Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history - Le puits d'enfer

Le puits d'enfer, Exireuil, Deux-Sèvres

Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history

 

Le puits d’enfer

We might have lived in the same small village in France for twenty years, but there are so many hidden gems locally, we are still discovering surprising places that are on our doorstep, or at least only about an hour’s drive away. One such place we visited this autumn was in Exireuil, just outside of Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole that has the fabulous name of le puits d’enfer or the wells of hell, and a tale to tell that goes back a thousand years too.

 

The legend of le puits d'enfer

One Sunday morning a farmer was preparing to go to church when he noticed two things, the first being that the hay field he had cut the day before was perfectly dry and at the optimal point to bring in to ensure a plentiful supply for his cattle, as well some left over to sell. The second was an ominous dark cloud on the horizon that warned of an approaching storm. 

Crossing the stream 

 

Should he continue to church, and risk losing the crop or miss mass so that his hard work would not be in vain. He chose to work, saddling his oxen to help bring the hay in under cover. In order to reach his pastures, he had to cross a stream in a deep, rocky valley named le puits d’enfer and although he made it there safely, on his return the sun had gone in, the rain had begun to fall and one of his beasts lost its footing on the slippery rocks. The farmer, his loaded cart and his oxen were never seen again. This tale is a reminder not just of the dangers of the wells of hell but that work, and profit, should never come before religious obligations.

 

The steps leading down the rocky gorge

Having read the legend, it was with some trepidation and excitement that one Sunday afternoon we parked in a carpark by a picnic area in Exireuil and set off into the unknown, wearing sturdy walking boots (and silently muttering a prayer). We could see nothing of the rocky valley that is around fifty metres deep, until we began descending the rough-cut steps that seemed to go down, forever. When we eventually arrived in the deep gorge of the small stream that is a tributary of the Sèvre Niortais river, it felt like we’d entered another world. The water tumbled over giant boulders, the trees were covered in hairy moss and lichen, and the dappled sunshine danced on the ferns covering the ground. It wouldn’t have surprised me to see fairies or other woodland folk going about their business in the shadows.

 

A family day out to le puits d'enfer

What followed was an afternoon of clambering around rocks, crossing narrow bridges, scampering up and down the sides of the gorge, where at some points hands and feet were needed to keep our balance, and generally having a great family day out. I am not sure what I expected to find at the wells of hell, but it exceeded my expectations and was worth heading off the beaten track to explore this hidden gem. We will return.

Le puits d'enfer, Exireuil

  

Book review of One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

Things aren’t going well for travel writer Orla Bradbee.

With Christmas fast approaching, her boss is insisting Orla must travel to a rural village in France to interview a man who doesn’t speak. But with trouble at home – her teenage sister Erin is in a ‘situationship’ with a man online – Orla’s only plan is to take Erin with her.

Get the interview done, find out more about this online Romeo and still be back in time for Christmas dinner. Easy, right?

Saint-Chambéry is a picturesque French village nestled in the snow-capped mountains, but Jacques Barbier – gorgeous and brooding, yet a man of few words – makes it clear that Orla is wasting her time here.

Orla can’t deny that Jacques intrigues and infuriates her, but what is the mysterious Frenchman hiding exactly? And can she get close enough to uncover his secrets without risking her own heart?

Escape to the beautiful French Alps with Mandy Baggot for a romantic, heartwarming story to get you through the cold winter months! 

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

My review

A last-minute assignment couldn’t have come at a worse time for Orla. As she uncovered one family issue after another, the last thing she wanted was to be sent on a wild goose-chase to the French mountains. However, the longer she was there, breathing in the crisp mountain air, the clearer she began to see things about her life. 

Jacques was an enigma from the beginning and getting to the bottom of his backstory kept me turning the pages, even when I should have been doing other things. For someone who was always 100% in control of himself and his surroundings, being thrown together with Orla in the run up to Christmas rocked his world in more ways than one. Meeting in such an unusual way, proved to be a timely reminder for both Jacques and Orla, how routine their lives had become and how this had led them to lose their spark for life.

