Monday 21 November 2011

Rambling round the villages - Part 2

Our Sunday walk/drive this weekend took us to the villages of  Marcay, Beuxes and Ceaux-en-Loudun all to the west of Braye and on roads we haven't travelled before. This time we took the map (Serie Bleue 1cm=250m) to supplement the sat nav!


Marçay is a small French village, roughly 20km north west of Braye and 8km south of Chinon. Its inhabitants are called Marcéens and Marcéennes. The village has been in receipt of grants to renovate it and the area around the church and Mairie is now looking quite pristine.

 
To the right of the second photo you will see a huge trough situated by the roadside. We have never seen one quite so large! What it held we don't know but we guess it must have been water or some type of feed for animals.

The Lavoir has undergone some restoration work. Steps behind it lead up to the presbytery.

Travelling on from Marcay, we stopped to photograph the Chateau, which is now a private hotel.

Close to Beuxes is a plan d'eau where we took a walk. The reflections of the trees on the surface of the water made for some great photo opportunities.


We ended our tour at Ceaux-en-Loudun but we were mildly disappointed with the village. In past weeks we've been lucky enough to look inside the churches in the villages we've visited but today we were unlucky.  Both the church in Ceaux and the Eglise paroissiale Saint-Pierre in Marcay were locked; so we made our way home for a cuppa!

2 comments:

Diane said...

Love this post, there is so much to see in the French countryside. I hate it when the churches are locked. Your photos are great and love the reflections in those last two. Diane

GaynorB said...

Lovely photographs! Like Diane I just love the reflections.