The Best Laid Plans are Meant to be Broken.

I don't know why we even make plans. For goodness sake! We are lucky to get where we think we are going, let alone somewhere PLANNED! The trouble with making plans is: There is always that 'other' road down there that lead to somewhere exciting! You know how that is? We aren't A-B people. We like to find the CDE and F...and sometimes get ourselves in quite a pickle as a result. Being of the 'fast talking' kind, I usually manage to get us out of slippery situations, but sometimes we just have to laugh and hope others find it funny too!:)
I'm not referring to anything specifically, right now, and I'm definitely NOT going to tell you where some of my more famous skeletons lie, in the closet, so we will just get on with discussing today's 'Plans', shall we?

Plan A was to find Chervix. I think I said that in this morning's Blog. Well, first you have to take the correct route out of town. Hmm...HE thinks he is on the right path, and happy not to put the GPS on, so we head out of town in THAT direction, but merde! No Chervix! Oh dear...how did that happen? We did however, come across some other familiar views and places, and one we didn't expect to find...JOY!!!! This one was super cold...below freezing actually, as by almost noon the frost was still very firm on the ground and in the shade. We sought the sunny side of the street, but you cant always stay that side.
First we crossed over from the Limousin to Correze Department.

 This was the stunning view as we came around a corner. Never been here before, and we cant figure out how we ended up here, but that's no surprise, really, lol

Segure le Chateau is a stunning little OLD town...yes, Medieval! The Chateau (in ruins, as you can see) belonged to the Vicomtes de Limoges, also known as the Vicomtes de Segure (Say goore...). Henry the 4th was their last heir. They created their own little principality here. The Chateau dates back to the 1100's.
With a current population of about 230 people, we dont think we would like to live here,  as we can imagine how the population of this place swells in the summer time. There is a large and modern Tourist Information center down by the river and public parking lot. Yes, too bad there has to be a large parking lot beside the river. We did find some property for sale in this little town, and it isn't inexpensive interestingly, although there is a SMALL home for sale for around 50k euros. We didn't see how a container truck would be able to get down the road for delivering the furnishings, however.:)Up there....where the white chair is. See the Leggett Realty sign on the house?
Someone has done an excellent job of repairing the Colombage (the white stuff in between the wooden battens.
Look at that glorious blue sky, too....How fortunate we are to be having such stunning weather. That is all about the change at the end of this week, we are told. Minus temperatures and snow is forecast.

It wasn't initially obvious that there was a public parking space, where we stopped, in a hurry and with cars up my tail spout. Taking a little time to look around, we spied the public parking there on the right where the small white car is.
What a delightful scene this is. Though it was extremely cold in this valley, we needed to get out and walk. A little dangerous, with barely any room to walk on the side of the curvy road. Locals always seem to zoom around at great speed. I guess they know the roads well and no tourists at this time of year.:)

 Way back around the corner, there is a lot of scaffolding around a particularly fragile looking building. I am guessing it was part of the original Chateau. this also was part of that building.

 We walked across the bridged to inspect the rest of the town, but that road led to younger homes, and went up the hill. Having come from the opposite direction, we headed back that way, knowing we would find the old mill.

 This colombage home is a particularly fine example. It appears part of a Maison Bourgeois where a wealthy person would have lived. Perhaps the mill owner?  Notice the cross in front of it at the top of the stairs?

 You can see how little walking space there is for a pedestrian on this winding road.

 The architecture is fabulous. So, why did the builder choose to put that little tower in just that spot?

 I bet this river is a great fishing spot. Trout? I must research that. I could easily become a fisherwoman in such serene surroundings.

 another house built into the rock.

 Flights of Fancy, is what i call these interesting cones above windows on the second floor.

 Moving back the way we came, and we found the view that made us stop in the first place.  See that building top right? That's the stone building I was just talking about with the scaffolding around it. Someone built their large home right there in amongst the ruins...big white house!

 This one!

 From the bridge going to the public parking lot.Ccccoooolllldd!

 Plane Trees might be fast growing in these parts, but these two are particularly old, in my opinion. How fabulous are those trunks!

 LOVE these turrets.

 I'm pretty sure that says 1740...so this building (a house) isn't that old, in the scheme of things. When the Chateau dates back to the 12th through 15th centuries, this is young!

 What a gloriously sunny spot. Kitty thought so too, until I disturbed his morning ministrations, and then he just had to come and say hello. With this sunny spot right on the road, I didn't know how safe he was being out there.

 Then we turned a corner that lead to the coldest part of the village...well, maybe the 2nd coldest part. The old mill is on our back left. The English Ivy covering this old building, left, was all wilted in the cold.

 The remnants of a vegetable garden. Can you FEEL the cold? I had my scarf over my mouth, at the same time trying to take photos in between putting my hands back into warm pockets...need more hands!! and what the heck happened to my hat and gloves??? Hmm...sitting on the dresser! I did get them out, but forgot to take them with us.

 The top of the weir alongside the mill.

 Opposite the mill. With the weir area being so cold, I vacated fast. However, I had yet to see THE coldest place at the bottom of the valley.

