12th. I have been on the boat all week and am really enjoying it although I am really here to clean it up for the winter and do some bits of maintenance. I have been into town and have discovered aspects of it that I had not been aware of previously. I am looking forward to going out with the camera to do some proper exploring but I need to get the work done first so in the meantime just some more images from the mooring.
The River front is bordered by some very handsome townhouses.
and a “through the looking-glass” moment, “Through the Porthole”!
I’ll be heading home in a day or two to pick up some more stuff for the boat and do a catch-up. Hopefully some new vistas next time. In the meantime such a balmy evening made a walk up for a closer look at the illuminated church, a must.
Where the colours change every few minutes and lines of supplicants, prayer books in hand, await entrance. You can almost hear them chanting.
adjacent and over looking the old town and the river from above the ramparts is the amphitheatre where this summer I caught a free concert in passing.
13th. Headed back home via Port d’Enveau. The is another village, St Saturnin, more or less joined to it. I have often meant to stop there. Being as “There is no time like the present”, I did and what I saw sent me straight to the Tourism office and library in the main village, which I had not previously noted, doesn’t have a church. This is because St Saturnin is the original village and much older than Port d’Enveau. The church which was originally a Romanesque architecture like some many in the area has been enlarged in the Gothic style and the interior, far from being the simple quite bare space that one is used to in these churches, is positively ornate.
What with the chandeliers, velvet draped pulpit, stained glass windows, side chapels and painted cupola over the alter it is really OTT! (in n irreverent and fun sort of way) Next to the church is a Chateau, which I learned was privately owned, that looks grim and almost prison like. Across the road is another really grand house. There is more to discover here and I need to spend some more time in the library reading up on local history. Who paid for all the bling in the church for example?
13th to 20th. Back to St Savinien while the good weather lasts to get some more jobs done. Sanded and re-varnished the mast and tiller arm. They will be stored inside till the summer. Cleaned the engine bed which needs re-painting but I think I will leave this till summer as well. Wasted a lot of time trying to sort out some of the 12v lights that are not working, not a total failure but not a roaring success either. Fitted a new draft excluder to the front door, which now closes and locks properly.
My friend Michelle came out on Friday and had lunch on the boat after which we took a walk with our dogs. There are two new sculptures on the river bank. I just missed a great shot of Cassidy nose to nose with the stone dog!
This afternoon I left Cassidy on the boat for a bit and took a wander round town, in and out of the galleries and craft shops. There is a dedicated Art and Craft centre in addition to the galleries in town. It currently houses a soap and candle maker, a jeweler, a seamstress and a mosaige maker in addition to a large gallery space displaying art, ceramics, furniture and a number of other crafts.
A hidden gem behind the Art Centre was the Protestant Cemitary.
Another hidden gem while exploring the back streets of the Old Town was Roule Rose, a narrow ally-way with a narrow bed of flowers on the sunny side and all the wooden doors painted. There is no doubt that this is a town of considerable charm.
A number of the buildings throughout the town have large scale photos of local things and places of interest as well.
I have managed to identify two people who are going to keep an eye on the boat for me. A lass that uses the park and the deck next to the boat to train at the weekend and an elderly man who lives in the house facing the boat on the town side of the river. I am also going to put a lamp on a timer inside to make it look occupied. So it is off to St George tomorrow feeling comfortable.
31st. This weekend is Toussaint, a Catholic holiday honoring all Saints and Halloween. All Saints’ Day is the 1st of November when French Catholics clean and decorate their relatives graves mainly with chrysanthemums. I wondered where the chrysanthemums came from and it turns out that it is not and age-old tradition but rather started in 1919 when the French President, Raymond Poincaré, said that war memorials should be decorated with flowers. As it is November, the chrysanthemum is one of the few really colourful flowers available. The poor chrysanthemum has now been relegated to a funereal flower, so don’t take it to your next French hosted dinner party!
On the Hallowene front my neigbors children were the best dressed that came by for “trick or treat”.
capetocarpe 