Day 39: Chalus to Thiviers

October 4, 2023

Heart

Comment

With a couple of exceptions, just for variety, this turned out to be one of the most perfect days of cycling one could imagine. The secret was that to avoid the noisy N21 direct route to Thiviers, after casting around a bit in Chalus, we lucked onto a series of highly scenic very small farm roads, going up down and around, through field and forest. It was so beautiful, so restful, and in parts so interesting - just great!

We got a sendoff from these two cuties, good start.

We made our way to the centre of Chalus, and parked while sending Dodie in to the U-Tile, which is the fast convenience version of my favourite, Super -U. The square had a St Jacques, since here we are on the "Camino". I also noticed a Fall leaf - leaves have not really begun to fall here - with some very interesting colours.

See the mandatory "coquilles St Jacques" on his hat.

Once we got going, our road looked like this.

I have been disappointed in the limited amount of fruit we have found growing close enough to the roadside to be "fair game". In fact, we have not seen too much fruit in general. But today was different. A tree loaded with big red apples was just standing there. And soon, a tree with many small but yummy plums, and then lots of figs!

We continued for some time, enjoying all manner of small roads and farm scenes, before arriving at St Pierre de Frugie. This town, like others we have enjoyed today, had almost entirely lovely stone construction.

Scattered around the town were metal sculptures, each depicting some aspect of old time life. One was called Le Feuillardier, and despite an info sign, we did not catch on to exactly what the craft was all about. But now we know:

The Feuillardier is a person who uses Chestnut saplings to make the straps that hold barrels together. The saplings are 4 to 6 year old shoots from chestnut thickets, cut in winter when the sap goes down. Known for their strength, flexibility and rot-proof nature, these shoots are transformed to be used in particular for the strapping of barrels and casks exported to the Bordeaux, Cognac or Burgundy region. The strapping activity is located in Charente, Limousin and Périgord, particularly in the Vézère valley. The golden age of the profession was between the 1850s and 1920s.

The town also had a bread oven, dating to the end of the 19th century, again made with that beautiful stone. Inside the brickwork looks very difficult to do!

We left the town on our small roads again, sure that more lovely things were waiting to be found.

How about this little old house? In Germany this would evoke thoughts of some fairy tale person, but not so much in France?

For Sesame Street graduates: One of these things is not like the others!

In due course, we arrived in the little town of St Paul LaRoche. Like everything in this region, the construction was of stone.

For a fuller view of the church front, we'll step back a bit, and yes, that view is here just below. But it was a costly photo. After I took it, a woman erupted from the house just there, and began to berate me for having taken that step back. This is private property, just here, she exclaimed. We are glad that people like the church, but you have no right to be stepping on my property.

I am reporting her comments here in English, because, you guessed it, she was indeed from Britain, and as expected with the London/Oxford accent. In my old age I seem to have become super intolerant of people who pop out of buildings to berate me for just being alive, and innocently putting a foot or bike tire temporarily out of place, according to their opinion. My reaction seems to be always hostile, never apologetic. So in this case I said "I take it you are British, since I have so far not encountered such inappropriate behaviour from a French person".

The batty woman was absorbing this jab when Dodie walked out of the church. Not having been a party to the goings on, she greeted the woman with characteristic good humour. The two then engaged in a long chat, which I found frustrating since at this point I would have preferred to argue rather than to chat. Eventually the woman walked us beside the church and pointed out the high road and the low road to Thiviers, wishing us "bon voyage". Don't you hate that diplomatic Dodie?

She might be saying "he was this much on my land", but after Dodie took over, the subject of the egregious trespass got dropped. I had been in fact standing on that low cement wall, clearly beyond the grass, which might have been a debatable "no man's land".

We actually took the high road out of town, and were soon greeted by a population that was universally cheery and welcoming. They were all looking our way, of course.

We continued to look down into pleasant valleys, often with cows in the fields. At one point we spotted a small chateau on a hill, looking very lonely, I thought.

Things looked like this, until we reluctantly jumped back on the N21 to enter Thiviers.

The N21 was not much fun, except look, a U Express!

The core of Thiviers was actually OK, with some narrow streets of crumbly buildings, and a "standard" square with church at one end and two bakeries at the other. The two bakeries were both closed, because in the case of one, as indicated on the door, this is Mercredi, and in the case of the other, just because, no matter what their door said.

The church, no trouble stepping back here because it faces the traditional square.

The church seemed to have only one bit of stained glass. Nice though!

And here is what I take to be a very old St Jacques statue, though it lacks any telltale coquilles.

We circled around a bit, looking for any additional bakeries, but there seemed to only be the U Express, and their stuff was not up to snuff. Eventually we returned to the building on N21 that we figured was our studio. It was all shuttered and had not sign to hint at its status as a rental property. But a phone call soon produced a lady in a car with a key. Despite appearances, the place is OK, and a fitting spot to go over our photos and already reminisce about what a great day this had been.

Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 2,053 km (1,275 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	7
Comment on this entry	Comment	0