Category Archives: Loire Valley

Architecture, Closerie Falaiseau, Cycling, Flowers & gardens, Loire Valley, Loire Valley châteaux, Renovation

Blois Chambord Cycling Itinerary 11 & 11bis

August 5, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

Most of our time in Blois seems to be spent frantically gardening, restoring fireplaces and making laundries, but this time, I’ve checked the weather report and Thursday looks as though it will be bright and sunny. We have breakfast in the garden then, after much searching, unearth our Blois & Chambord bike maps. We decide on itinerary n° 11 & 11 B (total of 50 K) because Jean Michel says we haven’t completed the loop before.

Château de Chambord with more scaffolding

We drive to Saint Dyé sur Loire and park in the church grounds. It’s getting close to midday by the time we start out for Chambord. I’m a bit disappointed when we arrive to see there is more scaffolding.

After lunch at the Saint Louis (dish of the day and café gourmand) we cross the little bridge and set off along the Grand Canal because I want to take a photo of Chambord reflected in the water like my friend Anda from Travel Notes and Beyond. But clouds have appeared and the reflection is not exactly what I was looking for.

Chambord from the little bridge at the end of the Grand Canal

And what do we discover – a completely new view of Chambord from the other end of the canal. This time, the clouds are lighter and their reflection in the canal is spectacular.

We continue the cycle path towards Saint Laurent de Nouan, our final destination, and find ourselves in the little town of Thoury. I surprise Jean Michel by remembering it from a previous bike ride and he comes to the conclusion that we’ve already done the n° 11 loop (but not the n°11bis. The typical Sologne well of Fontaine Saint Michel has all been spruced up. You can see its little wrought-iron sculpture of a snake coiled around a tree branch.

Not long after, we come across the 11th church of Saint Martin de Crouy which coincidentally I published just a few days ago on Blois Daily Photo. Once again I astonish Jean Michel by telling him what’s inside the church! I also take a better photo of the sculpture of Saint Martin on the façade. By now, the storm clouds are looking more threatening.

By the time we reach Saint Laurent, we’ve ridden about 25 kilometers straight and I’m well and truly ready for a cold drink. The main street has a couple of interesting buildings, including Aux Trois Rois or the Three King Inn. Built in the 15th century, it welcomed such distinguished guests as Philippe le Bel, Louis IX, Charles VIII, Louis XIV, Alfred de Musset, Jean de La Fontaine, d’Artagnan and maybe even Joan of Arc. Unfortunately, it was dismantled between 1780 and 1781 and sold in several parcels. The mullion windows are copies of the original structure, I’m sad to learn.

Saint Laurent de Nouans nuclear power plant

To my disappointment, no friendly café comes into sight and instead we find ourselves on a 70 kph road taking us straight towards the Saint Laurent NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. Now why didn’t I realise that before when I looked at the map?

Saint Jacques windmill at Saint Laurent de Noans taken on a previous visit

I rant and rave about the inappropriateness of putting a nuclear power plant on a cycling itinerary and we eventually reach the beautiful Saint Jacques windmill we have already visited on a previous occasion. Still no café …

La potion muidoise which is a reference to the druid's magic potion in Astérix — La potion muidoise which is a reference to the druid’s magic potion in Astérix, also taken on a previous occasion

We finally get to Muides after a very bumpy ride along the river thankful that it hasn’t actually rained. By then, we’re so near to our destination that the thought of the only somewhat decrepit café in Muides with its local bar supporters, no longer appeals. Also, it might be closed the way it was last time …

Loire between Muides and Saint Dyé also taken on a previous ride

We cycle the last few kilometers back to Saint Dyé but the sky is muggy and not nearly as nice as the last time. I surprise myself by going straight up the hill next to the church almost effortlessly. I don’t know where that energy suddenly came from. In the future though, we’re going to remember only to do itinerary 11 and ignore 11 bis. A nuclear power plant indeed!

