Monday 14th May….

One of the benefits of being retired is that you can binge watch a series on Netflix and catch up on your sleep the next morning 😀. Well…. until the BELLS wake you up that is…. Then you can just keep turning over, bring a wee cup of tea up and snooze again!!

That’s what we did this morning. No rush, it was pissing it down so in no hurry to get on the road.

The plan was to visit Confolens and travel on the velorail…. peddling a railway carriage from Confolens on the Charente – Limousine Railway

Well… One… it was raining and therefore we were going to get wet and Two… we knew what that felt like as the wonderful Facebook had popped up memories of a wet ride from Tintern to Glastonbury three years ago on our Jogle ride..

Sunday is a day of rest in France but Monday is also a day off… and in the style of which we are becoming accustomed, everything, well almost everything, was closed in Confolens.

We did brave the rain though to snap a few memories.

The church of Saint-Barthélemy: The seat of a priory attached tothe abbey in Lesterps, thechurch was built in the 12th century. The fact that it is dedicated to Saint-Barthélemy, the patron of tanners, shows the importance of tanneries in this same quarter. Takes me back to my Killyleagh days and the tannery at Shrigley! While the nave and the portal appear to be Romanesque, the side chapels on the north side date from the 15th century and the height of the bell-tower was increased after 1630. Following the construction of the ramparts in the quarter after 1469, the church found itself outside the walls. The parish cemetery extended up to the parvis of the church until around 1840.

The Pont-Vieux: Probably built in the 13th century, this bridge was the only crossing point over the Vienne in Confolens. It originally has a drawbridge and three fortified towers : the Saint-Maxime tower, the My (milieu) tower and the Saint-Barthélemy tower. These towers, in a very poorstate of repair, were destroyed in the 18th century to facilitate traffic. Until the 19th century it concentrated the flow of trade through the town. With the construction of the Pont-Neuf in 1849, the Pont-Vieux lost its importance but remains a symbolic place. The three fortified towers are now the emblem of the town of Confolens.

The Dassier des Brosses House: This town house was built around 1775 by Jacques Joachim Dassier des Brosses, from a local family of standing. Built between courtyard and garden, the house was built by adapting to existing buildings of the period, which explains the dissymmetry of its facade and the front door not being in line with the gate. Sold as national property during the Revolution, it housed the court and the sub-prefecture. It has been the town hall since 1867, and underwent extensive work in 2012 in order to meet accessibility standards and has an amazing fire escape to the rear.

The Halles: This testimony to metallic architecture replaced the town’s first covered market which disappeared around 1830 and stood on the edge of the square, along the present Rue du Maquis Foch (between the chemist’s and the perfumery). The construction of this new building was at the heart of the development project of the square wished by the municipality. It was built in accordance with the plans by the architect Wiart, who took as his model the Halles Baltard in Paris, between 1892 and 1894. The weekly market and the monthly market on the 12th of each month are held there.

The church of Saint-Maxime: Mentioned as early as the 10th century, the church of Saint-Maxime was the seat of a priory attached to the abbey in Lesterps. The oldest part dates from the 13th century : the portal in the Limousin style. It consists of several rows of pointed arches resting on a impost decorated with crockets and supported by posts. While the sacristy, or the chapel of the Sire, dates from the 16th century, the church was altered in the 15th and, especially, in the 19th century. Father Blaudy supervised the work on the bell tower and the north door by reusing stones from the church of Saint-Michel (now destroyed)

Then there was lunch…. Lol… A shared pizza in the only cafe open for miles!!! Wasn’t bad though and we are managing this French language bit the very best!! Je voudrais – and point to the menu 😀😂