French Adventure :
| Visit Update May / June 2003 | |
Photos of the Retreat
The closest market town to the retreat is Chateauponsac in the region of Limousin, department Haute Vienne. It is a very pretty town, parts of it is mediaeval (or earlier) in date, set on the banks of the Gartemp River (one of the best fishing rivers in France so I'm told) but fairly quiet and with most amenities. Follow the road signs from the A20 motorway and you really can't miss it. Every person I met there was very friendly and helpful but generally did not speak any English (which suited me fine. If I wanted to holiday in England, I'd go to Bognor !). Food is good value and the market is small but fun with various individuals bringing produce in from the countryside. The weather at the retreat is very similar to my home town (Kidderminster) but if anything slightly warmer / sunnier.
Views of Chateauponsac
The retreat is situated about 20metres off a minor road (typically 4-5 cars / day go along it!) but easy to get to if you know where it is (and if you don't, you'll never find it!). When I first went there with the estate agent, he took me the wrong way along the river for about 30 minutes before deciding he was in the wrong place. A nice walk through the fern gullies and mature woodlands that are situated just away from the retreat but a bit embarrassing for him ! It turned out that he was born and bred only a few miles from where I live and was a senior Karateka. Talk about it being a small world ! Obviously we talked about Taoism and my lack of plans. He was even kind enough to invite me to bring the students over to train at his house. Nice guy and it would be good to catch up with him some time to swap more stories. Sadly he no longer works for the estate agents and so I've lost contact but I might do a bit of a search next time I'm over there.
The Edge of The Property (the car in the photos was hired for the week and I own the woodland that it is facing)
The retreat is a cabin built before 1975 (no one is quite sure of when) but last used in the 1980s. Some time in the last 20 years, it was vandalised (though not to a UK standard !) and a tree fell onto it. There was also a family of edible dormice living in the wall insulation. They are exceptionally cute (all twitching noses and doe eyes) but they had trashed the insulation in places whilst building nests. It might sound like a disaster zone but really, it's not as bad as it sounds. The main structure is prefab concrete with wooden cladding and concrete tiles (although these are asbestos based). It sits on a very well made concrete base with a balustrade looking out over a fairly steep slope that runs down to a fast flowing, white water river at the end of the "garden" (it runs from the lake at St Pardoux which is about the size of Lake Windermere) .
Views Across the Woodland
The previous owner used to own a number of islands that are situated in the river (and used to collect Chanterelle mushrooms from them each year) but the local commune now owns these islands (and the commune also also has a 1m a right of way along the edge of the river). The trees are fairly young (probably 60 -100 years old) and this is probably because the soil level is comparatively shallow over loose rock and so when they reach a certain height they probably topple in the wind. There were a number of fallen trees that needed clearing and I had great fun doing so. One of my first jobs was as a labourer / woodsman and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed dressing wood and clearing undergrowth (although the 10ft + high brambles were a bit of a challenge !). The main area is very green in the Summer with numerous ferns / conifers and small sapplings. There is also a fast flowing stream that comes across the property and it is great to just sit and listen to the water and leave your mind free to think. There is one silted up pond that is likely to be a midge factory in the Summer but hopefully digging it out will help clear up that particular problem (although finding various empty "anti flying / biting things" across the site does cause me some concern !). There is also a small area of conifer forest that starts on my property and then extends into the neighbours land. I walked along the river bank to try to see the boundary markers and found a number of very good rocky outcrops that were very peaceful / spiritual in feeling for those of you inclined towards meditation.
The Cabin (Including the view to the Road and Some Human (And Dormouse!) Vandalism)
There is no electricity but I'm hoping to run a hydrodynamic generator from the stream that runs through the property to give me a degree of self sufficiency (I can't run it from the river because of the 1m right of way across the land). The previous owners told me about a natural water source that is present (think it is an artesisan well affair) but I couldn't find the pipeline under 20 years of leaf mould ! Its a job planned for the next visit and I'll have all of the water sources checked to see if they are drinkable. Most likely though I'll get the mains connected (pipes are supposedly under the road). The previous owners also gave me details of the fosse septic (septic tank) that was there and I did manage to find that (although it did highlight that I'd never make it as an archeologist. Even though I knew roughly where the tank was, I was seriously pissed off after digging for about 3 hours and still not being able to find it. Must be even worse when digging in the vain hope of finding something so I'll leave that to the professionals !). However, overall it was great that these amenities were there as the estate agents obviously had not known. Better to be lucky than rich ! The previous owners (Andre and Jocelyne) were really nice people and invited me round to their house for an aperitif that evening. Andre spoke a little English after being stationed in Morocco during his National Service but Jocelyne spoke none. However, even with this language barrier we spent a very enjoyable evening together and "international sign language" filled in any blanks ! Hopefully I will get to see them again during future visits.
Water Features (Definitely Not Put in By Charlie Dimmock !)
The Bramble Mountain - I'm 6' 3" tall and was stood up when I took this photo. In places the brambles were over 10' tall and hadn't been cleared for at least 20 years !
One of the main attractions of the Limousin area is that it is very much like the UK Lake Dsitrict with rolling hills, fast flowing rivers and miles of forest walking. One of the most famous lakes in the area in the Lac at St Pardoux which is huge. Although Chateauponsac is only about 2 hours by car from the West coast, many locals use the Lac at St Pardoux as a pseudo beach resort with numerous water sports available (eg fishing, jet skiing, water skiing etc). The lake is close to the retreat (problaby about 5 - 10 km away) so well within walkig distance for an afternoon's picnic.