Closerie Falaiseau, Country living, Flowers & gardens, Lifestyle, Loire Valley

Last Three Months in Paris

July 28, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 10 Comments

We are well and truly back from our cycling holiday in Germany. It’s amazing how far away it already seems. Our next holiday, a six-day home exchange in Lisbon, is scheduled for September.

Closerie Falaiseau in Blois last time we were there at the end of our holiday

Now we have to get ready for our move to Blois at the end of October, which means we only have three months left. It’s a bit daunting even though I’m ready to leave Paris (though I might occasionally miss the view from our balcony). Closerie Falaiseau will be our own home, as opposed to our apartment in the Palais Royal which is part of Jean Michel’s job.

As we have guests in our gîte up until 6th October, we’ll be going down for a couple of weeks after that to get everything ready for the movers.

The current downstairs bedroom will become our combined study which means redispatching the furniture, putting some of it in the little house while waiting for re-use either in the future gîte or an investment I’m hoping to make in Tours.

The upstairs living room with its secondhand sofa

The furniture in the other rooms will also have to be moved around to take the content of our apartment in Paris. Some, such as the upstairs sofa and chairs we bought at Troc de l’Ile, will be resold.

I’ve been planning what will go where and I think I have everything sorted out. Despite the fact that it is a big house, the rooms are very large and we don’t have much storage space so I don’t want to take anything we’re not sure we’ll use again.

The view from our balcony which I might miss ... — The view from our balcony which I might miss …

It’s a pity that I will still be working as a freelance translator for the next 5 years – I could have got rid of the entire content of my office! But I’m having a change of furniture and am resolved to only take what I really need.

Many people have asked me if I’ll miss Paris. I don’t think so. What I will miss is seeing my friends who live here and those from further away who will come to Paris but not to Blois. But we’re not that far away (less than 1 ½ hours by train) so we can schedule regular visits.

The overgrown vegetable patch when we got back from Germany

What I’m looking forward to is the garden and the nearby forest, less traffic and more friendly people in shops and restaurants.

I’d say that the only real drawback of Closerie Falaiseau is that it’s on the edge of town and there are no shops within walking or even cycling distance. I’ll have to plan more carefully. Since I make my own bread, it doesn’t matter that we don’t have a bakery close by. Even living in the middle of Paris, we practically never go and buy fresh croissants …

Catching up with Australian friends in Paris - Carolyn from Holidays to Europe in the Palais Royal Gardens — Catching up with Australian friends in Paris – Carolyn from Holidays to Europe in the Palais Royal Gardens

As I’ve always worked from home, I’m used to spending the day by myself, but it will be different for Jean Michel who will need to plan activities that involve other people.

We’ve already make several friends in and around Blois, especially through the Loire Connexion, so I’m not worried about our social life as a couple.

A drink with fellow bloggers and friends in Paris

We both love the house and garden and would presently much rather be there than in Paris, so I think that’s a good start, don’t you?

Closerie Falaiseau, Cycling, Flowers & gardens, Loire Valley, Restaurants

An Anniversary Dinner in Romorantin and a Bike Ride to Mer

June 9, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 9 Comments

We’ve been to Romorantin in Sologne before and loved the fresh produce market. At the bread baking day in Les Grouets, Le Lion d’or was recommended to us as being one of the best restaurants in the region so we’ve decided to try it out for our 16th wedding anniversary.

We’re coming directly from Paris so we’ve timed it to arrive at about 12.30 pm. We leave slightly later than planned and encounter traffic jams. Traffic is obviously being rerouted for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. I’m a bit on edge because I hate being late but as we approach the turn-off to Chartres, things get back to normal.

The brick façade of the restaurant — The brick façade of the Lion d’Or restaurant

It’s 12.45 when we park outside the hotel restaurant which is perfect. I straighten out my linen skirt which maybe isn’t the best choice for a 2 1/2 hour car ride and we walk in. The garden is visible from the doorway and it looks incredibly inviting. The service is friendly and discreet and remains so throughout.

