The Correze

We were up very early on Friday 7^th of June and spent 9 hours driving north and west to meet Julia in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the Correze Department.  From there we drove a further half an hour north to Uzerche where we had arranged to spend 6 nights.

When we arrived we found that a water pipe had burst in the street directly outside our house.  So there was no water.  We were met by the Mayor, who was overseeing the emergency works, and who was expecting us. We were told that they were working flat out to fix the problem and that the water would definitely be back on by 9 pm.  In the meantime we were shown where the nearest public toilets were.  We quickly decided that we’d be eating out that night.

In the end they finished the works at 2.30 am.  Somehow we managed to get to sleep around midnight amid the drilling noise and vibrations.  At least we had water the next morning.

We had a lovely dinner at the local guingette by the Vezere River.  The mayor was there as well, and at this stage was still assuring us that the water would be on by 10pm at the latest.

We spent Saturday looking around Uzerche.  The population is only a little bigger than Buis but it was once a very prosperous church town.  The Abbey St.Pierre is very impressive.

The old town is perched on a hill that runs sharply up from the river and we were staying in the centre of the old town.

In the evening, we had dinner at Restaurant La Treille Muscat, at the Hotel Joyet de Maubec.  No Michelin Stars but nevertheless it was a fine dining experience.  The food was good and the service was warm but the décor was tacky.  We had a very enjoyable evening.

The next day it rained and rained and rained.  Even around Buis there has been a lot of rain, even as the weather warms up.  Everything is incredibly green.  Despite the rain we spent a nice day visiting Pompadour, which was well worth visiting for a number of reasons.

Firstly, there is a chateau to visit.  Secondly there is the association with Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV.  She was made the Marquise of Pompadour by Louis XV.

Thirdly, the town is the site of one of the 22 official French horse breeding centres.  There is a massive and beautiful hippodrome that seems to cater for show jumping and racing.  In addition, there are multiple squares for horse shows and competitions.  There are stables everywhere.

In the afternoon we saw a short horse show, during which Noah (the horse) and his trainer demonstrated their skills and amazing communication.

Noah is only 5 years old but can walk, trot, canter and gallop in a circle in different directions and can lead with different legs on command.  He can walk backwards and kneel and laydown on command.

He can do some Spanish Walk steps, which I thought were very impressive but the trainer said that he is still making mistakes.

He was very attentive and interested in the audience and what was going on outside the hall.

We also managed to fit in a short walk in light rain around the nearby town of Arnac.

By contrast, Monday was a nice sunny day so we resolved to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

First up was a walking tour around Treignac, which is another town on the Vezere River upstream from Uzerche.

We loved the Notre Dame Church, which is Romanesque on the outside but a charming mixture of gothic and modernist features on the inside.  I loved the modernist alter and especially the stunning stained-glass windows by Camille Fleury.

 

We walked down to the vieux pont, where it crosses the Vezere in an utterly bucolic setting. 

 

Next to the bridge is a garden with statues of Jacques Chirac and Francois Hollande, who both came from the Correze.  There have only been 8 presidents in the 5th Republic (since 1958) and it’s amazing that 2 of them have come from this small rural department.  Francois Hollande has just announced that he wants to run for Parliament again in the upcoming elections to represent a seat in the Correze.

 

Chriac seems to have kept his following in the Correze at least

Julia found a very friendly cat in Treignac.

I wonder if the warranty is still valid?

Treignac is a stop on the Camino de Santiago, or in English the Way of St.James.

After a petit café we drove up to the town of Millevache (1000 cows) to start a 16 km hike around the Millevache Plateau.  It was a superb walk through forests, meadows, a little hamlet and bogs that are the source of numerous rivers including the Vezere and the Vienne, which feeds into the Loire.

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday it was raining again so we limited ourselves to visiting the Musee du Jacques Chirac in Sarran, which we all really enjoyed.

It was originally set up to house the 5000 diplomatic presents that Chirac received while he was president but which now also houses presents received during other presidencies.  There are so many presents on display that it’s hard to single any out but I particularly liked the chess set that was a gift from South Africa, with Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Fredrick de Klerk as chess pieces. 

For pure sucking up value, I thought the best present was from David Ben Gurion to Charles De Gaulle.  He gave him the three volumes of the book that de Gaulle wrote about the second world war, translated into Hebrew.

One room was a recreation of the presidential office at the Elysee Palace in Paris. It has copies of the actual furniture and displays of different collections of artefacts that each president has had during their tenure.  Francois Hollande has an amusing penchant for toy cars made in the UK by Dinky.  Lots of little cars but I didn’t see any mopeds!

Sarko’s fountain pen collection seemed much more sophisticated.

There was a small room with the official photographs of every French President since 1948.  The portrait of Emmanuel Macron is captivating although there’s something a little off-putting about the self confidence and arrogance that shines through.  My favourite is of Jacques Chirac standing in the gardens of the Elysee Palace, with the Palace in the background.

 

On Thursday it was sunny again and we drove an hour north to see the remains of the town of Oradour-sur-Glane.  On 10 June 1944 the SS massacred 643 people in the village, then looted and burned it.  Only 7 people escaped.

247 women and 203 children were locked in the church and burned alive.  Only one woman was able to escape and survive.

193 men were put into garages and barns around the town and were shot and then burned.  Six escaped.

The village was not re-built, although there is a new village next door.  It has become an historical site.  It is sobering and poignant to wander around reflecting on the horrors of war, which have continued to take place despite reminders like this.

Photo taken from official website

 

 

We were there only a few days after the 80^th anniversary commemorations.  A joint wreath had been laid by the French and German Presidents.

 

In the afternoon we had lunch in Limoges and went to the National Porcelain Museum.  We do love pottery and it was nice to have an aesthetically pleasing counterpoint to the horrors of Oradour-sur-Glane. 

 

On Thursday we had lunch together in Brive-la-Gaillarde before Julia got the train back to Bordeaux and we drove to Romans-sur-Iserre, to spend a couple of nights.