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.