The set menu is 68 euro for 3 set courses (no choice) and doesn’t tempt us. We decide to order from the regular menu and choose local specialities – asparagus, which Sologne is famous for, a chanterelle mushroom vol au vent, rabbit and pigeon.

To accompany them, after our initial glass of champagne, we choose two local whites (a glass each, of course, not a bottle): a cour cheverny with the famous romorantin grape imported by François I and a touraine sauvignon, both of which are excellent. There is only one local red sold by the glass, a respectable saumur champigny, so we take the only other choice, a tarn, to accompany the pigeon.

We choose not to have dessert as I notice that the people at the next table have an excellent selection of mignardises with their coffee.

The perfect weather, surroundings and service help us to digest the 328 euro bill. We regret that not one of the dishes we ate flattered our taste buds which is really the only criteria for good cuisine, no matter what the price. In our books, Les Hauts de Loire, at Onzain halfway between Blois and Chaumont, remains by far the best dining experience within an hour’s drive of home.

Celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary

The weather is so beautiful that as soon as we reach Closerie Falaiseau, we unpack the car, change into more comfortable clothes and drive to the bike path on the other side of Blois. By 5 pm, we’re in the saddle.

It’s lovely to be back on our bikes after the awful month of cold and rain we’ve just experienced. We keep to the bike path that is part of Eurovélo 6 (the one that took us along the Danube last summer) and runs along the Loire.

The lavoir in Cour sur Loire with its original trestles

The roses are just stunning in some of the little villages such as Cour sur Loire. We stop to take photos of the lavoir, relieved that it’s not pelting with rain the way it was last time we were here.

We pass some free-range chickens and guinea-fowls and eventually get to the outskirts of Mer. You’d think with a name like that that it would be on the coast but in fact mer comes from mera meaning marsh.

Courtyard of L'épicerie in Mer — Courtyard of L’épicerie in Mer

I see a sign advertising a bar/grocery store/local wine store called L’Epicerie and soon see it on the left before we get to the centre of the town. We put our bikes in the racks and make our way to the inviting courtyard. We treat ourselves to a very cold local sauvignon but refuse the Iberian platter. We’re not really hungry, I have to say!

We start chatting with the very friendly owner and learn she also has a brocante. Goodness, what a find! The grocery shop is full of all sorts of local foods and delicacies, including chocolate champagne glasses.

The very friendly owners of L'Epiceire — The very friendly owners of L’Epiceire

The brocante, which is more like an antique store, is beautifully kept with quite a large range of interesting finds. Unfortunately, nothing takes our eye but we’ll be back another day.

The brocante section of L'Epicerie — The brocante section of L’Epicerie

By the time we get back to the car, after 40 k and over 2 ½ hours in the saddle, I’m rather relieved that next day is going to be relâche!

Loire Valley, Restaurants

Breakfast at La Cigale

June 2, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 4 Comments

Family events are not always easy, particularly when you are a pièce rapportée as they say in French. The first time I heard the expression, which literally means a patch, to describe an in-law, I was shocked. A patch indeed!

When we finally decided that everything would be much smoother if we took a hotel room in Nantes rather than stay in the family home, our visits became much easier and we always treat ourselves to breakfast La Cigale on the last day.

This beautiful Art Deco brasserie built in 1895 which has all the extravagence of the Modern Style is the work of ceramist Emile Libaudière who mostly designed sober bourgeoise homes and religious buildings.

After becoming a listed monument in 1964, it was turned into a cafeteria until it was rescued in 1982 and restored to its former splendour. Its tiled frescoes, myriad mirrors and windows are an absolute delight.

We’ve noticed its increasing popularity over the years, particularly now that Place Graslin is closed to traffic but we always manage to find a table for two in the first room, our favourite. At 15 euro each for a full continental breakfast, it’s excellent value for money – two hot beverages, a mini croissant and mini pain au chocolat, a slice of brioche or cake, toast with butter, jam and honey.

It’s not exactly Angelina’s in Paris or Caffè Florian in Venice, but we love it.

