytery.

Travelling on from Marcay, we stopped to photograph the Chateau, which is now a private hotel.

Close to Beuxes is a plan d'eau where we took a walk. The reflections of the trees on the surface of the water made for some great photo opportunities.

We ended our tour at Ceaux-en-Loudun but we were mildly disappointed with the village. In past weeks we've been lucky enough to look inside the churches in the villages we've visited but today we were unlucky.  Both the church in Ceaux and the Eglise paroissiale Saint-Pierre in Marcay were locked; so we made our way home for a cuppa!

The old wild west!!

When we went to Luzé last weekend I photographed this....

It reminded me of watching old westerns as a boy (and as an adult) many of which had old water towers in them. I think this is a great example and would love to climb the ladder and take a look to see if it is still in use today.

We went to Luzé again today at 15:00 hrs to visit the Abbey of Saint Michel de Bois Aubry with our friends Jim and Pauline from Loire Valley Experiences. This was to be the blog for tonight but as the tour went on and on and on. For a full 3 hours +!!!! We have not had time to process the information. So watch this space and Jim's blog for the full story of our visit.. If we all thaw out enough to write that is.....

Rambling round the villages..

Sunday afternoons have become a time for us to down tools and head for the hills - well ok, no quite the hills! We are taking the opportunity to explore the local villages.

Today's outing was to Luzé, some 10km from Braye taking in en route the village of Marigny Marmande. The Mairie and the church at Marigny were resplendent in the November sunshine.

 

After a short walk round to take some photos we set off again to complete the journey to Luzé.

Both villages had the usual sleepy air so typical of rural France. Luzé was the smaller of the two but it had an attractive plan d'eau and even its own crazy golf course!

The church, which you can see on the skyline in the above photo, contained some fascinating wall paintings, which we assume date back several centuries, though at the time of writing we have not had chance to verify this.

Another 3km on is the  Abbey of Saint Michel de Bois Aubry.

Unfortunately we were unable to look round the abbey as it is now in private hands and you need at least five people to book a tour out of season. It is the last resting place of the famous Russian born, American film star Yul Brynner.

Our final stop was to take a short walk in the woodland on our journey from Luzé back home to Braye. Although it is so close to Braye it is not a direction we usually take and it made a lovely end to the afternoon.

 

We hope to cover the walk in more detail in another blog. For today, suffice it to say the weather could not have been better for a journey through some of the most peaceful and interesting countryside you could wish to see, with the bonus of the two villages and the abbey thrown in for good measure!!

Saint-Gervais-les-Trois-Clochers

On Sunday we went to have a look round the village of Saint-Gervais-les-trois-Clochers, situated about 14km south of Braye. The village boasts a fine Centre Aquatique, with a 25m pool. It is primarily used by schools during term time and unfortunately when we went during the summer the pool was overrun with children on holiday. As there was hardly room to turn round in the water, let alone swim, we gave up and came home!

Sunday's visit was a much quieter affair. We had a pleasant walk round the plan d'eau, which is beautifully kept, with good paths and plenty of seats for the old and weary (us!). There was no shortage of things to see en route.

 Some glorious autumn colours...

 Fine examples of Shaggy Inkcap...

 and a rather imaginative play area

The centre of the village was somewhat less imaginative.

We had thought from its name that there must be three churches to see but Saint-Gervais-les-trois-Clochers is derived from the amalgamation of three parishes, Saint Martin, Saint Gervais and Aurigny in 1818. They were organised administratively into a single commune and given the name in 1820.

The church, like so many in rural France, has some splendid architectural features.

There had obviously been some classes for the children in preparation for the sacrament of Confession. A poster depicted the thoughts of the children on heart shaped pieces of paper. My favourite was this one...

I wonder if the chair survived its stint in the pool?!!

With that thought we'll leave Saint-Gervais-les-trois-Clochers for now.... though I'm sure we'll be back!