Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history - La Grand'Goule

La Grand'Goule, Poitiers

Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history

 

La Grand’Goule

 

You can’t really have a series of blogs about myths and legends without talking about dragons and luckily for me, the Poitou-Charentes isn’t short of a dragon tail, or two.

 

When Ed moved to Poitiers for university in 2018, it gave us the opportunity to explore the city, that until then hadn’t been much more than an airport or station pick-up or drop-off zone for us. As he’s recently moved flats, we’ve been up and down a lot more than normal, and this has reignited my love for Poitiers and its rich history.

River Clain, Poitiers

 

Today’s tale is set in the watery depths of the Clain river that runs through Poitiers, and is the story of a fearsome dragon, La Grand’Goule and Sainte Radegonde, wife of Clotaire I, King of the Francs in the 6^th Century, and founder of a monastery that used to sit on the site of the current Sainte-Croix Museum. The dragon was said to have used the river and a network of underground tunnels to reach the caves of the monastery, primarily to feast on the nuns. In a perfect ‘good triumphs over evil’ story, it was Sainte Radegonde who freed Poitiers from the beast, saving her nuns, and in time would become the patron saint of the city. Where prayers alone had failed to stop La Grand’Goule, when it was confronted by Radegonde, her crucifix and holy water, the beast suffered a nasty end. 

La Grand'Goule depicted in Lusignan

 

La Grand’Goule was gone, but not forgotten. From the 15^th to 19^th Centuries, an effigy of the dragon was paraded through Poitiers during the three days leading up to Ascension Day. Children would throw small cakes at it and prayers for a good harvest would be said. If you visit the Sainte-Croix Museum you can see the wooden sculpture they used, that is over three hundred years old, or look up at the water tower in the Dolmen residential area where she is painted proudly on high. Stone carvings can also be found on a number of local churches.

 

Having cycled along the Clain river on a misty Christmas Day afternoon, looking over to the cliffs and caves, it was easy to imagine them home to a beast of a dragon with a penchant for snacking on nuns.

 

Here are a few other blogs about things to enjoy in Poitiers:

Loving being a tourist in Poitiers 

Poitiers summer fun 

Poitiers insolite 

  

La vie est Belle

A bike ride along the river Belle, Deux-Sèvres

La Vie est Belle

 

September, how could you, my birth month, have been so disappointing weatherwise this year? I have vivid memories of September 2004, our first full month in France, where temperatures regularly topped 30º, breakfasts, lunches and dinners were eaten outside, and it seemed summers in France would go on forever.

Looking back on twenty years of photos, sunny days, hot bike rides, touristy days out under blue skies, and sultry vistas of our orchard looking crisp and dry at the end of the season are far more common than the low-hung grey skies, vivid greens of soggy water-logged land and the stormy days you have showered on us this year.

Had we been blessed with a summer of endless sunny days a moist September might have come as a welcome relief. As it was, summer had hardly seemed to get going as August drew to a close, and I was eagerly anticipating a September where foggy mornings gave way to hot afternoons, where despite the shortening of the days, evenings were still warm enough to be outdoor events. The disappointment of a September that has been so far from my expectations has been hard to accept.

Terra Aventura parcours, Exireuil, Deux-Sèvres

As October arrives, so does the ominous date of the 14^th, marking exactly one year since the weather turned, becoming wet and unsettled following a gorgeous six-week period of late summer heat. This year, I think I’d be hard pushed to count six decent, hot days in the last six weeks, but I do know we have made the most of them, often following the routes and answering the questions on the Terra Aventura geocaching app. This has seen us clambering over boulders in the river gorge, as we explored les puits d’enfer (hell’s wells) in Exireuil, alongside the military town of Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole in the Deux-Sèvres, as well as discovering hidden gems in Civray and Charroux in the Vienne.

A September sunset ride

The Bromptons continue to be our faithful companions, whether to and from work, enjoying rarely glimpsed sunsets after work, or the glowing autumnal colours of Chef-Boutonne on market day. We also discovered the Belle valley, less than thirty kilometres from home, where lavoirs, lost lanes and fairy bridges hidden in the trees reminded us that la vie est belle, life is beautiful (whatever the weather).

