Sunday stroll...and a thousand crepes

Sunday was a big day for the Le Grand Pressigny randonnée club...over 200 walkers joined us for the 'Randonnée des crêpes'. It was a good walk up by the chateau before heading out for a circular route around the village.

The weather could have been kinder but didn't really detract from a good walk.

A welcome break.

On the home straight...

as Etableau beckons.

Views from the bridge at Etableau.

The village in sight...

and it was back to the Salle-des-Fetes for cider and crepes...there were plenty to go round as club members, including Pauline, has made over 1000!!!. they were well received by the visitors and later, after a military style clear up,by the club members as well...good day.

Another bon voisin...

Popped in to check on Friend Karen's cats...her neighbour Guy is taking great care of them while she is away. I    know she will be missing them.

Sunday stroll...a walk around La Roche Posay

My brief tenure as President...

Yesterday was our annual 'Fete de la Saint Blaise' and I had the honour of being its President for the day. It starts off with a church service followed by a march behind the brass band around the village square to the schoolyard for the 'Vin d'honneur' before settling in for the main event.

As ever the 'traiteur' did a great job of setting up and providing us with an excellent repas and our 'Comite des Fetes' contribution was, as ever, excellent.

One of the good things about the day is how our 'master of ceremonies' Dominique keeps it going...he does a great job of encouraging the local singers to do their bit and generally keeps things moving along rather nicely.

This year he also had a table of our English friends, who came out to support us to 'banter' with and his good humor was, I think, appreciated.

Cally's contributions were well received and even Mike's risky 'Swing low sweet chariot' (with animations) went down well!. I think I managed to carry off my presidency without having offended anyone or having to resort to fake news, so that was something. I even managed to give my speech in French,short as it was!

PS We managed a brief stint at the 'bal' (after a nap) in the evening.

Adding a chateau...Chateau de Beauregard in the Loire Valley

Living here in Southern Touraine it has been a joy and a relatively painless exercise visiting almost all the major chateaux of this beautiful region, that is the Loire Valley but for whatever reason, perhaps the mixed reviews on the site that 'advises you about trips' we had not made it to Chateau de Beauregard in Loir-et-Cher.

Back in October while on a trip up to Blois we decided to put that right, I am only now writing about it as I have added the chateau to my list of chateaux featured on my Loire Valley guide.

The main attraction of the chateau is its portrait gallery (over 300 of them!) and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

You even get the chance to be king for the day...well you have to - don't you?

                                                         The young (?) pretender

Actually for us the highlight was the grounds which were worth a walk around. In an effort to add more interest for any visitors they have created an external gallery within the garden which is a virtual history trail.

Should you add this to you itinerary of Loire Valley chateaux? It will not be on many peoples list but if you want to escape any crowds or are visiting Chambord,Cheverny or Blois then you could add it... if your budget allows.

You can see more on Beauregard here