 The old entry to the mill, with the Mill stone outside. Waz has fanciful ideas about buying an old mill and getting the machinery to work and give us not just water, but to also use the mechanism to somehow heat the house too. Such a project is exactly what he needs, and he would make it work too.

 THIS is the coldest place in the valley, and it is the garden in the middle of the Mill stream and the main river...like a little island with chickens and a guinea hen also. That frost was HARD.

 There was no obvious way to get around the baxck of the village, that we could find, and therefore get UP to the Chateau.  I don't know that it would be very safe, but you know how curiosity can be!

 Out of order, but you can see the mill stream on the left joining the river on the right at the end of the island with the chicken shed on it.

Colder than we chose to be, we headed back to the warmth of the car. Silly me hadn't parked it in the sun, so the heater went on immediately.
Good thing too! It took a while to thaw out. I discovered that I will need some warmer boots for when we return to this area in January...deep winter!.

So, here we were on the way to our GOAL, this morning. Back to Pompadour. You know that Madame de Pompadour was the mistress of King Louis the XV of France, right? ..1721-1764...She had a huge influence on the arts and architecture of the times. Her refined style was considered the height of good taste during the 20 years she was the King's mistress.
Well, this is the town of Pompadour, and we returned mainly because we hoped to get inside the gates of the glorious Chateau in the middle of this town well known for it's horse breeding, dressage, carriage driving crafts and all things horse.

 Such an imposing and all consuming edifice truly takes center stage in this town. Everything is devoted to the horse aspect of the location, or the Chateau and ramparts. Names such as Auberge du Rampart, for a restaurant, and Tabac du Chateau etc.

 Deliberately out of focus...this is all that remained of Waz's lunch. He ordered Confit de Canard...again. I think he is trying to find the PERFECT duck leg. He joked that there must be an awful lot of legless ducks out there, because everywhere we go, we only tend to see duck legs on plates. On the other hands.....Oh, By the way...his meal, Confit de Canard with Pommes Frites (Fries...straw kind) was 12euros.

 We listened to the Plat du Jour from the waiter, and I ordered that. Canard (there's another legless duck!) avec Chou fleur au fromage. The béchamel (white sauce made with milk) with cheese was a bit thick, and the duck leg wasn't as moist as Waz's, but the meal was huge, and I couldn't finish it. Later at the supermarket, Waz noted that Cauliflower (Chou fleur) is inexpensive right now, with a huge head being about .90 euros...about a dollar! Perhaps that's why it was the Plat du Jour?
The green thing is a lettuce leaf, which I thought was a bit weird on a hot plate. Anyhow, I ate MOST of the meal and enjoyed the flavor. We had a café grand crème before the meal, which is generally a non/no in France, and we were offered another to finish off, and declined. My meal, being the daily special, was 8.40euros.

 This is where we ate...see....Les Ramparts! Too bad...or a good thing? that the Glacerie (ice cream shop) next door was closed!

 This was the view  (below) opposite the restaurant which was full. We sat next to a lovely couple from Lyon who were in town for his Father's 90th birthday and family celebration. Born in Normandy, he and his wife now live in what is well known to be the Gourmande capital of France. He told me that there were more 'top' chefs in Lyon, than any other city in France. He was quick to defend the rest of France and the food everywhere as being just prefect. We might agree:) They were driving the four hours back to Lyon after their meal...they also had the plat du jour...and it was after looking at their food, that I made my meal decision.
Our other neighbors had warm camembert with salad and a preserved meat of some kind. It looked delicious, but the man had French fries on his plate, and he kept dipping them in the camembert...something new!! I will have to try it. This is how the conversation about Normandy began...just in case you were wondering how I struck up a conversation with those at our elbows.
I asked what the food was...as you do, lol.   The same couple also had dessert, and I just had to be nosy and ask what they were eating.  She had a Chocolat Fondant...warm choc. pudding with molten center...wow! no cream though! and he had an apple custard kind of Tarte. Both looked divine.
We decided to enter that door at center. Having read the sign that said it would cost us 9.50 euros to enter and tour the Chateau, we couldn't find where to pay...Ferme..closed...so we went up to the gate which was unlatched. Of course we walked in and took some photos. Not long afterwards, we spied a woman trying to get our attention. She wasn't pleased that we had entered and told us that the Chateau was closed and upon my enquiry, told me it would be open from Tuesdays through Saturday...come again!

 These parts are rich with signage of the Route Richard Coeur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart. I guess he rode these same roads on his horse. Love the lion with the arrow through it's heart. It is a Primitive Fortress.

 At some stage there was a Drawbridge over the moat. Was the moat always grass? Hard to say, but I am betting it wasn't. What would be the point? Water was a much greater deterrent because people couldn't swim, in those days. Swimming as we know it is a relatively new invention.

 The Laverie (shed roof) is just one of several I believe. This is where the village women would go to wash the clothes. Notice that it is outside of the walls.  I am thinking that the moat was fed by a river, and therefore there was running water for the women to do the laundry...makes sense?

 across the road is what I believe might have been the gate houses which now lead the way to an equestrian parc.

