27 February 2011

LIGUEIL

Not far from Le Grand-Pressigny is the village of Ligueil.  It’s one of those places that are so easy to just pass through, without taking a proper look.

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In actual fact, Ligueil is not that easy to get through at all, especially on market day, when it can be very slow going.  The road through is narrow, and having to stop every few moments behind parked cars to let lorries pass, or trying to avoid pedestrians as they step off the pavement to pass each other can be frustrating.  Not to mention waiting for them to exchange greetings and bisous whilst actually standing in the road!

We have often contemplated the difference between Ligueil and Le Grand-Pressigny in this respect and realised that our one-way rule along the busiest street makes driving through it a delight rather than a nuisance.

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One day we decided to stop and look around.  Ligueil has a fine church, shops, restaurants and all the usual commerces.  We found a good pizza restaurant in the square by the church called the Mandolin and have eaten there several times since we discovered it.  I can very much recommend the lasagne and the tiramisu.  Nick enjoys the pizzas.

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It’s so lovely to see the blue sky and flowers in these photos.  I have enjoyed looking back on our summer holidays.  Considering that February is the shortest month in the year, it sometimes seems to last the longest. 

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I wasn’t sure if this sign meant I should or shouldn’t park here.  I did and nobody seemed to mind.

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Nick was pleased to find a new source of fishing tackle.

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Around the back of the church is this long-closed shop.

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And also these very public “facilities”.

16 February 2011

WAR GAMES

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When we went to Luzé last July for the auto/vide grenier event, there was a field reserved for a huge display of old army vehicles and other wartime memorabilia.

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It was all very impressive stuff.  There were trucks, armoured cars, tents and and all kinds of things I had never seen before, except on the TV.

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There were people in military uniforms and Glen Miller music emanating from one of the tents.

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I thought the rifle in the holster could come in handy sometimes!!

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This might be even better !!

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Apparently there is a very active society that collects all this gear and tours around, displaying it here and there.  I don’t remember what they’re called but there were leaflets around listing where they were going to be through the summer.  Unfortunately we were not going to be chez nous when they were next in town, which is a pity.  It looked like fun.  We shall have to look out for them again this year.

11 February 2011

LOOKING BACK AGAIN

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Last July we went to an event at Luzé, a village just south of Verneuil-le Château.

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We weren’t quite sure what to expect – some sort of autojumble or car rally. When we got there we found that it was a combination of vide-grenier, old car and motorcycle rally, bikers bash, autojumble, 1940’s event and country and western show.

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There were dozens of lovely old cars and motorcycles on display, including this Royal Enfield, which apparently runs on diesel. I didn’t know you could get diesel motorcycles.

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There was all the usual stuff for sale, plus a few surprises, including a stash of the “tiger tails” used by Esso to advertise their petrol in the 1970’s.

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These two mopeds looked like a bargain - 480€ the pair – if you fancied a double restoration job.

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All in all we had a great day out. The sun shone, there were hundreds of people in great spirits having a whale of a time, the frites were tasty and, believe it or not, it was free.

It didn’t cost anything at all to park the car and there was no entrance fee. We didn’t have to fight our way through horrendous Sunday traffic to get there. There was no unpleasant behaviour to be seen and all the youngsters we came across were enjoying themselves without offending anybody.

So different from here in the UK, where we would have arrived with our nerves jangling because of the traffic and would more than likely have had to shell out a hefty parking fee and at least a fiver each to get in. At Luzé all we paid for was our little cone of frites.

I think we’ll go again this year.