Chateaux et Bourges

 Monday, April 27: Chateau de Castenau Bretanoux

After a bit of a lazy lie-in at the peaceful little riverside campsite in the previous post, we drove 20 minutes through lovely farmland, and up the the Chateau de Castenau Bretanoux. it is a smallish Chateau, but still very dramatic with well described development over the centuries from 12th to 20th. Having been developed through the various iterations of noble political families, it ended up in the hands of a tenor from the Opera Comedie of Paris, who restored it and used it as his country retreat arould the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. We explored mostly around the outside, but also the inner chambers for a couple of hours before setting off again.




The obligatory selfie!



The drive began through beautiful Dordogne valley countryside and villages before we caught the A20 motorway for a couple hours of making distance. We pulled off near Limoges, and onto smaller roads again, and spotted the "medieval town" of Bourganeuf which we expected to be intriguing. We have pulled in for the night to a free camper parking with a dozen other motorhomes. The price is right, but the town didn't have much to offer other than the two 15th century round towers and the 15th C church.

If you look carefully you can spot the tent top of our van.


Oh,,, and spotting this Citroen "traction avant" made the stop worthwhile!



Tuesday, April 28: Bourges
Another day and another amazing city that we hadn't really heard about. Bourges was actually a capital of France in the day of Charles VII. The cathedral is said to rival Notre Dame in Paris in size and complexity. It was also wonderful to view such magnificence without the crowds of Paris. It was begun in the 13th Century. It boggles the mind how they built such things!







Alongside the cathedral was a small museum with a display of local ceramics which we had to check out.



And a view of the snail crawling up the cathedral, and a cat pouncing toward the snail.



...and then to the medieval streets, the compulsory beer, and the people watching, including the stick people.






Some local kids having fun....

Then back to the van for some laundry duties.






















Comments

  1. DoreenMay 1, 2026 at 10:38 PM

    Looks like your beautiful weather is still holding. We're starting a week-long heat wave.
    That cathedral was magnificent--one of the most beautiful interiors I've ever seen.

    ReplyDelete

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