When the going gets wet....

..the wet go tiki-touring...or some semblance of it.
We didn't venture far this morning, and our ulterior motive for leaving the house (in the rain) was to get some liquid dish soap...and cling wrap and foil...and....its amazing what you find when you are looking for meat to tide you over the weekend, non?

Because nearly all of France is closed on Sunday and Monday (well, MOST of France) we needed to think about what we would be eating over the weekend.

We are very excited to think what to feed our guests on Sunday at lunch time. Yes, Julien, Franzi and Archille are coming to Sunday Lunch! They are the family we met in Brantome, last Sunday, on our way here.
We decided on a typical Kiwi lunch...either Veg soup and cheese scones, or Sausage and egg pie. Watch this space for the final decision!
In the meantime I have the veg. soup on the induction cook top. I am in love with this kitchen!!!

We found a smoked ham hock for the princely sum of 3.21 euros. This is the basis for the soup.

 We had bought the veg two days ago, specifically for the soup. We are missing the butternut pumpkin in this photo. I use butternut for the sweetness of the cooked flesh. Of course, the parsnips will also be sweet.

 Despite being at the stove, it is still cold and I have plenty of clothes on under that apron...yes, I always travel with my chef's apron  and my own knives...among other 'essentials'.

 ...and it is all underway on the wonderful induction cook top. I have a two burner induction cooker on the boat. I LOVE it. Don't give me gas...induction has so much control.

Waz thought it might be a good idea to make a fire. Well done, Wazzy! Alfie obviously thinks so too.

I just put another log on, before I tell you more about our morning tiki-touring.

The alarm went off at 7.30am, but we turned over and went back to sleep. Fortunately we didn't hear any cat noises form the Sous-sol, until I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs. It was now 9am! Merde! Did we really sleep that long? For shame!

I was dressed and downstairs in a flash to let the monsters out of the basement. Some don't just charge up the stairs, but linger while I turn off lights and shut the door behind me, wanting love and strokes. Alfie is one, and the other one is Cocoa. She was particularly generous with her attention and attention seeking, this morning.
I had opened the kitchen door in anticipation of the mass exodus, and at the same time as the bottom four were trying to get out, the two who had slept outside on the garden furniture, were trying to get back in. Elsa and Scruffy were the two who remained outside last night. They were very happy to have hugs and food this morning. I cant give myself an additional ulcer over their night time safety. If they don't come inside when they are called, then what am I supposed to do? Pray! lol.

Having had a lardon and cheese omelet and croissant for breakfast, we checked our mail, finished our tea and cleaned up ready for our short journey...all 13 kms of it. Todays goal, apart from the aforementioned supermarket foray, was to see the Chateau at Jumilhac Le Grand. (you mil ack). It is a one way road aas you approach the chateau and Centre Ville, along the gorge, shown here on the right hand side. there is a small slither of land below the rock was you can see in the photo. The land belongs to the various homes on the opposite side of the road. This is their 'allotment' as it were.

 What a stunning building...or series of buildings! While I had seen photos of it, nothing quite prepares you for the actual Chateau. it is far more extensive than you imagine, and there is no one photos that will show it's size, of course.
Fog in the valley and the damp and soft/rainy light  doesn't help the photos, and I prefer not to 'play' on computer or in -camera, with them. This shows what it was really like, today.

 We parked outside the bar that was open. It also said Patisserie...and as we are that way inclined, it was somewhat disappointing to find that the Patisserie part was all a figment of our imagination....albeit a seasonal one. Standing outside the Bar, we turned around to find this view.

 This town is inside the Parc Naturelle Perigord/Limousin. Gorgeous rock canyons, as you venture further into the Parc, which we will do another and sunnier day. The rain stopped long enough for us to take a good walk around and discover more than what you can see here.
We crossed over from the Perigord Vert, to the Haute Vienne, and then the Dordogne, in our short journey.

We sat down with a few others in the bar and ordered a grand Crème. It was small and very pricey...were they taking us for a ride?? Who knows, but they celebrated the fact that we are NZ'ers, when I told him AFTER I paid the 2.50 euro sum for each small café.

This man and his HUGE dog entered the bar after we ordered. It is hard to see the size of the animal from the out of focus photo, but we were told it is a Portuguese Mountain Dog.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrela_Mountain_Dog  
 ...... if you seek to know more about the breed.

 See... I wasn't dreaming the fact that there is a Patisserie as well as a bar. Hohum! Better for our waistlines, I know, but....You will see the reason for our disappointment, further on, in this episode.

 We walked back a ways up the one way street leading to the Centre Ville, looking left, down into the river valley. There is a weir and Mill or Moulin, down there. The light was so lovely and soft, and the colors of the last of the Automne, wonderful!

 The view down into the valley. Fog and wood smoke.

