A cool grey day with not much weather promise. No real rain to talk about.
Woke-up late with just a touch of a hangover due to a rather cheap bottle of Chateau Ecomarche last night. I was hungry though and just I finished dressing I heard the subtle sounds of the bread van coming by. The subtle sounds being an enormous hooter she has which is enough to wake anybody – even the gaggle of octogenarians that surround me in this hamlet.
Wandered out to the van where I found them all chatting about something or other, and joined the queue. Funny that they all seemed to want to talk to me about the weather – perhaps they’ve been secretly swatting-up on what an English gentleman likes to discuss in the morning, or perhaps it’s just that they do that as well. Either way, they all agreed that it was too cold for the time of year and the strawberries and lettuces have been suffering for it. I started to tell them my theory about April swapping places with June, but quickly thought better of it. It’s bad enough they’ve got an Englishman for a neighbour without being a looney to boot.
After breakfast of croissants with lashings of Apricot jam, I decided it was time to hit the tourist trail once more, and so planned a route to take in the ‘other’ side of Correze where there be rumours of castles that I haven’t seen yet. I planned my day meticulously and packed everything I could think of in the van (bike, camera, binoculars, painting set, maps, phone …) I even took all the rubbish to the poubelle on the way.
‘Le Tours de Merle’ looked good in the guide and after an hour’s drive they didn’t disappoint. They are a set of castle buildings set on top of a rocky promontory surrounded by the river of 3 sides. They are largely derelict but the French have made a good job of allowing access to them and putting on a bit of a medieval effort around them in the form of reconstructed farm buildings and free-roaming livestock etc. I got there at 1 o’clock and it doesn’t open until 2 (in June), and as I felt hungry I delved into my knapsack to discover that I hadn’t bought any food or drink with me in my haste to do meticulous planning.
It’s so difficult to eat out in the middle of rural France. I mean, there are bars and restaurants every so often, but they are only any good if you want a beer, coffee, or a 5-course gastronomic feast. I just wanted a snack – you know a sandwich, maybe a salad, chips, or even an omelet – but that is almost impossible round these parts. In any case the only place I could find near to Le Tours was a bar/restaurant mix with a fixed menu of 29euros or 19euros (reduced to 18euros if you missed the cheese course). I had to settle for a bottle of beer and be done with it.
Anyway, I returned to Le Tours de Merle and spent a really good couple of hours wandering around the towers and the ramparts and the surrounds. It’s a really fabulous place, and being out of season I had the place to myself.
Once again, the pictures can’t do justice to the place (or me of course), and I can’t be bothered to describe it, so let’s just say it was magnifique.
After the visit I drove on to Argentat still looking for something to eat of course, but also to do some ‘little bits’ shopping and to buy some tile adhesive. I also wanted to buy some more of the fabulous Internet that I used to use daily – but unfortunately I couldn’t find an outlet for that – or a snack bar. Perhaps there’s a business opportunity there for the Argentatians, to give them an Internet snack bar. And who knows, perhaps it would work for the Argentinians as well.
I sat down by the river, which is always lovely and found the only bar open that was serving some sort of food. It was ice-cream. So I settled for a triple deluxe Mont-Blanc special which came with lashings of Chantilly cream and chocolate and the obligatory silly twizzle-stick thingys that are aimed at a younger audience. The bar was run by a nicely eccentric Frenchman who also ran it as an art gallery and every so often would pretend to passing children that a very fast boat was about to pass – then he’d sound a horn as they sat waiting patiently. “did you see it?” Very funny – you had to be there!
After having eaten something I felt well enough to return home. Whilst out I was half-thinking about doing a bit of al-fresco watercolour painting somewhere, but it was a bit too cold for that at Le Tours, so I spent an hour or so doing some in the early evening.
As I said earlier, the place doesn’t really do justice to my picture! But at least I can now cross one thing off of my whiteboard list.
