We moved on from Confolens and spent a couple of days back at Ron’s house before moving down to the Lot for a return visit. The markets we’ve visited in the Haute-Vienne and Charente-Limousine have been very small so we haven’t really got a feel for any particular local specialities of this specific area. The regions border onto the Dordogne department in several places so not surprisingly they share some of the same specialities such as chestnuts. The main speciality of the Limousin region is it’s meat products – Limousin beef, veal mutton and lamb and also pork all have IGP protected status denoting it’s specific link to the region where it is grown or produced. We’ve seen the chestnut red Limousin cattle wherever we’ve travelled in the area but we found the most attractive representation on a wall of a hamlet near to the house.
We wanted to return to our favourite campsite in the Lot for a couple of weeks, partly to meet up with the Dutch fisherman friend we met last year and also for us to be able to use the dinghy (with motor) and paddle board in an area we know. The small riverside campsite at Anglars-Juillac is as lovely as ever and is full of Dutch holidaymakers with the exception of we lone Brits and a Belgian family. The market at Prayssac, one of the largest in the region after Cahors, is lively with locals and visitors and a wide range of stalls. We indulged in a couple of local specialities including a rosé wine and a fig chutney – lovely with cheese. Covid precautions are still very much in place and face makes are obligatory at markets, in shops and restaurants and generally in any towns and villages where other people are around.
From our pitch we have direct access on to the river and have already been out on it each day including a longer trip upriver to Castelfranc, a 45 minute journey each way. Much quicker by bicycle at 15 minutes!
We’re repeating some of the walks and outings we did last year so won’t reshare photos of all the same places, lovely as they are.
Love the murals. Having the means to be afloat is obviously a bonus. Boys and their toys are useful😁😁 The row between Johnson and Macron seems to have become quite a pissing contest with each one thinking of ways to wind up the other. Would be interested in knowing what the French press make of it:) Hope you’re not suffering too much from the ridge of low pressure which stubbornly refused to leave these shores with all the rain that involves. Keep the bulletins coming. Great to hear of your exploits. Xx
Thanks Jill. We’ve been very lucky with the weather. Any rain has pretty much been overnight leaving dry, if cloudy, days so we haven’t been prevented from doing anything. It’s definitely a few degrees warmer in the Lot although they have apparently had quite a bit of rain in the last month. Temperatures are much more comfortable than last year as well. The French news I’ve seen seems to be dominated by the protests against the pass sanitaire that comes into force more widely from tomorrow including restaurants and cafés. When we arrived at this campsite we were asked if we had our pass sanitaire documentation but the owner didn’t want to see it, saying ‘ I’m not the police’! It will be interesting to see how it works in the coming weeks. X
Hi Claire and Joe, Hope you are enjoying your travels. Getting a bit more freedom here and have been up to town a couple of time. Take care and catch up when you are back. Trevor
Hi Trevor glad you’re getting out more and good to see Encore are able to do more events and bookings at last. We’re enjoying ourselves and a bit more chilling out this time. But we miss your Zoom quizzes by the riverside! Give our regards to everyone. Claire and Joe xx
The murals are great , looks like you are a good time
Thanks Maureen. Still enjoying ourselves. We moved on today to a new area so looking forward to exploring. Hope all is well with you. Claire x