En Route




I had a super day. After picking up my petit Renault Clio I headed north-east along the serpentine roads and lanes to the medieval village of Martel, which dates back to the 12th century. Here is one of the original wooden houses still standing. After Martel I made my way to Collonges-la-Rouge, a bucolic village of charm with its rust-red sandstone houses. On its main square stands the Église St-Pierre, architecturally unusual as it has two naves, which came in handy in the 16th century during the Wars of Religion as the Catholics and Protestant Huguenots were able to conduct their Services side by side in harmony. My final port of call was the picturesque village of Turenne with its slated-roofed stone houses standing beneath the protective towers of the once mighty Château de Turenne. The Château is now in ruins, but I was able to climb its main tower, the Tour de César (pictured) for a vertiginous panorama of the ridges and valleys leading to the Cantal Massif Mountains. Tomorrow more exploration.

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