The inside is very hard to photograph with all it's windows, especially in the morning — The inside is very hard to photograph with all it’s windows, especially in the morning

We’ve never eaten lunch or dinner there, because of our family co, but Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, tried it last winter when she spent New Year in Nantes.

Closerie Falaiseau, Flowers & gardens, Loire Valley

Photos of the Week – Roses in our Garden in Blois

June 1, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 4 Comments

Back in Blois for a week and loving the roses! The previous owners told us the roses on the front steps were Pierre Ronsard, but we now know they are not. We’re trying to track down their name.

Our mystery roses, which we were told were Pierre Ronsard, no doubt a type of polyanthus, on the front steps of Closerie Falaiseau — Our mystery roses, which we were told were Pierre Ronsard, but no doubt a type of polyanthus, on the front steps of Closerie Falaiseau

A close-up of our mystery rose which we were told was a Pierre Ronsard. — A close-up of our mystery roses

Our Saharan roses that disappointed us last year but are stunning this year

Climbing roses at the back of our house that we haven't identified either! — Climbing roses at the back of our house that we haven’t identified either!

Cooking, Food, Loire Valley, Wine

Bread Baking Day in Les Grouets

May 26, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

The sky is overcast and we’re hoping it’s not going to rain because we’re about to attend the 8th annual bread-making day in our neighbourhood, Les Grouets. It’s all happening at a bread-oven I’ve already photographed in the past.

8th annual bread baking day at Les Grouets — 8th annual wood-fired bread baking day at Les Grouets

We didn’t expect to be in Blois this weekend so we’re not sure of the programme. We arrive about 11 am and things are already in full swing. The baker is busy baking, the man who sells Les Grouets biscuits on the market is busy talking, the local caterer is busy selling his wares, the local wine grower is busy pouring glasses of wine and the other female members of the Amis des Grouets association are busy selling loaves of grouetin bread and brioche.

Our neighbours talking to the biscuit baker — Our neighbours talking to the biscuit maker

After talking to the biscuit maker and the wine grower, we make our way to the main tent to buy some bread. We are welcomed by the president of the association who is squeezing an endless succession of limes for the midday apéritif – for all those present, though it’s better if we buy something, he explains.

Some of our neighbours arrive to buy pizzas so we put in an order too. Jean Michel goes off to put the bread and brioche in the car while I continue talking to the neighbours. Then I spy the lilac lady who used to live in our “house of happiness”

The temporary baker discussing his trade

I go over to see her and see exclaims in surprise, “Oh, how lovely ! You said you wouldn’t be here this weekend. Let me introduce you to everyone.” It turns out the baker (who’s not a baker the rest of the time, just the owner of the bread-oven) is her brother.

She then introduces us to her sister-in-law and two nieces who used to live in our little house. She is very generous in her praise of us and tells them all that we are très sympathiques. We recount our lilac story and they soon start reminiscing about the little house and the middle house. We learn that their aunts lived in the house on the other side of ours as well.

Who's for some wine? — Who’s for some wine? And maybe some of that paella?

We all go into the tent for our aperitif and the lilac lady insists that we stay with them. We buy some little freshly-baked bread rolls with rillettes and sardines to go with our lime, sparkling white wine and dash-of-cointreau cocktail. Better not have too many of them!

Somehow the pizza orders have gotten well behind but at 2 pm, we eventually collect ours and take it home to eat in the little house which has taken on a new dimension now that we have met the last people to have lived there!

We’re looking forward to the next event when we’re living full-time in Les Grouets – the end-of-year dinner at the little château at the end of our street. And next year, I’ll be able to take my own bread along to bake as there is little chance of our own bread oven being functional for some time yet!

Loire Valley, Loire Valley châteaux

Outside My Front Door

May 9, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 5 Comments

Paula McInerney from Contented Traveller, whom I’ve already featured in my weekly blogger round-up, is publishing a series of posts entitled “Outside my front door”. I was delighted when she asked me to contribute and I’ve been enjoying hearing from other bloggers as well.

