Wednesday 24th: 
How easy it is to get side tracked. We were not far out of Brive, passing through Terrasson-Lavilledieu which is another attractive town with a 12th century medieval bridge, old town and impressive cathedral (no lock though). Just so happened that there was a car park right beside the road, tourist info less than 50 metres away and a river on the other side of the car park with the old bridge close by. Lots of manicured hedges/gardens. Well, there went another hour or so that we hadn’t planned. Although we hadn’t planned on driving far today, we had planned to visit some particular villages/sites/sights, so we had to begin culling early on in the day.
One attraction that we could not miss was the Lascaux II caves. Lascaux II is a copy of the most significant part of the original caves with paintings 17,000 years old. The repro caves are supposed to be accurate to within 1 cm and the paintings have been replicated using similar methods and pigments. The vividness and colours of the original paintings are just as bright as the replicas. The original cave was closed to the public once the impact of visitors’ breathing was realised and the copies built so the public could still “see” them. The paintings were of horses, bulls, deer and other animals and the original artists took advantage of the lumps & bumps of the cave walls and roof to give many of the animals a 3D effect. No photos allowed, so you’ll have to take our word for it.
On to La Roque St-Christophe to see the Trogladyte settlement, first settled 50,000 years ago. It has been continuously lived in until the start of the Renaissance, modified to suit the requirements of the inhabitants of the time and by the tools they had.
Didn’t have time to go to this place or the other place, but detoured via Uzerche because it seemed like a good idea. Had a walk around….., you guessed it, the old town and then set off to Limoges for the night, less than 100 kms away from Brive.
Thursday 25th:
Spent most of the morning looking around Limoges, admiring the porcelain but not buying any and, dare I say the daily hunt for and walk around, the old town.
Detoured to Saint-Leonard de Noblat to visit the Moulin du Got, an old paper mill/printing works. The mill was built in the 15th century to make paper and operated until it was closed down in the middle of the 20th century. It had become uneconomic and the building was going to be pulled down, but the locals objected and it now belongs to the town of Saint Leonard. It is back in operation, but electrically powered, although the water wheel still turns for effect. Paper is made for special occasions such as invitations, paper for artists, special certificates etc. The printing works has a collection of old printing presses, a linotype machine and a Heidelberg printing machine, all of which work and are used for specific tasks. We filled in time before the mill opened after lunch by walking around the ………… . Do I really need to spell it out?
Leaving there at about 4 pm, with about 290 kms to go to Orleans for the night, we took the motorway & toll road, at 130 km/h, to save time.
We return the car tomorrow in Paris, so we have emptied it into our room tonight and now have to try & fit everything into our bags again so we can manage them on the Paris metro to the 20 sq m apartment on the 6th floor. Wish us luck.
How easy it is to get side tracked. We were not far out of Brive, passing through Terrasson-Lavilledieu which is another attractive town with a 12th century medieval bridge, old town and impressive cathedral (no lock though). Just so happened that there was a car park right beside the road, tourist info less than 50 metres away and a river on the other side of the car park with the old bridge close by. Lots of manicured hedges/gardens. Well, there went another hour or so that we hadn’t planned. Although we hadn’t planned on driving far today, we had planned to visit some particular villages/sites/sights, so we had to begin culling early on in the day.One attraction that we could not miss was the Lascaux II caves. Lascaux II is a copy of the most significant part of the original caves with paintings 17,000 years old. The repro caves are supposed to be accurate to within 1 cm and the paintings have been replicated using similar methods and pigments. The vividness and colours of the original paintings are just as bright as the replicas. The original cave was closed to the public once the impact of visitors’ breathing was realised and the copies built so the public could still “see” them. The paintings were of horses, bulls, deer and other animals and the original artists took advantage of the lumps & bumps of the cave walls and roof to give many of the animals a 3D effect. No photos allowed, so you’ll have to take our word for it.
On to La Roque St-Christophe to see the Trogladyte settlement, first settled 50,000 years ago. It has been continuously lived in until the start of the Renaissance, modified to suit the requirements of the inhabitants of the time and by the tools they had.
Didn’t have time to go to this place or the other place, but detoured via Uzerche because it seemed like a good idea. Had a walk around….., you guessed it, the old town and then set off to Limoges for the night, less than 100 kms away from Brive.
Thursday 25th:
Spent most of the morning looking around Limoges, admiring the porcelain but not buying any and, dare I say the daily hunt for and walk around, the old town.
Detoured to Saint-Leonard de Noblat to visit the Moulin du Got, an old paper mill/printing works. The mill was built in the 15th century to make paper and operated until it was closed down in the middle of the 20th century. It had become uneconomic and the building was going to be pulled down, but the locals objected and it now belongs to the town of Saint Leonard. It is back in operation, but electrically powered, although the water wheel still turns for effect. Paper is made for special occasions such as invitations, paper for artists, special certificates etc. The printing works has a collection of old printing presses, a linotype machine and a Heidelberg printing machine, all of which work and are used for specific tasks. We filled in time before the mill opened after lunch by walking around the ………… . Do I really need to spell it out?
Leaving there at about 4 pm, with about 290 kms to go to Orleans for the night, we took the motorway & toll road, at 130 km/h, to save time.
We return the car tomorrow in Paris, so we have emptied it into our room tonight and now have to try & fit everything into our bags again so we can manage them on the Paris metro to the 20 sq m apartment on the 6th floor. Wish us luck.
Great photos and great looking (old!) towns.
ReplyDeleteHope the drive into Paris went well.
Both you and Greg (from work) will be in Paris at the same time - I feel left out!