To Ryanair - or not to Ryanair?
Just back from a brilliant week at sister's farm in the Haute Vienne. Flew from LBA to Limoges by Ryanair - yes - I know you can see lots of complaints about surly cabin staff etc., but the Ryanair staff on our flight were friendly and helpful and smiled! A lot better than ones we've experienced with EasyJet.
Spring springing
Down on the farm lots of calves being born and cade lambs to feed. The lambs were due to be born around now - or at least that was my sister's plan. Unfortunately a couple of a neighbour's tups got loose and she's ended up with one lot of lambs being born in January, and some last month! Best laid plans etc., - or rather best laid sheep it would seem :-)
It's great being out there with the family, not to mention the dogs Ruby, Bella and Seb, not to mention surly old Wallace the matriarch of the clan who is pretty well hefted to my brother-in-law and rarely leaves his side. We take Seb and Bella with us walking the lanes and chemins around the farm knowing we'll never get lost - if we try to go in the wrong direction they herd us!
In the short time we were out there the primroses and violets came in to bloom, quickly followed by cowslips. We saw Orange-tip and Sulpher yellow butterflies, and a couple of others I didn't recognise. The hawthorn is already starting to flower and trees came into full leaf. What amazed us was the huge quantity of mistletoe growing on just about every poplar tree, as well as the apple trees. My sister cuts it away from the apples so as not to kill the trees, but they leave it on the Poplars mostly because it's so high up as to be unreachable.
Markets
Chauvigny, not to far away, has a smashing Saturday market so we went over for a mooch around. Picked up usual supply of savon de marseilles and a bottle of environmentally friendly olive oil based multi-purpose cleaner. It's concentrated so goes a very long way, and I've already tried it on our wooden floors which are waxed not varnished, and it works a treat. Haven't seen anything similar over here so will have to stock up when we got over with the car in July.
Chauvigny has a "Medieval Cite" - originally 5 castles up on the hill surrounded by a single wall - which is very unusual. Well worth a visit, as is the beautiful Romanesque Church of St Anne, which was painted inside in the 19th century following very much how it would have appeared when first built. Again, well worth a visit.
Walkers' Paradise
There are some wonderful walking routes in the Vienne, and especially for the history buffs (like me). Ruined castles stand sentinel on the high crags and cliffs over the rivers valleys,. There are ancient abbeys and romaesque churches, and in Civeaux, where the village stands cheek by jowl with a nuclear power stations (!) there are Merovingian remains and a churchyard that has been in continuous use from the Roman period to today.
The route we liked best, although we only did a small part of it, is the one that takes you along part of tge rivers Anglin and Creuse. The entire route is 210k long and is a great one for backpackers as there are plenty of good municipal campsites at the 7 stages of the route.
And canoe & kayak
The rivers are great for both canoe and kayak - river access in France is great. Next time we'll take our 16' Apache and put in at Angles sur l'Anglin
The French call this area the "Quartier Vide" - the "Empty Quarter" - we think it's great. And if you must have excitement - you can always visit the Futuroscope not too far away in Poitier :-)
Just back from a brilliant week at sister's farm in the Haute Vienne. Flew from LBA to Limoges by Ryanair - yes - I know you can see lots of complaints about surly cabin staff etc., but the Ryanair staff on our flight were friendly and helpful and smiled! A lot better than ones we've experienced with EasyJet.
Spring springing
Down on the farm lots of calves being born and cade lambs to feed. The lambs were due to be born around now - or at least that was my sister's plan. Unfortunately a couple of a neighbour's tups got loose and she's ended up with one lot of lambs being born in January, and some last month! Best laid plans etc., - or rather best laid sheep it would seem :-)
It's great being out there with the family, not to mention the dogs Ruby, Bella and Seb, not to mention surly old Wallace the matriarch of the clan who is pretty well hefted to my brother-in-law and rarely leaves his side. We take Seb and Bella with us walking the lanes and chemins around the farm knowing we'll never get lost - if we try to go in the wrong direction they herd us!
In the short time we were out there the primroses and violets came in to bloom, quickly followed by cowslips. We saw Orange-tip and Sulpher yellow butterflies, and a couple of others I didn't recognise. The hawthorn is already starting to flower and trees came into full leaf. What amazed us was the huge quantity of mistletoe growing on just about every poplar tree, as well as the apple trees. My sister cuts it away from the apples so as not to kill the trees, but they leave it on the Poplars mostly because it's so high up as to be unreachable.
Markets
Chauvigny, not to far away, has a smashing Saturday market so we went over for a mooch around. Picked up usual supply of savon de marseilles and a bottle of environmentally friendly olive oil based multi-purpose cleaner. It's concentrated so goes a very long way, and I've already tried it on our wooden floors which are waxed not varnished, and it works a treat. Haven't seen anything similar over here so will have to stock up when we got over with the car in July.
Chauvigny has a "Medieval Cite" - originally 5 castles up on the hill surrounded by a single wall - which is very unusual. Well worth a visit, as is the beautiful Romanesque Church of St Anne, which was painted inside in the 19th century following very much how it would have appeared when first built. Again, well worth a visit.
Walkers' Paradise
There are some wonderful walking routes in the Vienne, and especially for the history buffs (like me). Ruined castles stand sentinel on the high crags and cliffs over the rivers valleys,. There are ancient abbeys and romaesque churches, and in Civeaux, where the village stands cheek by jowl with a nuclear power stations (!) there are Merovingian remains and a churchyard that has been in continuous use from the Roman period to today.
The route we liked best, although we only did a small part of it, is the one that takes you along part of tge rivers Anglin and Creuse. The entire route is 210k long and is a great one for backpackers as there are plenty of good municipal campsites at the 7 stages of the route.
And canoe & kayak
The rivers are great for both canoe and kayak - river access in France is great. Next time we'll take our 16' Apache and put in at Angles sur l'Anglin
The French call this area the "Quartier Vide" - the "Empty Quarter" - we think it's great. And if you must have excitement - you can always visit the Futuroscope not too far away in Poitier :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment