In the village of Noailles - a perfect example of the calcaire and gres sandstone
A blue sign for a very red village
When I last blogged on February 5 we were knee deep in white stuff amongst local reports of temperatures as low as -20, well, barely a month later the meterelogical helter skelter has taken us to temperatures of 28 degrees, about 86 fahrenheit in old money. This was the temperature recorded on the car head up display as Lesley and I sat outside the small village of Noailles just north of Collonges- la- Rouge.
The canicule has come rather early this year
Finding ourselves with a few free days and the weather forecast looking evermore promising Lesley and I decided to head east for 138 kilometres in the direction of the relatively unknown department of the Correze. The geology that comes together in this particular area of the Correze is truly spectacular. Nature has provided in this remote and underpopulated area of France something rather special. A geological frontier of white sandstone and red sandstone runs right through this area from North West (Le Gres) to the South East (Le Calcaire). The red sandstone is given its red quality by the amount of iron oxide contained within the silica. Here it's a red sandstone known as Meyssac red.
Red sandstone, really beautiful and easy to work with if you're a mason
In the middle ages local masons got busy with the sandstone and began to create in and around Collanges-la-Rouge buildings for local nobility and commercants. The masons found the stone easy to carve and you can see this with many examples of complex angles that could only have been achieved with the use of such a soft and malleable stone.
Religious belief drove man to create some wonderful pieces of work
Rapunzel and Walt Disney would have been happy here
A perfect marriage of natural materials
A clear blue sky only enhances the red and cream
Despite it only being the beginning of March it was evident to see what Collonges-la-Rouge might look like in mid-July or August. Admittedly the weather was exceptional but if you are a resident of the village, and I believe there are still one or two, it must be like living in a fishbowl during the tourist season. It's the classic tourist double edged sword problem; the money incomers bring an absolute necessity to the local economy, supporting small vineyards, boulangeries etc but conversely turning a small village like Collanges into a living museum which only opens from March to September. Being a place on one of the routes of Saint Jacques de Compostella and blessed by nature in its cast of a stunning terracotta colour, it will always do well tourist wise.
This inset above a doorway caught my eye. Love blossoming whilst the Battle of Trafalgar played out
The season does appear to be getting longer (a positive aspect of global warming if there can be one) and yesterday I saw much activity of local businesses dusting off the frozen cobwebs of winter in preparation for what one hopes is a busy season ahead. The local restaurants were seen cleaning their frontage, stocking their kitchens and sweeping away last autumn's spent leaves.
A rare local resident burning his autumn leaves
Every blog needs a cliché
Local businesses appeared to have been caught on the hop as there were quite a few people, predominatley French, filling the narrow passages that wind their way around the village and nowhere apparent to stop off for a cold drink or coffee. If yesterday was a portent of the season to come in Collanges then the local commercants have the prospect of a full season despite the Greek tragedy playing out to the south which is beginning to touch us all.
A warm light spills into the cosy and itimiate space of Collonges's eglise
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