Sunshine in Charmé, Charente

I have yet to cycle my traditional 100km in a day birthday bike ride, something I have been doing since September 2015, although we did manage a fabulous 93km on the 20^th September. Our route took us through the Charente vineyards ripe with fruit, past Romanesque churches, lavoirs and fields of sunflowers with drooping seed heads, awaiting harvest. In Mansle, on the banks of the Charente River, we enjoyed a coup de soleil from a local patisserie. This new to us delight had a base of an apricot clafoutis with a lightly whipped topping of crème patisserie and Chantilly cream and was a real burst of sunshine in our mouths. Sadly, with storm clouds and thunder rolling in around us, we didn’t risk adding on the required seven kilometres to hit the 100. Ten days later and it seems the stormy showers and high winds, although interspersed with sunny spells, are still with us. I’ve had enough. Like the lizards I watch soaking up the heat on the steps of the château, I need to recharge my solar panels before winter arrives.

I can only hope that October gives us some respite from the cold and damp before winter truly sets in. 

  

Book review of The French Cookery School by Caroline James

The French Cookery School by Caroline James

The French Cookery School by Caroline James  

Mix together a group of mature students:

A culinary Sloane, a take-away cook and a food journalist.

Add in:

A handsome host

Season with:

A celebrity chef

Bring to the boil:

At a luxurious cookery school in France!

Waltho Williams has no idea what he’s letting himself in for when he opens the doors of La Maison du Paradis, his beautiful French home. But with dwindling funds, a cookery school seems like the ideal business plan. 

Running away from an impending divorce, super-snob Caroline Carrington hopes a luxurious cookery holiday will put her back on her feet. Blackpool fish and chip café owner Fran Cartwright thinks she’s won the lottery when her husband Sid books her on a week working alongside a celebrity chef. Meanwhile, feeling she is fading at fifty, journalist Sally Parker-Brown hopes her press week covering the cookery course will enable her to boost her career.

But will the eclectic group be a recipe for success, or will the mismatched relationships sink like a souffle? 

Whip out an apron, grab a wooden spoon and take a culinary trip to La Maison du Paradis, then sit back and enjoy The French Cookery School!

 

The French Cookery School by Caroline James

My Review

A good chef will always say that recipes should start with quality ingredients and this book had those aplenty, from a fabulous mix of characters to superb descriptions of a location that came to life. It is always a lovely surprise to find myself in a book that is set in a less well-known area of France, but to find myself close enough to home that I recognised where I was, put a huge grin on my face. Chauvigny with its medieval castles, the famous macarons of Montmorillon and the abbey at St Savin, are just a stone’s throw from Poitiers, and this book made me want to plan return day trips.

The French Cookery School by Caroline James

Everyone present at La Maison du Paradis cookery retreat is looking for something or escaping their demons, and that included owner Waltho. At the beginning they didn’t seem an obvious friendship group and I wondered how easily they would gel together, but gently simmered in the heat of the French countryside, the chemistry soon began to happen. The author cleverly crafted the plot so that everyone’s strengths and weaknesses had their moment in the spotlight, yet no one personality (flavour) dominated. In fact, I’d say they all complimented each other and were enhanced by a little bit of French magic. 

I always looked forward to finishing my day lost in the pages of this book and often fell asleep wondering where tomorrow’s chapter would take me.

There is so much more to this book than the delicious food served between its pages. It’s about emotions and recovery, and left me with a warm, satisfied feeling, much like a fine meal savoured in the company of great friends. If you enjoy books where the characters embark on uplifting personal journeys, and you want a location that sticks with you (hopefully making you open your map of France and plan a visit), then do add this to your summer reading list. I might even see you wandering the steep cobbled streets of Chauvigny or Montmorillon one day and we could chat about books from the terrace of a café.

Montmorillon macaron museum, as featured in
The French Cookery School by Caroline James

Purchase links

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Amazon UK link 

 

Caroline James

About the author

Caroline James always wanted to write, but instead of taking a literary route, followed a career in the hospitality industry, which included owning a pub and a beautiful country house hotel. She was also a media agent representing celebrity chefs. When she finally glued her rear to a chair and began to write, the words flowed, and several novels later, she has gained many bestseller badges for her books.