 On the valley side of the one way street, and into the private property of the home owner. There was plenty of junk on some properties, but others had their act together to enjoy the stunning view. We could imagine how lovely that would be in summer. The crowds here in summer might be a bit diabolical though. We are grateful to be the only 'tourists' around, most of the time.

 As I said...some have their priorities right!

This is a closer photo of the Weir (on the left, you can just see the water falling to the left of the Moulin (mill). We could hear the falling water in the general quiet of the scene. So beautiful!

Is this a better photo showing the weir?

 This scene almost looks like areas of Apalachia, in the West Virginia hills of the USA...or even North Carolina....not that I want to compare!

 The corner of the Chateau through the bare branches of a fruit tree.

 We couldn't figure out how the architects mind worked, on this Chateau. Folly, on our part. Does there have to be logic? Im sure all the turrets serve a purpose. You would think so, right?

 Centre Ville in Jumilhac Le Grand. It serves as a parking lot, or I guess at some stage it was a parade ground. Memorial day was 11/11/17, and there are still Chrysanthemums at the memorial at the top of this square.

 The Eglise on the left hand side (church). we were able to walk around that left side, but couldn't go all the way around. Apparently there are Chateau tours on Sundays, but that may only be in Summer. The sign didn't say.

 We walked further down that road because there was a sign we needed to read. Looking left, opposite the park, this is a 'normal' town back yard. Fruit trees abound.

 And of course, this took our fancy.

 This is the scene opposite the tower above.

 And looking back at the chateau and Eglise.

 There is a home on the left side of the Eglise and on the plinths at the gateway to their property, are these elaborate wrought Iron 'bouquet'.

Walking right around the Eglise to the back, we were in for a surprise...a good one, as it happened.
This is an old drain. It appears to work well. (I hope that isn't a pun, and it actually goes into a well!)

 In summer we would never have had this view of the Chateau due to the tree, but how lovely, looking through the skeleton of the tree to the south side of the Chateau.

 The lovely surprise was looking over the wall at the back of the Eglise.

 Voila! Even though the garden isn't too well kept, the layout is lovely, and the far view is worth looking at.

 We couldn't find a date on the top of the door, but  Im sure I will find that if I google it. Any guesses? I don't think it is 15Century, but could well be 16/17th, after looking at some of the stone work. The little puka on the bottom right would have had a Virgin Mary or saint in its archway, beside the door.

 The decoration on the Eglise is not familiar in any way, which is why I have trouble dating this church. I will have to see if I can find similar decoration elsewhere. I did find out that this village is on the route followed by Richard the Lion Heart, and one of the branches of the Camino de Santiago.

 The Cenotaph in the Centre Ville.

 Beautiful memorial arrangement at the base of the Cenotaph. This is in memory of those who died in all world wars, but in particular the men from this village who gave their lives in North Africa in the 14/18 war.

 Standing directly behind the cenotaph, you can look up this glorious Alle of Plane Trees to the Hotel de Ville at the end. (Town Hall)

It was lunch time by now, and we still had to get to the Supermarche. We did think of visiting the Lidl, but I took a different route through town, of course, and we missed it. We did happen upon a Boulanger, so bought our lunch time baguette pain cereal (grains) and Waz found the aforementioned treat of a Millefeuille (mee ye fer ee ye)..it means literally 'a thousand leaves'. Elsewhere in the world they are called Custard Squares (nothing square about this one) and Napoleons. For shame. Call it what it is!!

Right then. Progress report on herding the cats.
As my feeding them outside the back door encouraged them all to disappear, post food, I had the brainwave (sometimes it takes me a while, lol) to feed them inside, as the owners do, lol. Well, MOST of them came when called, and MOST of them stayed inside, only because we closed off the cat door, and kept them inside the living area, vs the kitchen where they were being fed. Jolly was NOT going to be confined inside, and I let him out afterwards, as the owners aren't too concerned about this three legged moggy leaving the property.
The hold out is Elsa. She didn't come inside last night, and had me worried. She is not available for loves, for some reason, and doesn't appear to want to be around us, let alone come inside. She will miss out on food, tonight. She will be hungry in the morning then. If she chooses to be aloof, what can I do about it?
So, 4 cats inside, Jolly sitting out on the garden furniture, and Elsa is AWOL.

Cocoa settle down nicely on Waz's lap, next to the fire, and Alfie decided to come and try to gain the advantage in said lap.

that wasn't successful, so he moved to the back of the sofa. He seemed to like the taste of Waz's hair, for some reason.

Little cat Holly, has taken to sitting on Waz's Man Bag. Cats!

As I go to take a look at our quiche, which is heating in the oven, Alfie has decided he must see what my lap looks like for availability! Argggghhhh! Of course! lol.

That's it for today. Bonne Nuit, et a bientot.