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

I instantly felt at home in the Alpine village of Saint-Chambéry, its quirky community felt rather familiar having lived in a rural French village for over twenty years. The characters were a great mix of interfering, yet caring and always proud of their traditions. Life here brought plenty of smiles to my face, especially the antics of those who have the community’s best interests at heart. Delphine in particular is someone I will remember fondly for her stubbornness and the delicious drinks served from her café. 

I also loved the teenagers, Erin, Tommy and Burim. Their take on life and the issues and emotions going on around them was insightful, their astuteness was something else and despite the serious nature of some of the topics, I couldn’t help but smile at them and the way they trumped their older siblings so effortlessly. 

This book was a real heartwarming read. Everyone learned something about themselves and those around them, and when things got serious the community came together to help and support each other. Add in a bit of Alpine magic to add sparkle to the dark days and you have a book as comforting as a hot chocolate after a frosty morning walk. 

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Mandy Baggot

Author Bio  

Mandy Baggot is a bestselling romance writer who loves giving readers that happy-ever-after. From sunshine romantic comedies set in Greece, to cosy curl-up winter reads, she's bringing gorgeous heroes and strong heroines readers can relate to. Mandy splits her time between Salisbury, Wiltshire and Corfu, Greece and has a passion for books, food, racehorses and all things Greek!

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One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

A Valentine's Day bike ride for two

A Valentine's Day bike ride for two

Love is…

Today might be a busy day, running a training course for Adrian and census counting for me, but yesterday turned out to be the perfect day to celebrate St Valentine’s Day. As the washing danced around on the airer in the garden, we set off for a special bike ride.

 

Adrian is used to my whacky requests, and I’m used to his eye-rolling response to them, but he still created a 35km Valentine’s Day heart-shaped bicycle route for us. Isn’t he fab!

 

We left home to the sight and sound of migrating cranes serenading us overhead as they circled above the house on the thermals. We stood and watched as they reformed into deep V shapes, constantly calling to each other before continuing their journey north. It is something we look forward to seeing every February and it never loses its magic. Just outside the village we startled two deer in a field by the road, slowing our speed in case they bolted across our path. Thankfully they just disappeared into a thicket of woods, safely away from the road and hunters. 

Lavoir in Hanc

 

We passed by chateau towers and church spires, delighted to see the first hellebores in the woods and winter aconites in the roadside ditches, their flowers encouraging a pair of cavorting butterflies. The iris stems are also appearing in the streams that fill the local lavoirs (wash houses), although it will be a while before their flowers arrive. 

The view from our picnic bench, Couture d'Argenson

 

At the halfway point to our heart, we paused at a picnic bench to enjoy a homemade flapjack. Out of the wind, we could feel the warmth in the sun, thankfully the feast of springtime promises we saw made battling the headwind worth it.

 

Adrian wasn’t impressed that the route looked like a flabby, messy heart, but I loved that it was our heart route, centred around our village. It is true we had to compromise using the roads available to us, but what is love if it’s not about compromise? What is important is to accept that reality isn’t always neat and perfect, and that what really counts is to have fun and make memories together. 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day 

Book review of Tree Sacrifice by Harriet Springbett

Tree Sacrifice by Harriet Springbett

Tree Sacrifice by Harriet Springbett

 

A suicide pact. A new responsibility. A desperate bid for harmony. 

 

As Rainbow leaves Brocéliande forest after the events of Tree Slayer, she learns that a much greater challenge faces her. Exasperated by mankind's disrespect for trees, the One Tree has set a terrible event into motion. Rainbow is strictly forbidden from intervening, but thousands of trees across France could die unless she does so. 

