The day started well with clear blue skies and a slew of vapor trails overhead. It looked a bit like Main Street up there!
We seem to be down to a pattern of rising around 7am. We only have white net curtains on all the windows, so light is present early...and late. We enjoy the cool mornings and one of the first things we now do is open the doors onto the terrace out back and survey the scene below and above, breathing in the fresh air and delighting in the bird song.
Today we needed to make a trip to Cognac to order some parts for the Weed Wacker we inherited. It just wouldn't start yesterday, so Waz has decided to replace some 'bits', in the hope that starting with fresh parts, our machine will continue to do it's much needed job. Thank goodness for the GPS! We managed to order the new parts without much problem at the appropriate retailer in Chateaubernard, and we will return a week from now to pick them up. I am hoping the clerk got the message to e-mail us, not phone us. I told him my ability to talk (French) on the phone is not good!:)
We haven't really taken much time to explore Cognac (only 18kms from home), and we certainly only did a little exploring this morning before returning home in time for lunch. We had other things to do in the afternoon, or we might have stopped for lunch at the Indian restaurant we found down a side street! Waz's favorite food!
We managed to find a parking spot down a side street, with just a short walk back to the main street. There is a large roundabout in this location, and we would normally just take the 2nd exit off it and go straight towards the Charente River which bi-sects the city.
Everywhere you walk there are famous Cognac brand names. You can take tours of each of them during the summer.
On the square is Camus.
Down a side road behind these lovely gates is Martell.
There is a lot to know about Cognac, and if you are further interested, this Wikipedia information is pretty accurate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognac
After we parked we chose the shady side of the street to walk towards the 'square' which isnt square, but rather a Giratoire (Roundabout...large one)
Some of the glorious details on buildings along this road.
What a fabulous door!
This bar has Art Deco interiors. The woodwork is stunning!
I had an idea that I wanted to sit in this open space and soak it all in, but we also needed a walk, and wanted to see more before heading home for lunch. Our budget is a bit stretched, so eating out is reduced to the odd Grand Crème w/pastries or Glace (Ice Cream):)
The ubiquitous tourist train, which, though I pan them, are a great way to see the sights in any new place. The sound systems are always crap and it is rare to find an interesting voice on the speaker system that is actually full of interesting facts about their home town.
Dahling! You shouldn't have! This lovely V6 Honda looked like the owner had spent all his weekends cleaning and shining. Beautiful!
The first of the flower baskets were strung over the main pedestrian street. Not many people about, but Sundays are usually the day you find people out strolling. Good for us!
This man had a basket full of fruit and vegetables. We turned around and saw that he had just come from Les Halles (markets).
Outdoor art!
These ancient archways are simply gorgeous. They belong to the Ancien Chapelle (Ancient Chapel) They have been restored, and the small square on the floor to the left, between arches is a glass top over a newly discovered staircase.
The stone covered well in the courtyard outside is part of the original.
Inside, the staircase is 20th century, but has it's own beauty.
I love the wrought iron on this one.
Les Halles (The Markets) which is usually under one roof in larger towns and cities. In smaller towns you will usually find the original open-sided markets, some dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Some are still thatch covered.
Of course we ventured forth into this one. We are often surprised by the high prices in these markets. We are never sure of the quality, but plenty of people lining up to purchase at all the stalls. Endlessly fascinating, and obviously many people only purchase their food this way. It is also a generational thing. We watched a very hunched and very elderly man dragging his basket on wheels in the direction of the market, and figured that he had probably done this most of his life.
This is why you have a small car in France...parking spaces are small, and so are the turning spaces.
Opposite the market is the Eglise (church) which strangely has shops and homes (above the shops) build onto the side of it. Originally this church is from (well, some small parts of it) the 11th Century, and has been added to and renovated in the centuries since. The War of Religion is mentioned on so many of the church plaques, and often recounting the desecration and destruction of the facades.
More on that later...
Meanwhile, back at the flower stall. The color of this Peonie (Pivoine = pee voing, in French) reminded me of Raspberries. Stunning. Out of focus, but you get the idea. They were selling for 2,50 euros per head. I am more motivated than ever to plant some in an 'Annuals' flower bed.
The sight that greeted us upon entry.
To our left was a fruit and veg stall, and behind us a Fromagerie (cheese), and to the left of them was a Charcuterie selling cooked meats and cold cuts as well as some cooked dinner type dishes.
We stopped at a stall called Sugar and Spice. Peering into the glass cabinets, eyes popping out of our heads (speaking for myself at this point, lol) were all number of English cakes and cookies/shortbreads. WOW! The young English woman owner has lived in France for 16 years with 8 of those at the Stall. She studied Pastry Baking and it shows. Waz opted for a Lemon cake with a drizzle of icing, and I opted for a Bakewell Tart. Mine could have had more almond flavor but was otherwise excellent. This was served up with an espresso each. It was 11.15am by now, and lunch looked a little way off, to be frank. Plenty of exploring to do yet, before heading home.
Back to the church that was ruined during the War of Religion...between 1522 and 1712....they went on for a bit! However, most of the fighting ended around 1648, I'm told.
The round window is very different to most we have seen. Almost a modern design, but not. The center of the window is especially intricate. The two arches on either side of the main door were damaged in the late 16oo's, we read. Much of the ornamentation has also gone, sadly. What is left over is not well cared for, and I believe there is a restoration project somewhere in the works.
Most of the churches, Abbaye and other religious buildings in this part of the country have their origins in the 10th/11th and 12th centuries. Much of what was built in the earlier centuries was burned down because they were constructed of wood primarily. Stone buildings went up in their place, in the 11th century, using local stone predominantly. Some have Marble flagstones, but usually local stones was used because of the cost, and availability. There are many quarries in the area where these stones were cut.
Further along the pedestrian street was this garden store. This is typical of the city garden stores we come across. We didnt go inside, but there may well have been a large courtyard out back, as often is the case in these closely built areas.
Next door was a tea shop. How convenient!
Turn the corner and you are instantly reminded that you are in Cognac. Those barrels are outside a bar.
We had walked in a square. Thank goodness for Waz's good sense of direction. I actually DO have one, but when he is along I am lazy!
Home again, and a light lunch before The Sever Pruning Company got to work.
It was the kind of warmth, sitting on the south terrace, that wraps around you. Lovely, soothing and perfect. There was a slight breeze and we were happy to have the umbrella up for shade.
A Baguette, some mousse de Canard (duck liver mousse), blue cheese, Emmental cheese for me...olives in garlic, some salad veg and a cup of tea followed by a nectarine. Even the smell of the nectarines in the warmth was soothing.
How could you not love sitting in this setting?
Fortified, we set out in our boots, gloves and assorted head gear, depending on what we intended to do.
I rounded the corner of the north terrace and found one of the shrubs already in a heap on the grass. It was dead anyway, and I am very pleased to have it out of the way. Waz and his hedge trimmers had been here before me!
Now he has the chain saw out! We couldn't get our large loads around this corner, so it necessitated some severe pruning.
After trimming this tree back and seeing how much light now enters this spot, we decided to go ahead and take it out. While these trees are pretty, we need sunlight in this area much more than shade. This west side of the house gets way more sun that any other side and we are hoping that this will dry out and warm up our basement, somewhat.
The trees looked like this before. They both had been topped at some time in their lives and topiaried in some form, but they take up the whole of the lawn now.
As you can see, there is nowhere to go, around this tree. We will deal to it in the next round of cutting. First we have to find a way to get rid of all the green waste. We are looking at Trailers, on the internet.
Before you could turn around and count to 10, it was all over.
Of course there is always ONE bird's nest to be found in any tree. I was surprised at how heavy this one was, but figured it was the wet moss at the bottom, after all the rain in previous days.
The only hat I could find to keep me a little shaded in the heat. It came with the house!
The tails of the bow drove me crazy, though, feeling like a bug on the back of my neck, so I re-jigged the whole thing during a coffee break. The bow is now around the crown, and no tails to annoy me further. Pretty spunky hat though, dont you think!
Can you believe how much sunlight gets onto this lawn now? SPACE too. When the other tree has been felled, we will be able to get to the ivy that is growing all over the fence and the lovely old pink rose bush. I started on the hedge to the left, which is about 3 meters wide. Plenty of leaf mould to nurture the nasty blackberry vines all throughout it. It made for some hazardous pruning at times, and both Waz and I sustained thorn scratches.
After all that pruning, I finished the raking of the hay that the long grass generated. We were forecast more rain in the next couple of days, so I needed to get it off the lawn. It looks so nice when kept well.
Looking back up the west side of the house. So much more space now, and I think we will fell the huge hedge and plant a camellia hedge in it's place. We need some privacy but I would rather have a flowering evergreen shrub that this behemoth that stands 15 feet high (5 metres). Maybe in ten years time we will be enjoying a robust camellia hedge instead.
A walk around the garden at the end of the day is always rewarding, and I wish this simple purple clematis had some white in it. Its a weeny bit dull for my liking.
Before I went about the final garden check, I put some red skinned potatoes and sweet potatoes in the oven to crisp in Duck Fat. It makes for the best taties!, I promise.
Back outside, and I couldn't find any garlic powder in my small pantry, so I decided to try curry powder instead. Something is eating the new leaves on the tomato plants and I'm determined to stop them. I would normally do some companion planting of Marigolds or garlic chives, but I'm not that sophisticated yet. Give me time!
It seemed to do the job, because even though it rained last night, the back terrace smelled delightfully of curry this morning, lol. No new munched leaves!!
Some time around 4pm, the Brocante fella turned up. Well, he works with the Brocante fella, and is in fact the first point of contact. Even though he is a stone mason by day, he deals in antique military things by night. He works with the Brocante guy in that he makes the recommendation to take away or not. It was decided that we have enough goodies to make it worth their while to collect, and that they will do so this coming week. How obliging!
We will be happy for them to take the lot! In the meantime, we have almost empty rooms upstairs...so empty that I now have nowhere to put all my clothes. They are now in piles on the floor of the closet.
We happily await our first container. It is on it's way down the French Atlantic coast at the moment and we are hopeful of seeing it later in the week. Hopeful!
That's it for now!
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