The French Cookery School is Caroline’s tenth novel. Previously, The Cruise, described as: ‘Girl power for the over sixties!’ was an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller. Caroline’s hilarious novels include The Spa Break and The Best Boomerville Hotel, depicted as ‘Britain’s answer to the Best Marigold Hotel’.

She likes to write in Venus, her holiday home on wheels and in her spare time, walks with Fred, her Westie, or swims in a local lake. Caroline is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the SOA, ARRA and the Society of Women’s Writers & Journalists. She is also a speaker with many amusing talks heard by a variety of audiences, including cruise ship guests.

 

Social media

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The French Cookery School by Caroline James

 

Books by Caroline James

The French Cookery School might be the first of her books I’ve read, but I’ll be looking up her others:

The Cruise

The Spa Break

Hattie Goes to Hollywood

Boomerville at Ballymegille

The Best Boomerville Hotel

Coffee Tea the Gypsy & Me

Coffee Tea the Chef & Me

Coffee Tea the Caribbean & Me

Jungle Rock

French-themed reading bingo

This year I’ve set myself a reading challenge bingo, with twenty-five different types of French themed books to tick off. This book nicely ticks off “A book about French food”.

 

French themed reading bingo challenge

 

Advent postcards, Tumulus de Bougon, Deux-Sèvres

 

Advent postcard, Tumulus de Bougon, Deux-Sèvres

Advent day nineteen

Today’s cycling advent-ures postcard comes from the Tumulus de Bougon museum in the Deux-Sevres where we spent a hot Sunday at the beginning of July.

 

Our visit had been timed to take full advantage of the FREE museum entry on the 1^st Sunday of each month, saving 6€ each, and was part of my 2023 plan to visit as many local museums as I could fit in around work. The only tourist information point in Chef-Boutonne is us at the Château and rather than just hand out leaflets, I wanted to be better able to recommend other places for our visitors. I quickly developed museum envy. Rather than our tiny museum in Javarzay, that is run by the local council, Tumulus de Bougon is on a huge site with a restaurant, indoor exhibits and exhibition space, plus the numerous burial mounds in the outdoor park, all run by the Deux-Sèvres Department. 

 

After a coffee we picked up the audio guides, that we could use in English, and started our visit indoors, learning about seven million years of history and the evolution of man. It was fascinating, but too much for my brain to take in on one visit, which gives us a great opportunity to return. This area in France has a number of standing stones, dolmens and megaliths, often found in woods or fields, but also including one in a residential street in Poitiers. There are many legends that tell tales of giants and fairies moving these huge stones around, but we now know a lot more about them than fairy tales. The first thing I learned was that these tabletop stones or pierre levée are actually the three entrance stones to a long-eroded burial mound – which seemed so obvious when it was pointed out, but not something I’d ever considered before. The museum is home to round and long burial mounds, many of which you can access some of the inner chambers, which is properly exciting for children of all ages. We had a blast exploring and admiring the amazing construction work that predates Stonehenge. 

Pierre Levée, Poitiers

Our day continued with a picnic in the neighbouring village of Pamproux where we then set off on a Terra Aventura bike ride treasure hunt, that gave us even more local history to discover. I can 100% recommend a visit here. 

Advent postcards, Cenon-sur-Vienne

 

Advent postcard, Cenon-sur-Vienne

Advent day twelve

Today’s cycling advent-ures postcard is from just outside the village of Cenon-sur-Vienne, at the confluence of the mighty Vienne and the river Clain, whose valley we had been cycling through north of Poitiers last weekend. 

 

It is hardly surprising I’ve found a watery theme to today’s post, as the rain continues to pour down there is little else on my mind. In the space of two months, we’ve gone from a worryingly low water table that necessitated water restrictions coming into place on 13^th October, to most of the west of France now a soggy mess. Drainage ditches at the edge of roads are flowing like rivers, fields have become lakes as the water tries in vain to drain into the ditches, and the rainwater drains in the village are gurgling and bubbling high like a water feature fountain. 28% of French departments now have water tables full to a very high level and only 11% are showing as very low. How can a situation swing so drastically, in such a short space of time? The Jet Stream. It seems to have shifted and got itself stuck further south than usual, and the resulting low pressure over the Atlantic is the cause for our seemingly endless rain.