 

Her search for guidance will take her to England, where a startling discovery makes sense of her gift and opens new perspectives. She must take the hardest decision of her life. But will her and Eole's sacrifices be enough to save the French forests? 

 

Unknown to Rainbow, help is close by. But it lies in a different world, a parallel world where mankind lives in unity with trees. There, Druana must decide whether she's prepared to risk everything to rebalance her world. 

 

Will Druana and Rainbow ever meet? What would be the cost? For everything gained, something must be lost. 

 

My review

It was a delight to be back with Rainbow and Eole in the third, and final, step of their mission to save the trees of France and fight for a world where humans can live without destroying trees. Many things have changed since we left them in Tree Slayer, for Rainbow, for Eole, and in their lives outside of their special tree partnership. Rainbow needs to learn to prioritise the tasks ahead of her, as well as learn the importance of patience. Eole is struggling to understand where he fits in. Despite nothing seeming to go to plan, Rainbow and Eole are a good team who balance each other well, something that is tested in this book more than in the last book.

 

This might not be a book written for adults, but there was plenty to keep my interest and keep me guessing as to how it would end. It deals well with complex adolescence emotions and relationships, as well as decision making and responsibility, along with an engaging storyline that touched my tree soul. There were so many little details that I loved in this book from Druana sinking her bare feet into the soil and connecting with the tree roots, to Rainbow’s sense of calm and peace as she melts into the trunk of a tree. I might even have detected a bit of inner jealousy as I was reading.

 

This is a book to make you think about trees and our relationship with them. It’s as refreshing as time spent in a forest glade watching the patterns as the leaves dance in the sunlight and feeling the breeze on your face. If you are anything like me, you’ll want to hug the next magnificent tree you come across. I’ve even been looking up Brocéliande (a Brittany forest full of myth and legend) and I hope one day to cycle my bike there and feel a little of the tree magic Harriet has created in this series. 

Brocéliande Forest, Brittany

 

This is the third and final book in the series and although I am sad I won’t get to visit Rainbow again, it came to natural end I was happy with. Sometimes if we feel we don’t belong, it’s not that we are odd, just that we haven’t found the right people to hang around with. I’d love for this book to become the book to read for teenagers (think Harry Potter but with so much more than just magic), who then go on to set up their own TreeWise associations, following Rainbow’s lead to save our trees and planet.

 

The young adult genre might not be your usual read, but I’d encourage you to read the Tree Magic trilogy and share it with the young people in your life.

 

You can read my reviews of books one and two by clicking on the links here:

 

Book review of Tree Magic

Book review of Tree Slayer

 

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Author Bio

Although Harriet Springbett always wrote stories in her West Dorset home, she qualified and worked as an engineer. During a Raleigh International expedition in Chile she realised writing and discovering life were more important to her than her career. She moved to France, where she studied French at Pau University and then worked as a project manager, feature writer, translator and TEFL teacher. She now lives in Poitou-Charentes with her French partner and their teenage children.

 

Since her first literary success, aged 10, her short stories and poetry have been published in literary journals and placed in writing competitions, including a shortlisting in the renowned Bath Short Story Award. She leads writing workshops, has judged the Segora international short story competition and blogs (very irregularly). Her publisher, Impress Books, now has 3 of her novels and she’s working on her fourth.

 

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You might also like to read my France et Moi interview with Harriet here.

Lockdown diaries, day twenty, nature to the rescue

Fallen ginkgo leaves

Day twenty, Wednesday 18^th November 2020

 

Nature to the rescue

Maybe it’s lockdown, maybe it’s that even with lockdown, I can’t avoid the fact that Christmas is approaching, maybe it’s because I haven’t been out on my bike this week, maybe it’s that everywhere I look there are things to do but I can’t quite muster the enthusiasm to do them, but whatever ‘it’ is, it’s making me feel like I want to hide away. Even writing this isn’t easy today, but write I will, as I know that it will help and deep down, I don’t really want to hide away.