Outside My Front Door

Outside my front door is a large expanse of trees and grass and on the other side is the Loire River, flanked by two levees, first mentioned in 1584, which is the exact same year in which my Renaissance house was built.

If I go left five kilometers along the river, I will come to the city of Blois, with its royal castle, built on a promontory overlooking the Loire, and former home of Louis XII, François I, the star of the French Renaissance, and his son Henri II. Read more

Architecture, Blois, Closerie Falaiseau, Flowers & gardens, Loire Valley

The House of Happiness

April 8, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 13 Comments

There is a beautiful lilac bush just across the road from our house in a large vacant lot followed by meadowland that goes down to the Loire. Our rainwater flows into the vacant lot so Jean Michel keeps the area free of brambles and nettles. He has also cleared a parking space next to it. The lilac bush is on the left.

The lilac bush from our bedroom window when we get up in the morning

The weather is lovely and we’re having our tea in the garden, making the most of the spring flowers. Jean Michel suddenly gets up and says, “More people cutting the lilac”. He opens the gate, sees an elderly lady and a young man and says “Hello. I would really appreciate it if you could cut the lilac from the back of the bush and not the front. That way, everyone can appreciate it.”

The lady looks surprised. “Ah”, she says, “but figurez-vous (which means something like believe it or not), the lilac was planted by my father. I used to live in this house”. “Well”, we say, “that’s quite different”. “Won’t you come in”, I add, trying not to seem too excited, “I have lots of questions to ask you”.

The lady is loquacious, to say the least, while her 30-year old son is more reserved. She explains how the garden and the house were divided into two. There was a stone wall separating the garden starting at the drain pipe on the left of the last door on the right and ending where my planters are now. She and her parents and six siblings lived in the left half.

The wall ended on the right of the photo where you can see the two planters

Downstairs, the room corresponding to the archway on the left was a combined living room and kitchen with a bathroom behind and the boys’ bedroom was on the right. I learn, to my disappointment, that the stone sink and bench, which I thought were original features of the house, were added by the people who began restoring the house before our previous owners bought it.

Stone seat and sink that I thought were original!

Upstairs, where she loved to sit and read, were the other bedrooms. Her father was a bricklayer and had a large vegetable garden in the vacant alotment across the road. She tells us that she had the most wonderful parents imaginable, that the house was always full of people and that at Christmas, they had parties where everyone sang and danced until 6 o’clock in the morning.

“I call it la Maison du bonheur (the house of happiness)”, she says. She now lives in a flat in Blois, overlooking the Loire, “because”, she explains, “I love the Loire almost as much as this house. There used to be a sandy beach on the edge of the river and we used to love going there to play and sunbake.”

The little house that the parents moved into after their children grew up

But the children grew up and married and the house was too big for her parents so they moved to the little house next door. Her son explains that his grandparents used to look after him during the day and he went to the school down the road, which is now closed. Now in his early thirties, he confesses that it has always been his dream to buy the house one day.

The school in our street which is now closed

Their nostaglia is palpable. The little old lady talks non-stop and is obviously delighted to be able to share her memories with us and not at all interested in seeing the inside of the house which she doesn’t recognise. She is obviously disorientated so we go outside again. In response to something she says, I ask her how old she is. She looks a little surprised and replies 64.

I try not to look as shocked as I feel. I would have said she was 80! I think about it later and I finally come to the conclusion that her nostalgia for the past has prevented her from entering the modern world. She looks the age her mother would have had.

The little old lady in front of the lilac bush

Jean Michel takes his secateurs and cuts her a huge bouquet of lilac from behind the bush this time. She promises to come back again at the end of the year after we’ve moved here for good to show us her old black and white photos of the inside of the house. We promise in the meantime to make the most of our House of Happiness.