 Pompadour, City of Horses. The Limousin region is the birthplace of the Anglo/Arab horse. Pompadour bred horses are famous worldwide. It is particularly adapted to 'eventing', thanks to it's blood, gallop, balance, courage and endurance, apparently. September 13 -19 is The Great Week of Pompadour. The Famous events and horse sales take place during this time here in Pompadour, in the Limousin.
You will also have heard of the famous cattle breed, Limousin. They are a 'golden-red' colored, short legged, hardy cattle breed famous for their meat. The breed may be as old as the European continent itself. Depictions of cattle in the nearby Lascaux caves (estimated to be more than 200,000 years old) bear an incredible resemblance to the Limousin cattle that we see grazing the fields, today. They were originally bred as beasts of burden, it is assumed. Dating back as far as 1698, Renee Lafarge reported them as such. After outliving their usefulness as beasts of burden, they were slaughtered for their meat, of course. Because of the hardiness of the breed, they would spend the whole year out in the fields, where most cattle and other livestock would be housed inside, out of the extreme cold in this area in winter, as source of great pride to the breeders. You may also be interested to know that they calve all year round, the females going to the bull at around 3 yrs old!

 Back to more mundane things...

Coming back through the massive wooden doors,  I took a closer look. The Fleur de Lis are wooden, to my surprise, and the knocker and handle is rather lovely.

 A Mini-Chateau?

 We walked the entire Ramparts, and found all kinds of other things to look at, of course.

 Note the date on this 'band aid' put on the wall of one of the towers. We noticed that ALL the towers had band aids, and we were somewhat surprised that the efforts to 'fix' the tower cracks were so obviously feeble.

 You can see those white-ish strips in various places on the cracks. I would have thought someone would have the expertise to do this ...what?...Properly? What would that mean, and what would that be? I just know I didn't think this looked good and it still looks like it will split open.

 We see so many gorgeous gates. This one of a pair leads into a courtyard behind a large Maison Maitre, or Masters House. There is a double garage out back, and Waz's eyes get bigger when he discovers that the house and land is for sale. :)

 He hasn't managed to find it on the internet though. The land to the left of this photo is rather nice, with fruit trees, and sunshine, more importantly, at 3pm in winter.

 Down and around, and this is what we found. This is a significantly different design to most of the churches we see. Rarely do you see wood on the front. This indicates to us that the church is VERY old. Chapelle Saint Blaise has it's roots in 1158's. WOW! Inside was very simple, which is what would be expected.
This church 's history is significant in the Middle Ages era of Geoffroi du Pompadour III (1430 - 1514) , who was the Grand Vicar of the church....he was one of the family members responsible for building the Chateau du Pompadour, at the same time.

 As we walked past the church, we also passed this elderly gentleman walking his cat. Kitty has a couple of bells on it's collar.

 As if on cue, this pair and driver and (what is the name of the fella riding on back?)..him...came out of the Stables beside the chateau, but inside the ramparts, and I was able to video their progress up the street and into the Equine parade grounds.

 Inside the parade grounds, at the far end opposite the round tower gates.

 it was 3pm by now, and though we had arrived around half noon, we had had enough, so it was time to go home. The route home was the route we had anticipated arriving on, but we know that didn't happen. Ha!
We stopped in Lubersac on the way to get some fresh fruit...they have a Lidl there and next door to that is our favorite brand supermarche, SuperU. We found some small Xmas decorations as souvenirs, and some wine...how unusual! for less than 3 euros.
Our tongues were hanging out for a cup of tea, so we hot footed it home, as much as the winding road would allow us.
Waz cleared the mail box and we were amazed at the amount of junk Christmas oriented mail there was. Look at all this!!

 We gave up reading after a while....more of the same, and though some of the products are fabulous, we aren't about to buy any of them.

Feeding kitties, who were all waiting outside the back door for us to appear, took place at 5pm. We had finished our tea by then, and taken time to thaw out, somewhat. It is COLD outside, and no doubt there will be another frost. I have again driven the car into the garage, and I know the cats will all sleep in top of it, as they have for the past two nights.

Having had a main meal for lunch, we, or rather *I* decided on a freshly cut lettuce salad for dinner. We had an orange and apple to eat (they were desperate!) and we love the French walnuts...Fresh!!!, and we had to open a new Pate Forestiere, and of course finish up yesterday's farmhouse loaf, which would otherwise be bird food, tomorrow. A glass of slightly sweet rose to accompany, and this was a delightful meal. Oh yes, I added some blue cheese as well. A little walnut oil and chardonnay vinegar for tossing, and ...yum!
My plate...

 Waz decided to get creative...each to their own, lol.

 All finished off with a cup of coffee and an apple Stollen with Crème Entiere. You know I like cream on mine. I wouldn't dare show you Waz's plate....he decimated his Stollen putting cold butter on it, lol.

And now it is time to herd the kitties down stairs. I have taken all food away, and there are still two AWOL, outside. Elsa and Scruffles. I don't think they are going to want to stay outside tonight, so I have to go and practice my best falsetto into the cold night air...if that is possible. I will put on all the warm clothing I can find first.

Night night. A demain.