 

While Adrian was working, I felt the need for a bit of sunshine on my face and thought raking the golden leaves from the ginkgo tree would do me some good. They are so beautiful even once they’ve fallen, it seems such a shame to collect them up, only to dump them in a corner of the orchard to rot down. Being out in the fresh air did feel good and there were just enough leaves to make me feel like I’d achieved something, without being too many to overwhelm me. What also helped was that just a short time spent in the garden gave me so many lovely things to see, including a pair of butterflies out in the orchard and a peacock butterfly sunning itself on the shutters while we were having lunch.

 

Tea and cake once Adrian had finished for the day (which oddly coincided with the start of lectures for Ed), ensured I had the energy needed to say yes to a bike ride in the late afternoon sun. What I needed most from Chef Boutonne, wasn’t really the few items from the supermarket on my list, but the physical ride there and back in the sunshine. Although a five-kilo sack of onions for only 1.49€ certainly made it a worthwhile journey, and Adrian only grimaced slightly when he saw me stagger out and present it to him to carry home. We made it back just as the sun was setting and were lucky enough to see a deer cross the road in front of us and head up the fields towards the rose-tinted woods. We all have days when things seem dark and gloomy but if 2020 has taught me anything, pretending they don’t happen doesn’t help anyone, getting out in the fresh air, however, really can help.

Time now to head to the kitchen and put the finishing touches to the spicy tomato sauce for the meatballs that we are all looking forward to tonight. 

Spring once again

Golden hazel catkins in the orchard

The change in the weather from winter to spring makes me very happy, so imagine my delight when this week all the signs of spring I eagerly look out for seem to have come at once. 

The wind and rain of last week have become frosty mornings that have given way to blue sky and warm sunshine, meaning wash load after wash load, day after day, have dried outside. This along with my super new washing machine, (who knew they had become so big, so fast and so quiet in the last 14 years) means I finally cleared the heap of non-essentials that have been festering in the laundry room since autumn. 

This week the goose, the ducks and the chickens have all started laying again, which for birds who are past their prime, (Brucie the goose will be ten this spring), is more than I could have expected at the first sign of warmer weather. Now I am flush with eggs once more, I’ve made my first quiche that I enjoyed with salad, on a little bistro table that I dusted off and set up outside the kitchen door.

The orchard is also coming to life; the hazel catkins are dangling like gold in the sun and the wild orchids are pushing through the grass. The first daffodils have ripe buds that will be in flower very soon and our resident Little Owls are busy (and noisy) day and night, preparing for the breeding season, I assume. Every trip out there reminds me of the work that needs tackling now the earth is warming up.

From a dog walk

Whenever I am outside, in the garden, walking the dog or out on my bike, my eyes are drawn up to the sky and my ears are listening for unmistakable sound of the migrating cranes. Yesterday, although not close enough to photograph, I heard and then spotted my first V of birds heading north, a sure sign spring really will be here soon.

Open skies on a bike ride

There is energy and new life to be felt everywhere making me feel more alive and that I must get out and enjoy it. I have now completed 300kms of my 2019kms cycling challenge, including 50kms this week out by myself. This might not seem like much, but to me it is a huge achievement. Not since 2014, when my epilepsy came back to kick me in the teeth, have I got on my bike without Adrian by my side (or rather somewhere out in front, but with me none the less). I’m not taking unnecessary risks, but I'm becoming bolder and refuse to let it beat me. 

Planning - cycling the canal de la Garonne

We are also busy planning (and training for) the first of our 2019 adventures that will not only give me an overnight stop in Bordeaux, something I have wanted for a long time, but also another cycling touring holiday and at last, my first visit to the city of Toulouse. I can’t wait, but I do hope the weather will be kind to us as everything seems so much easier to cope with if served with a generous helping of sunshine.

