Stepping out in Ayr...

On Monday we headed out on our now favourite walk with Eileen and Paul along the coast and over to Alloway to see the latest additions to the tunnel project and back along the high ground at Greenan Castle all in all we notched up 11.3 km (19k steps for Eileen) so a good walk.

An unplanned visit...

During our walk on Monday we passed by the front of the chateau in Preuilly-sur-Claise. It had been years since I had visited the 'Poterne Museum', housed in the former southern gatehouse, so I poked my head in only to be met with two ladies having a chat. They happened to be Madame le Maire and Madame Deberne who is president of the local archeological society, I was informed that the museum was not quite opened yet but after I said that was a shame, they invited the group to have a look - how kind!

The museum provides a rich local history and the evolution of this small rural town over the centuries.It holds a beautiful collection of stone capitals, memorabilia of local history, folk arts and traditions, and there is a room dedicated to lace and Touraine headdresses presented in scenes depicting the course of daily life.

It also includes a bread oven and small prison.

Sally got into the spirit of the place.

There is an impressive terrace to the side of the gate house with views over the town.

Reflecting on yesterday's walk...

 

I joined Pauline on her walk to Barrou and back yesterday (7.5km). The walks takes us along the back road from La Guerche, around the former stad and passed the campsite before returning along the same route. The campsite owners are currently making new pitches for their static caravans on the ground in front of their small lake (above).We think this is because of the damage that they experienced due to flooding a couple of years ago on the existing site. 

The owners work really hard at keeping the site in tip top condition and we are sure the new extension will be a credit to them as well.

Another feature of the walk is that we pass a former farm holding that has been renovated to a high standard but still has a lot of potential with its out building. We noticed yesterday that a large water basin had been filled in near the property below which sits within the site. Looks like this may be the next part of their renovation project. 

The walk doesn't provide much in the way of colour on the way so it was good to capture these wild poppies yesterday.

A walk in the woods - another walk around 'La Rond du Chene ': Part II.

 

After coming the lane on the Chemun de La Morelle we arrived at the little hammo of Bas Montant where the route signage failed us for a minute or two but we found a sign saying 'Chemin de Rond du Chene' and reckoned it was a safe bet! 

We started up the chemon, passed a smart new-build and were on our way back.

We eventually came upon a familiar site, a telecommunication mast that we pass on a shorter route we do here. This was now part of our route. 

We crossed over the La Guerche / La Rond du Chene road into the chemin on the other side of the road which would take us back up to our starting point.

This last piece of the walk at 1.5km proved the most difficult as it is fairly steep uphill climb. At least it had our first bit of colour.

At the top of the climb the path widened and leveled out.

A surprising feature of this part of the walk was the number of fallen trees around us, many across the actual path itself.

Would have to say it was good to see the end of the walk and get back to our car.