Tuesday 17 June 2014

Villebois Lavalette -France

The town of
 
 
is a lovely little town
perched on a hillside
and surrounded by countryside.



 

 
Full of character and a
wonderful place to have a walk
around.
 
With a Castle , Church and a
very unusual Market place.

 

And here we have a

Remouleur. 

Which in English is a Grinder.

They even have their own Patron Saint.
Sainte-Catherine is the patron saint of grinders.

You might just still see one or two left in Paris.
But now a very dying trade.


He was very happy to have
his photo taken whilst doing
his sharpening.  Merci.



 
 
 Les Halles

Such an unusual market place , one that is so original.

In 1665 the covering of the original market was
replaced with the one we see now. 





and its huge wooden pillars  and fascinating structure.

The stone columns were added in 1855 to replace the original oak ones




 
 
A small but very lively market takes place
on Saturday mornings.
 
This is where I go a FREE oyster ,
I offered to pay  but she said it is Nil price.
 


 Shopping, Lunch and coffee all under one roof .


Apart from the market , many other events take place here,
suppers, concerts and shows.
 
 
The House of  Francois de Corlieu.
 
This house dates back to 15th or 16th century and the
the lintel is decorated with a  magnificent

 
 Francois was a celebrated historian , who acted as a
counsellor to the King and Duke of Orleans from 1544 , and he
was then appointed to the position of King's Procurator. Unfortunately
he drowned in the River Charente in 1576.


The Church of Saint-Romain.

In 1864, the commune of this town, received a bequest
contained in the will of the parish priest Vacher.
 The careful economies of the priest, together with the sale of his goods, realised the sum of 30,000 francs, sufficient to pay, in those days, for the enlargement and reconstruction of the church, dedicated to Saint Romain de Lavalette. His will also included the proviso that a requiem mass be celebrated in  perpetuity, on the anniversary of his death.





Unfortunately we could not enter the church on this day ,
as there was a funeral service being held.
Here is the link to Diane's blog and her photos of inside.

We then made our way round to
The Castle which was built in the 10 century on the site a former
Roman settlement, it was modified and fortified in the 12th and13th centuries
by the Lusignan family.




We did not go into the grounds of the Castle either
(no tour) here is Diane's day out there!


As you can see I love ROUND walls .
 
 
I have a few more photos to show you , so will
do that in the next post. I hope you enjoy the
tour as much as I did.
 
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
 
 


20 comments:

  1. Usually in the summer time, a man comes around with his truck and sharpens our cutlery if we want or axes. I love your pictures Anne very nice. The inside would have been interesting to see. Especially if it was still in tact.

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  2. I enjoyed reading this Anne, most interesting and wonderful photography.
    It seems to be a feature in many French towns and villages to have an enormous covered structure in which to house their market.,
    Also their glorious cafe's at the edge of the structures..
    .What better to try before you buy?...Oyster...... mmmm...even if you only got one !
    To appreciate the Oyster one must have at least six...I hope you explained that to the vendor...ha ha !......love di..xx

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    1. Hi Trubes, I only got one free as she wouldn't let me pay for it , I asked in my best French to buy one :-) All the towns around here are wonderful , and some are so quiet you don't see anyone at all. Hope you enjoy the following posts.xx

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  4. Hi Anne,
    You have seen some amazing places and people. Wow!
    The covered market is fabulous and I am sure that you got all of your 5 senses excited
    I love the architecture and the stories behind it! :)

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    1. Hi Barb, I knew you would love this post with the market architecture . I did not know where to look first , it was one of the most interesting little markets I have seen , x

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  5. Hi Anne,
    Fabulous!! I have never been to the Charente region. You are giving me a preview :).
    You got to love a French market and that old covered market is beautiful.
    I love the architecture and the stories behind the structures. xox

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  6. Gorgeous photos and town!! I need to spend more time in France!!

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    1. Jackie , I think that should be your next big road trip :-)

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  7. Replies
    1. Hi Pat , thank you , it was a super trip , apart from the weather :-( but we got to see lots . x

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  8. It looks wonderful. It reminds me of my visit to Carcassonne.

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    1. Hi CherryPie , It looks and is wonderful .. I hope that you had a lovely trip to Carcassonne and this was a happy reminder x

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  9. okay, it's a deal - I'm coming back and we will go to France together. you will be my tour guide and we'll go to all these lovely little places together! I've had a 2-week tour of the country but would love to see the "off the beaten track" places where "real" people live. Saving begins when school starts again in September! :D

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    1. Hi Leslie , yep I think you should go . It is wonderful. Problem is now , so many places to see , UK , France and maybe Italy too. Diane and Nigel were so fantastic , I saw places that you would not think of , a "real" French trip xx

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  10. I was hooked at the free oyster. What an enchanting place, and again, I wish we lived closer so that it wouldn't be such a drive across the border. Beautiful!

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  11. I don't think I've ever seen a mobile grinder!
    What a beautiful place.

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  12. Next visit we will plan oysters from the market and you can have more than one :-) :-) Fabulous photos and thanks for the kind comments. Diane xox

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  13. It looks like a village worth visiting. France seems to be full of them.

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  14. Nice photos especially the photos of that old church. I bet that small town is worth visiting.

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Thank you to everyone for commenting, it certainly makes my day. A pleasure to see everyone of you. Old and New.. Blogging not only opens up the world but gives us new friends.