On Thursday 15 January I joined one of the walking groups I belong to and we did a circuit from Le Grand Pressigny. We walked along the voie verte (greenway) towards Etableau, then turned up the hill at the crossing keepers cottage, to the Chateau de Vienne. There we turned back and walked along the upper track that runs more or less parallel to the voie verte at that point. After a hamlet Joel suddenly asked if we wanted to dive off into the bushes to see something. Some of us, including me said yes, others continued to the main road. What Joel wanted to show us was a complex of old abandoned underground limestone quarries. There were enough roof collapses evident that I didn't entirely appreciate walking across narrow bridges between cave entrances and roof collapses in a couple of places. But it was interesting to see this abandoned place which I hadn't previously heard of. After rejoining the others we went through Courvaux and back into Le Grand Pressigny to scoff galettes des rois and drink cider.
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| An old bread oven in a hamlet. |
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| An oak tree with ivy climbing up it. |
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| One of the old abandoned underground limestone quarries. |
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| The entrance to one of the old abandoned underground limestone quarries. |
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| The abandoned underground quarries are overgrown. |
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| These old quarries are near the hamlet of Courvaux and are used by residents to store equipment. |
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| The informal sign at the entrance to the hamlet of Courvaux. It translates as 'the free municipality of pisspot'. |
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| Oh dear! The roof and wall of the troglodyte cave has collapsed on the vintage tractor. |
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| The Claise River at the junction with the Aigronne in Le Grand Pressigny, running quite high. |
2 comments:
Be careful who's garage you use.
Potty: These troglodyte caves are tempting as garages, but you do always have to protect against rockfalls, big and small.
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