 

We struck lucky three times on Sunday morning. Firstly, the rain didn’t start until we were back at the car after a 36km bike ride and a picnic lunch with views of the Château de Dissay, plus we had two lucky discoveries on the bike ride, both just outside the small Vienne town of Cenon-sur-Vienne.

 

The first thing we stumbled upon that put a smile on my face was the archaeological site of Vieux-Poitiers (Old Poitiers), on the road between Naintré and Cenon. Here, where the Roman town of Briva once stood, a ruined tower is all that remains from an amphitheatre that once held ten thousand people. The fact that it is also on the Chemins de Saint-Jacques pilgrimage route, just made me fall in love even more. Situated on a triangle of land that is protected on two sides by the two rivers, that also offered fishing and trade routes, you can see why this was an important position two thousand years ago.

 

Our route continued up the triangle to stand at the confluence of the Clain and the Vienne rivers. It was rather appropriate to find ourselves here as we finished our twelve months of mini-cycling adventures to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. In 1998, our main criteria for our wedding venue was that it had to be on the river Thames. We were both born by the Thames, worked in London, and often met for lunchtime walks along the river and decided upon Henley-on Thames for our wedding. It was a special feeling at having achieved our 25^th anniversary challenge, where we have managed twenty-three nights away this year and cycled 1864 kilometres, and standing by these rivers, inspiration struck for another cycling adventure for 2024.

Advent postcards, Dissay and the Clain, Vienne

Advent postcards, Dissay, Vienne

Advent day nine 

Today’s cycling advent-ures postcard is from our cycling themed few days in the Vienne, and with a special mention to the river Clain and the small town of Dissay.

 

We were in the area to spend the day with the Vienne based UCI Women’s world professional cycling team, FDJ-Suez, who were putting on a bit of a show to launch their 2024 season. As well as a meet and greet the athletes, we had the chance to cycle alongside them and enjoy the Grand Départ spectacle in the evening. A good time was had by all, even if the weather wasn’t exactly joining in the celebratory mood.  

You have no idea how excited I was to realise our accommodation was just a few kilometres from Dissay that is home to one of the most beautiful Renaissance châteaux I’ve seen. We made good use of the sunshine on the Friday to get the bikes out and explore, enjoying the autumn colours that had clung on into December. Our first stop, naturally, was Dissay to take in the magnificence of these towers, turrets, crenelations and more. It even has a real moat with a little arched bridge crossing it and a formal parterre garden at the rear. This château dates back to the 15^th century and was built by Pierre d’Amboise, the Bishop of Poitiers. It was used as a residence for bishops up until the Revolution and is now a spa hotel and restaurant, although sadly a little above our budget. I have to admit I had a little bit of château envy. 

FDJ-Suez women's pro world tour team for 2024

Advent Day Seventeen, family fun

A family meal at Memphis, Poitiers

Advent Day Seventeen, Family Fun 

We awoke to another -3º morning and a frozen car in need of de-icing, before a careful drive through a beautiful winter landscape, as we made our way to Poitiers. The unused edges of the road were heavy with ice patches, the fields glinting as the sun sparkled on the frost and there was a white dusting visible on the terracotta roof tiles. Herons and egrets, huddled together, necks disappearing into hunched wings, feathers fluffed out, all in an attempt to keep warm. 

 

We were wrapped up well, with many layers, thermal boots, scarves and hats that covered our ears. The wind turbines that had been eerily lost in the fog and darkness of my drive home on Tuesday, revealed a stiff breeze from the east to be the cause of the chill.

 

This week has been a failure in terms of our active travel ambitions. I’ve used the car four days in a row and Adrian was behind the wheel once more, as I scribbled away in my notebook. My bike hasn’t been touched since Monday, which is probably why I’d felt out of sorts and angsty yesterday. At the time I’d put it down to fatigue at the end of a busy week and opted for a book, a blanket and the sofa. Maybe I should have hopped on my bike and reinvigorated my senses with fresh air and blue sky scenery.

My Memphis mountain burger

 

Today was a day for family, fun and celebrations. Ed and I might have spent time together on Tuesday afternoon, but Adrian and Pearl were working. Now the weekend and the holidays have arrived, and we had a voucher to use at what has become our favourite American diner – we didn’t need any more excuses to indulge in a family meal and time together. It was an easy choice from the menu for me, the mountain burger, oozing with delicious melted raclette cheese, making it so much more than a cheeseburger, followed by a café gourmand, three tiny, sweet treats served with ice cream and an espresso coffee. 