Architecture, Art, Cycling, Loire Valley, Uncategorized

Fontevraud l’Abbaye and its Extraordinary Kitchen

April 1, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 17 Comments

It’s the second day of our spring cycling weekend near Saumur. We wake up in time for 9 am breakfast at our B&B, Le Balcon Bleu, having slept very soundly in a comfortable bed after all our hills and dales of the day before.

The main bedroom from which you can see the cot. The bathroom is next to it. — Our suite consisted of four separate rooms – a single bedroom, a double bedroom, a baby’s room and bathroom.

We pass through the inner courtyard with its stunning Clematitis armandii and into the breakfast room. Well, you’ve already seen the photos – a cross between a brocante and an art gallery. Certainly a lovely room in which to start the day.

Our bedroom consisted of four separate rooms - single bed, a double bed, a cot and a bathroom but this room had the most typical decoration — The single bedroom with the most typical decoration

Breakfast is standard French fare, but of good quality: orange juice, fresh baguette, butter, several home-made jams and home-made yoghurt. Certainly not what Bread is Pain likes to see on the breakfast table though. We soon start chatting to our hostess who is a mine of information and since the other guests have not yet arrived, we invite her to sit down with us.

The view from Château de Villeneuve winery in Souzay-Champigny

After breakfast, we pick up some local saumur-champigny vieilles vignes from Château de Villeneuve and drive to Fontevraud l’Abbey which is why we chose to stay in Turquant, as it is only a short distance away. The sky is deep blue but it’s still a little chilly to cycle.

The first view of Fontevraud when you enter the abbey, with the church on the right

We’re just in time for a guided tour suggested by our hostess, which turns out to be really excellent. They even have very light folding seats you can take around with you.

The monastery, which was actually a group of four monasteries, was founded in 1101 by a wandering preacher called Robert d’Arbrissel who had such a following that he was ordered to settle somewhere. There was a monastery for women, one for men, another for repented women and another for lepers.

The room in which the nuns had to confess to their misdemeanours

Thirty-six abbesses ruled the abbey during seven centuries of monastic life, many of royal birth. The women’s lives entailed mostly hardship from what I gather as very few were there by choice. One of the nuns tried to poison another three times before being sent to solitary confinement (forever, I might add).

The abbesses usually managed to wend their way into the paintings in the confession room

The French Revolution closed the abbey in 1792 until it was turned into one of France’s most severe prisons from 1804 to 1963. The thousand or so inmates provided the manpower to convert the abbey into a fortress, learning all the trades needed to do so.

Restauration began after the prison was closed and the abbey was open to the public in 1985.

We visit various rooms, starting with the church which contains the recumbent statues of Aliénor d’Aquitaine, one of the countries most illustrious figures in the twelfth century, along with the smaller statues of her husband, the future Henry II Plantagenet of England, their son Richard the Lionheart, and his sister-in-law, Isabelle d’Angoulême who was married to Richard’s brother John Lackland.

The recumbent statues of Aliénor dAquitaine and Henry II

Next comes the cloister followed by the confession room in which the nuns had to own up to their misdemeanours including the aforementioned poisoning!

The refectory where the nuns survived on a very frugal diet of smoked fish and little else

After visiting the enormous refectory to which a floor was added to create prison cells and most of the doors blocked up, we come out into the open.

The famous kitchen at Fontevraud l'Abbaye — The famous kitchen at Fontevraud l’Abbaye

Here it is at last – the most recognisable part of Fontevraud l’Abbaye – its strange octagonal kitchen 25 metres high with its many pointed roofs made of stone from Charente and not the local tufa which is much softer.

Inside one of the 12 chimneys — Inside one of the 21 chimneys

Its Byzantine style brought back from the crucades is very different from the other buildings. The 21 chimneys covered with fish-scales were used to evacuate the smoke from the smoked fish below, the monastery’s staple diet.

Although there are two restaurants within the Abbey, we decide to see what’s offering on the main square and are delighted to find there are plenty of outside tables free at La Croix Blanche. Nothing extraordinary but we like the setting.

