The day dawned grey, overcast, chilly, and with rain in the air. Coffee and croissant in bed and another Elliot Pattison book, Water Touching Stone, and then a late morning start with a visit to Meymac and a drive around the Millevaches Plateau. How I wished I had packed a fleece jacket and winter trousers!
A Benedictine Abbey was founded in Meymac in 1085, and on the same site the Abbey of St André dates from 11C-12C
The Market place in Meymac, adjacent to the Abbey.
View down the main street.
The Ventadour town house.
The 13C Clock Tower was once at the entrance of the castle gate.
15C and 16C sculpted doorways.
On a street corner.
Hydrangeas seem to love the climate in this area and I am seeing beautiful heads of flowers in all colours.
After Meymac we drove along the Belvedere de Route des Hêtres, with towering beech trees and wonderful views. The road also passed through the Douglaseraie des Farges, a state-owned forest of towering pine trees planted in 1895. We had a distant view of the Viaduc des Farges (1881-83) in an area of rolling hills, meadows and forests. On a sunny day the countryside would be even more beautiful.
Barsanges is a tiny hamlet with a 12C Church and beautiful flowers. I think the building in the background of the first historical photograph may be the chapel.
Barsanges today gives no hint of the hardship of life in this area a century ago.
You may be interested in
Meymac
Photographs of Meymac
Models of the Abbey
Viaduc des Farges
The Reforestation of the Millevaches
A walk near the Viaduc des Farges
I would love to hear from you!