L'Hypogée des Dunes, Poitiers

 

Our after-lunch exercise was a walk to an ancient burial ground dating back to the 6^th to 8^th centuries, that would make a fabulous, if rather eerie backdrop to a Halloween evening. The low afternoon sun cast long shadows from the trees, that fell upon the stone caskets, that lay open and empty. Poitiers is certainly a town with many surprises hidden away, but now I’m the proud owner of a new guidebook Je Découvre Poitiers, 7 Balades (I discover Poitiers in seven walks), I’m finding new things with every visit.

 

Our drive home was no less dramatic with a glorious sunset that accompanied the hour-long journey, giving wide open vistas of apricot fire. At times it was only the silhouettes of trees, wind turbines and water towers that broke up the horizon. 

 

Christmas fun, Poitiers

It was a wonderful day spent with special people and I returned home with my belly and my heart full, but can you believe it, Ed and Pearl refused to pose for a family selfie in front of this fine Reindeer. 

Poitiers summer fun

Place du Maréchal Leclerc, Poitiers

HoliDAYS out and about: Poitiers

This summer, rather than going away for a holiday we are making the most of our holiDAYS out and about, mostly involving the bikes. The first of these was an afternoon in Poitiers, where the relaxed groups of tourists milling around with maps, ensured there was a feel of holidays in the air.

 

There are certain things we like to do on holiday; ride our bikes, sit outside at a café, enjoy warm sunny weather, eat patisseries, drink cold beer and see the sights. I’m pleased to say, we managed all of these in just one afternoon in Poitiers.

Lunch on a terrace, Poitiers 2022

 

We lunched in the main square with the imposing Hôtel du Ville watching over us, as we people-watched the constant flow of activity around us. We might have had the intention of grabbing a quick croque monsieur, but with a menu offering steak frites, followed by a chocolate éclair and a coffee (that came with a biscuit) for less than 12€ each, our resolve crumbled. Seated outside, there was more than enough room for our bikes to join us without getting in the way and the distance between the tables was safe and reassuring. The creamy blossoms of the Japanese Pagoda tree fell like confetti on us, the table, and added a certain something to the salad that accompanied our steak frites. We then set off for a short twelve-kilometre city tour by bike.

Aliénor d'Aquitaine, Poitiers

This year Poitiers is celebrating the 900^th anniversary of Aliénor d’Aquitaine, who (I believe) is the only person to hold both the title of Queen of France and Queen of England. The impressive Palais that is at the heart of the medieval city, was where the Counts of Poitou and the Duchy of Aquitaine held their courts. I haven’t had time so far this summer to book into any of the events being organised but seeing this artwork on the grand steps up to Palais reminded me to check out the calendar, as I really enjoyed the office du tourisme’s guided love-theme walk. 

Parc du Blossac, Poitiers

 

Despite the tourists in the town centre, we had the beautiful Parc de Blossac, that dates from the eighteenth century, almost to ourselves. It’s central fountain and wide tree-lined boulevards, with a bandstand and views over the ramparts feel very Parisian to me and are perfect for enjoying on a bike, but the more intimate Jardin à l'Anglaise and small animal park are best explored on foot. If you look closely on the old stone walls there is evidence of the Nazi occupation, a swastika, and the date 1940, plus a German eagle, carved into the stone at one of the strategic viewpoints over the river. A reminder that the park was requisitioned as a parade ground for the many garrisons of soldiers stationed in the vicinity.

Church of St Hilaire le Grand, Poitiers

We also took advantage of the cool interiors of some of the churches in Poiters, including the church of St Hilaire le Grand (who was the first bishop of Poitiers). This impressive Romanesque church has been welcoming pilgrims on Chemins de St Jacques for hundreds of years and I’m always delighted when my path crosses this ancient pilgrimage route.