Before going back to the car, we wander around and find the little parish church of Saint Michel in Fontevraud-l’Abbaye with its “chat room” built in the 12th century for the large contingent of labourers employed to build the abbey and was financed by Henri II Plantagenet and Alienor d’Aquitaine. It was extended in the 15th and 17th centuries.

Thinking of the hills that no doubt await us when we get back on our bikes in Saumur, I somewhat regret the entrecôte, French fries and wine!

Château de Villeneuve vineyard, 3 rue Jean-Brevet, 49400 Souzay-Champigny. Tel: 02 41 51 14 04. jpchevallier@chateaudevilleneuve.com. Open from 9 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 6 pm. Closed Sundays and public holidays.

Le Balcon Bleu B&B, 2 rue de Martyrs, 49730 Turquant. Tel 02 41 38 10 31. lebalconbleuturquant@free.fr

I’m including this post in Lou Messugo’s ALL ABOUT FRANCE blog link.

For other contributions, click here.

Cycling, Loire Valley, Uncategorized

Souzay Champigny Troglodyte Shopping Centre

March 24, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 14 Comments

We’re on our way back from Saumur to Turquant, having just cycled up hill and down dale in the opposite direction. We’re on the riverside cycle path on the Loire à Vélo route, which has just taken us through a series of troglodyte houses parallel to the river when another hilly path takes us up a winding street on the other side of the village of Souzay.

We have doubts – are we really supposed to go through that tunnel?

Vaulting at the entrance to the 11th century troglodyte shopping centre

We stare in amazement as we get closer. A vaulted troglodyte village!

Wine press shaft called a "jitte de pressoir" — Wine press shaft called a “jitte de pressoir”

The first thing we see is a “jitte de pressoir”, a sort of stack through which grapes were poured onto the wine presses below. Jean Michel explains that his grandfather used to have one.

The next thing we see is the village well which was shared by the villagers

We then come to a mediaeval grocery shop with mullion windows on rue de Commerce which, the sign tells us, operated as a busy trading street from the 11^th to the 19^th century! More shops follow. A troglodyte shopping centre!

We continue through the underground labyrinth, with its many empty shops and overhead caves. It’s very eerie as it is late afternoon in spring and not another soul in site.

Subsidence has endangered some of the caves

A more open area follows with an 18^th century pigeon house. There is an oven with a long table and benches.

Signs along the way explain consolidation techniques used since renovation began in 2002, the subsidence that produced the open areas and the quarrying of local tufa stone for construction, which is how the village originated .

The blocks of tufa extracted from the rock and cut to size were taken out through a shaft to the level below using a pulley system. The next person in line placed them in a cart that took them down to the river. This very practical timer saver meant the carts didn’t have to jostle their way through the narrow, winding hillside streets.

If you look closely, you can see table and chairs, cooking utensils and even a bed!

It’s easy to understand why the villagers quickly took over the resulting cavities once the stone had been removed. Certainly a cheap way to get a house. I’d like to know how they got across the shaft in the sketch though!

This post is an entry in Lou Messugo’s All About France montly link-up. For more posts about France from other bloggers, click here.

Aussie in France

Category Archives: Loire Valley

Blois Chambord Cycling Itinerary 11 & 11bis

Last Three Months in Paris

An Anniversary Dinner in Romorantin and a Bike Ride to Mer

We’ve been to Romorantin in Sologne before and loved the fresh produce market. At the bread baking day in Les Grouets, Le Lion d’or was recommended to us as being one of the best restaurants in the region so we’ve decided to try it out for our 16th wedding anniversary.

Breakfast at La Cigale

Photos of the Week – Roses in our Garden in Blois

Bread Baking Day in Les Grouets

Outside My Front Door

Outside My Front Door

The House of Happiness

Fontevraud l’Abbaye and its Extraordinary Kitchen

I’m including this post in Lou Messugo’s ALL ABOUT FRANCE blog link.

For other contributions, click here.

Souzay Champigny Troglodyte Shopping Centre

from the Tropics to the City of Light