Monday, July 17, 2017

17/07/2017 The town of Chabanais where yesterday's car rally with friends ended. The photos of the cars I may do another time.

Maximum temperature 33C, minimum 16C.   18 km/h SE winds.  Dry.

I have been working in the garden trying to catch up and have not picked up my camera all day!  My back knows how hard the gardening was!!
The rally ended with lunch in Chabanais so I took the chance to walk around before we all sat down to a magnificent lunch.

The new bridge over the  Vienne river  was built in 1958; see the sign below at the entrance to the bridge

The paths of memory.
The bridge was destroyed by the Maquis (the French Resistance) on  1 Aug 1944  to stop the Germans from crossing.

The same bridge, showing the weir and the other half of the town on the opposite side.

Standing on the new bridge looking downstream towards another old steel bridge. I wonder if this steel bridge was a temporary solution, after the big one had been blown up. I cannot find any reference easily....


The church spire of San Sebastian seen from the opposite bank. It was originally the chapel of a hospital founded in 1386. It became a parish church in 1419 for the inhabitants of this district.


The history of Chabanais is extremely interesting, and there is a Wikipedia entry, mostly concentrating on the effects of numerous wars.  if my  French speaking followers are interested it can be found here

Sadi Carnot.

Born in Limoges (42 kms away) on 11 August 1837, he became the French President on 3 Dec 1887.  He remained  president until he was assassinated in Lyon, stabbed with a knife on 25 June 1894

I was fascinated by this little dog happily being carried around in a bag :-)

Dining room full and there were 120 cars, so this meant quite a lot of people.  A few cars only carried one person, but most had at least two, and there were some with four.

Main course was six giant paellas and we all had full platefuls; some people even went back for seconds!  This was followed by a course of 3 cheeses and a huge bowl of fruit salad. Yum yum.

17 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, Diane! Thank you so much for sharing your tours, I love them!

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    1. Linda I enjoy sharing our trips as generally anywhere we go in France has a lot of interest and history attached to it. Take care Diane

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  2. A lovely series of photos and I would be very interested in looking at the cars when you have the time :)

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  3. Oh wow.....look at the food shot! Lovely pics on such a beautiful bright day. Yep...I understand about the gardening, I so need to get out and weed mine but the heat is keeping me in.

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    1. It was extremely hot here yesterday as well to garden but it just had to be done!! Still plenty more to do but I now feel a bit happier especially as between us we managed to turn the whole compost heap as well. Keep well Diane

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  4. Wow they are huge Paellas. Looked like a fun day for all. the history is amazing.

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    1. Diane they were huge paellas and cooked to perfection. Obviously they have it off to a fine art. Great history and so interesting about the British plane coming down nearby and the Resistance helping the crew. Hope all is well Diane

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  5. Hi Diane,
    I finally find some time to blog again before going back to sort out my Spain pics!
    I see you've been around enjoying yourself, the firework photos in your previous post are stunning!
    Those paellas look so yummy, a dish I love!
    By the way, I found indeed your answer about the horsefly in the mail bin??!!!
    Warm hugs.... but keep coll! LOL!!

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    1. Hello Noushka, glad you found my email :-) Did you scroll down to see the hoopoes?
      I also love paella and these were exceptionally good. So looking forward to seeing your new photos. Take care and yes I agree cool hugs :-) Diane

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  6. Beautiful bridge. That's a lot of food and I have never seen such big pans. Have a lovely day!

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    1. Ha ha Nancy I guess you need that size pan to feed so many people. It was also extremely good as well. You also have a good day. Diane

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  7. "Paella is a Valencian rice dish." They look, at first glance, almost like giant pizzas. :-)))

    "A weir is a dam in a stream or river to raise the water level or divert its flow." I am learning new-to-me words! Fun!

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    1. LOL Luna I have the same problem with American words and also with spelling, it sometimes gets some getting used to. It took me ages to learn some of the vegetable name changes when following recipes, and of course I think USA is the only country in the world that still uses lbs and ozs!!! Have a good day Diane

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  8. 33 degrees.. things are heating up Diane! Can you believe we're in the middle of winter and it was 24C yesterday and like yourself I worked in the garden most of the day and like yourself I have the aching back to show for it 😀 wonderful series of images from Chabanais.

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    1. Wish we had 24C in the middle of winter. I see they had deep snow in Kimberly RSA yesterday, that must have been a shock! I never have a good back but bending over for long periods is a real pain!!! Thanks for the comment and have a fabulous day. Diane

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  9. Another delightful day out ... I love Paella , a Favourite of mine. The French know how to do it in style :-) ..No fuss and yet so great xoxo Anne.. And of course you are busy with your garden, hope your back is ok xx

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    1. The French do make a good paella despite it being a Spanish dish :-) It was amazing to see those 6 huge dishes all perfectly cooked and quite delicious.
      I took it a bit easier today so my back is fine (I think) I just cut the grass, with a sit-on that is not too hard except where the Plum trees are heavy with fruit and very low at the moment. Take care Anne good to have you back blogging again. Diane xxoxx

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