Poitiers viewed from the cycle lane flyover

 

In more recent years, Poitiers has come on a long way in terms of being an eco-city and somewhere that is cycle and pedestrian friendly. In our early years in France, on the odd occasion we did venture into the town centre, around family airport or station drop-offs, we quickly remembered why we rarely bothered. It was difficult to access, impossible to park and noisy and unpleasant to walk anywhere because of the constant traffic. The main square becoming pedestrianised was one of the best things they have done, topped only by the fact that the best view of the city is now one that is reserved exclusively for cyclists. It is a city panorama, from the flyover, where two out of the three lanes are now car free. Cycling into town from Ed and Pearl’s flat is a joy. Poitiers took the decision a few years ago, to drastically reduce car access into the city and now the town centre is a hive of people, happily shopping and socialising in the car-free streets. More towns need to follow this example.

Vive l’active travel!

You might also like my holiDAYS out in Melle and Celles-sur-Belle post. 

  

Covid-19 vaccinations

At the Civray vaccination centre

Social media can be a funny old thing. Some people rant, some boast, some just seem to be out for a fight, but we all share and, from my experience this week, many people out there also care.

 

I had a bit of a wobble this week, caused by the frustration around booking my covid-19 vaccination. As Adrian is over fifty, I was able to look for a date and time that suited his work schedule and book his appointment a week in advance. As I’ve not yet reached that golden age, I was only allowed to book last minute, for an available slot in the coming twenty-four hours. I naively assumed, with three centres within twenty-five kilometres from home, I would find a slot and pop out, possibly even while Adrian was working, and be home to pour his morning coffee. I was wrong. I soon found myself caught in a negative loop of continually refreshing the online booking platform, so much so that by Wednesday the phrase “Aucun rendez-vous de vaccination n'est disponible dans ce lieu d'ici demain soir” began to play on a loop in my head. (No vaccination appointments are available here between now and tomorrow evening.) Every now and then an appointment or two would appear, but they were in places like Rochefort, Royan, Poitiers or Chauvigny, all over eighty kilometres from home. The only ones more local were at a time that clashed with Adrian’s appointment, and at a centre in the opposite direction.

 

The weather certainly didn’t help as it was either raining, threating to rain, or dry and sunny, but with a fierce wind. Getting out on the bike is a great way to clear my head and put things into perspective, not being able to get out just added to my vaccination frustrations and made me cranky. Having rolled my eyes at a particularly heated post on Facebook, where a fight had broken out over whether our department of the Deux Sèvres was or wasn’t far enough south to be classified as south-west France, I took to Instagram with a vaccination whinge. 

 

I was quite bowled over by how many people commented on my post with advice, ideas and generally trying their best to help and make me feel better. Thank you it really did help. As luck would have it, on Thursday morning I found myself an appointment for Friday afternoon, at the same centre in Civray Adrian was headed to on Thursday afternoon. This did mean two eighty-kilometre round trips in two days, which is not ideal for people who rarely take the car out these days, but it did mean I was able to book our second slots at the end of June for the same place, on the same day, one hour apart. 

Getting my Pfizer shot

 

The centre in Civray, who are vaccinating around one thousand four hundred people with the Pfizer vaccine every week, was superb and worth the drive. The spacious double hall is well laid out, and the Red Cross volunteers who run it are friendly, helpful and efficient. The form you fill in prior to vaccination was available in English and French and everything was calm and organised. It is a real relief that we are both now part of the 22,587,920 people in France who have had their first injection. Reports from the UK today claim that the Pfizer vaccination looks to give 88% protection from the latest Indian variant, once both doses have been administered.

 

As Ed is twenty, I could go back to the continual searching for a last-minute appointment for him, but this week the government announced that from 31^st May, anyone over eighteen will be eligible to book a time that suits. He has quite a bit going on at the moment, so I think it will be much less stressful for both of us, to wait a week.

Adrian's morning coffee at Les Gours

 

With the excitement of vaccinations, the reopening of bar, café and restaurant terraces on Wednesday, seemed to pass me by. Adrian did stop for a coffee on his Thursday morning bike ride, while I was on my yoga mat, but it’s been five days now and I haven’t yet managed to partake. Every evening, when we’ve witnessed clear skies and no wind, we’ve planned a morning coffee ride for the following day. Every morning, we’ve woken up to rain once again. Let’s hope this week brings a bit more warmth, a lot less wind and rain and the chance to get out on the bikes, stretch our legs, clear our heads and enjoy a coffee with a spot of people-watching. It’s the simple things.

 

Keep safe and sane, it will get better.  

Doctolib.fr the site to use to book your vaccinations here in France.