World Naked Gardening Day

World Naked Gardening Day 2015

Today is World Naked Gardening Day and that little bit within me that likes to push the boundaries and be mischievous couldn't resist joining in the fun. But what exactly is World Naked Gardening Day? Having done a bit of reading on their website I thought the following quotes explained their aims quite clearly:

“People across the globe are encouraged, on the first Saturday of May, to tend their portion of the world's garden unclothed as nature intended.”

“Moreover, our culture needs to move toward a healthy sense of both body acceptance and our relation to the natural environment. Gardening naked is not only a simple joy, it reminds us--even if only for those few sunkissed minutes--that we can be honest with who we are as humans and as part of this planet.”

I have reached an age, or maybe a stage of my life where I can happily accept my shape. I may not have a perfect body, but it's curves and lumpy bits are part of me and after years of negative feelings towards my body and very low self confidence, I'm now proud of who I am and happy with what I look like. It is a celebration of my confidence that I can even think about striping off and sharing, although I have tried to ensure my pictures are tasteful and won't cause any offence. Today has been a rather damp day, but despite the weather I have done my bit, although I would have experienced far more joy if the sun had been shining like it was in 2013 when I first discovered World Naked Gardening Day. Here's hoping for a sunny May 2016 to carry on the fun.

World Naked Gardening Day

On the Migratory Route

Spring is my favourtie time of year (often making me feel bubbly and silly inside) and although I can’t decide what my favourite spring thing is, one of them has to be the moving and arrival of the migrating birds.

Migrating birds at sunset

One of the most spectacular sights to see as they often move in great numbers is the migration of Storks, Cranes and Geese that fly overhead in early spring. Having spent their winter in Spain they are making their way back to Scandinavia and the Baltic for the summer. As they are calling/'clapping' to each other all the way I often hear them before seeing them. I have also been known to dart off the main road and head down a track to get a better glimpse, such is my excitement at witnessing this spectacle. I will admit I am not an expert on their habits, so not sure why, but some seem to enjoy the Charente-Maritime summer so much they nest in the marshland around Brouage. Whatever the reason, I certainly enjoyed watching them when I cycled around the marshes last year.

Summer residents, Brouage marshes

As winter is beginning to turn I often see the Northern Lapwings, part of the plover family, while out walking the dog. They enjoy moist habitats, so the open fields surrounding the village that are prone to flooding provide a perfect winter location. Prior to heading back to Scandinavia and Russia they congregate in large groups and can be very noisy, but are quite a sight en masse.

Lapwings

Possibly the most exotic looking visitor is the Hoopoe who is found year round in Africa but some migrate north to breed in the summer. They like dry habitats especially orchards, vineyards and olive groves and are also quite happy in gardens. Feasting on insects, but also small mammals and reptiles, their long probing beaks are ideal for ground foraging. Nesting is often low to the ground and in holes in walls, so the old stone walls of the barns around here, combined with the orchards and vineyards make it a popular breeding area for them. I will admit they are a beautiful sight to see, but as they are very shy it is more common to hear them rather than see them and I’m quite happy with that. To sit in a quiet spot in the garden and listen to the rhythmic call of the hoopoe is almost hypnotic.

Hoopoe in the garden

Feeding time

My favourite summer visitors are the Swallows, with the first one usually arriving from Africa in mid March. Their arrival is so important I note the first sighting in the calendar every year. They spend their summers here, nest building in the barn, breeding and teaching the youngsters to swoop and fly – often dive bombing the cat and dog as they walk across the courtyard. Feasting on the flies they are perfect for keeping the fly population down, another reason I am glad to have them. Their happy chattering sound is lovely to hear so it is sad when they all congregate on the telephone and power lines in September getting ready to depart for a warmer winter (not that I can blame them). However, I am pleased to announce that I have seen and heard all of these visitors this spring, so all is well with my world. Living in the middle of nowhere may not be for everyone, but when I get to see and hear sights like these I am very happy.

Swallows preparing to head south in September