Today we started our official vacation for September, not to be confused with our official vacation for October although it will bleed over. Our train for Issepts left Gare d'Austerlitz at 7:44 so we left the apartment at 6:45 just to give us time for any delays. But everything worked like a charm and we were down to the station in excellent time. We packed a breakfast/brunch of boiled eggs, sausage, cheese and croissants but we stopped for a bit of coffee and tea before boarding the train. We left the station right on time and were on our way.
Our route took us through Chateauroux and Limoges finishing the first leg at Brive la Gaillarde, it arrived 15 minutes late due to track repairs but since we had an hour between trains it caused no heartburn. The next train was nothing more than a single car and it took us through several little train stops before depositing us at Assiers, where we were met by Mel and Marlyne Preusser. We had dinner with them several nights back when they were in Paris before they left for Issepts. Anyway they met us at the station and we then decided to do a little local sightseeing before going back to the house they have rented, and will be our resting place for the next few days as well.
Our first stop, after the obligatory antiques shop, was the sight of a memorial to the French resistancefighters from WWII who were massacred at a farmhouse while they were planning to disrupt German soldiers rushing up to reinforce the troops opposing the D-Day invasion on June 6th. More than 40 people were killed and the farm and little town were burnt to the ground.
Now all that's left is a memorial at the crossroads, a plaque attesting to what took place, and a ruined house that was left partially standing. The entire area covered in heavy undergrowth and mounds of plowed up earth being taken over by nature, a stirring place to remember that Americans and Brits (of the empire) were not the only people losing their lives at that particular juncture.
Following this visit we took several back roads back to Assier where Deb and Mar did some last minute shopping before we came back to the house.
What a house it is, completely remodeled and up to date, in an old stone barn. Beautiful in every way and completely quiet at night. We had a scrumptious dinner of confit of duck legs with carrots and potatoes, followed by a decadent dessert called a Jesuite (sp?) basically a puff pastry filled with almond paste. We also had a local bubbly fermented in an ancient one fermentation process which was delightful with an orangey citrus finish, delicious.
Mel and I walked down the hill through the village near sunset and stopped to look at the old Romanesque Church. Tomorrow we terrorize the country side.
So now, it's the ploucs abroad.
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