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Brezje Cathedral
In Slovenia - on our exit. We arrive back in Argenton late in the evening of 24 May after a mammoth driving effort. The next couple of days are spent resting up and tending to more of the jobs around the house. On Monday 28 May, we decide to drive down to the home of fancy porcelain, Limoges. Getting there we find the town centre eerily quiet. We’d gotten used to the French approach to the working day – nothing opening before 10am and the big siesta from 12noon to 2pm – but this was on another level altogether. We later learn, while checking the laptop at MacDonalds, that 28 May is Whit Monday. Apparently this is a sacred day in France. And so we return to Argenton, not having seen any porcelain and a little mystified at the hold of certain religious holidays in France.We ventured back to Limoges a couple of days later and do get to see a couple of porcelain places. The big name porcelain places are very impressive with some lovely work for sale. They are also very expensive – big ouch – but we do pick up a couple of small pieces.
On the way back we pass through the
old town of Le Dorat, a typical ancient French town with a stunning old cathedral at its heart. After a stroll we take a seat at a café to find that the owners are English. As are most of the people drinking there. We chat with the owner and he tells us that there a large number of English, mainly retirees settled in the area. Back at Argenton there is an English pub (Le Pub) run by a jolly English lad, Danny, and his rather lightweight French partner. We’ve been to Le Pub a couple of times and Danny also tells us about the number of English settling in the area. Many are long term residents but few take the opportunity to learn the local language. Danny has a waitress working for him that’s been in the area for nearly ten years and can only speak a couple of words in French. Whilst at Le Pub, Gina and I decide to partake of the house special, Fish and Chips. Its heavy, bland and probably what we deserved.
To contrast this we visit the little town of Prissac for a lunch time feed. After failing to secure an evening reservation
over the phone and twice previously turning up on a Friday to find the place full, we opted for a lunch time meal. For 12 Euro we get 4 courses of whatever they have plus a half litre jug of red wine. It’s a great meal consisting of entree, main, cheese and a hefty desert but hard to get through if you aren’t labouring through the day to burn it off. The guys around us were either road workers or working restoring the local church. So the meal for them was fine...as was the wine I suppose.
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