Le Triskèle Magazine 2016

Les Cottages le Triskèle February 2016
LE TRISKÈLE
Holiday Cottages in just the right place!
liberté, égalité, fraternité
Remembering Paris
The Nord Pas de Calais to the Charente-Maritime
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Les Cottages le Triskèle February 2016
Visit our website at www.letriskele.com
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LE JARDIN DE LOUVRE LENS SÉRICOURT
THE NORTH
LILLE
Just a short drive from the village of Gouy en Ternois is a beautiful secret garden that is certainly worth a visit; Le Jardins de Séricourt. A tranquil delight, nestled in the rolling countryside of the Nord Pas de Calais. The gardens were first created in 1985 by landscape architect Yves Gosse de Gorre around his property as a showcase for its nursery activity. The gardens are now run by his son Guillaume: they currently occupy about 4.5 hectares and have been classified as remarkable gardens since 2004. The emphasis is on trees and small trees, and alleys connect a series of garden rooms. Features include a rose tunnel and award winning topiary such as the Easter Island heads and Lounge Suite pictured below.
Don’t forget to ring the bell at the gate to attract the Owner's attention!
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Information:
Address: 2, rue du bois, Séricourt, France
Website: http://www.jardindesericourt.com for opening times, directions and tariffs.
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LILLE - 2004 European Capital of Culture
Lille is the capital of the Nord-Pas-de- Calais region in northern France, near the border with Belgium. A cultural hub and bustling university town today, it was once an important merchant centre of French Flanders. Many Flemish influences remain in the city's culture, cuisine and architecture. The historic centre, Vieux Lille (Old Lille), is characterised by 17th-century brick town houses and cobbled pedestrian streets.
The City boasts many good quality eateries and some great designer boutiques and stunning art. After a stroll around the historic streets and squares why not pay a visit to the Musée de l’Hospice - 32 Rue de la Monnaie, which offers a glimpse into the city's past. Alternatively, you may wish to discover the formal pleasures of the Palais des Beaux Arts at the Place de la République, which is second is size only to the Louvre. It houses a rich collection of French,
Flemish and other European masterpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries together with a fabulous Impressionist section, among the highlights.
In December the Christmas market on Place Rihour holds a fantastic funfair.
Lille is an easy hour drive from Gouy-en- Ternois and can also be reached by Eurostar from London St Pancras.
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A BIT OF CULTURE UP NORTH
The Louvre Museum
has ventured outside
its Parisian home to
bring a new cultural
landmark to the of
north France. Its aim is
to give the local
residents (and the
many foreign visitors
the museum aims to
attract), access to the best art in the world in a spectacular new building, but equally as important is the aim of helping revive the former mining town of Lens and the surrounding area.
The Location
Lens is not an obvious place to attract sightseers. The mining town was destroyed in World War I, then occupied by the Nazis and hit by Allied bombs in World War II. The mines continued operating after the war and the area now boasts the tallest slag heaps in Europe. During the seventies and eighties, however, the industry declined dramatically; with the last mine closing in 1986 and the town stagnating ever since.
So the Louvre-Lens is seen by the authorities as a major step in reviving the area, in the same way as did the Pompidou-Metz Museum in Metz in Lorraine, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Lens was also chosen because of its strategic location. It’s just south of Lille and the Channel Tunnel to the U.K. is only an hour’s drive away, making it possible to visit it in one day from the U.K.; Belgium is 30 minutes’ drive, and the Netherlands two hours or so. It is at the centre of a hugely well populated region and the hope is that visitors will make a weekend or a short break and combine the Louvre-Lens with a tour of the area, particularly of Lille
and the nearby battlefields and memorials of World War I.
The Building
The new Louvre- Lens is housed in a series of five low,
spectacular glass and polished aluminium buildings that join each other at different angles. The park that is slowly being constructed around it is reflected in the glass and the roofs are also in glass which brings in light and
gives you a view of the outdoors.
An international competition was won by the Japanese architectural firm of SANAA, and the building designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. The project was started in 2003; it cost 150 million euros (£121.6 million;
$198.38million) and took three years to build.
The Galleries
The Museum is
divided into different
sections. Start in the
Gallery du Temps,
the main gallery
where 205 major
works of art are
displayed in 3,000 square metres, with no dividing partitions. There's a 'Wow'
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moment as you walk in and see the gleaming space filled with priceless, unique art works. It shows, according to the museum, that 'long and visible progress of humanity' that characterises the Louvre in Paris.
The exhibits take you from the beginnings of writing to the mid 19th century. The gallery is structured around three main periods: Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern period. A map and brief explanation puts the sections in context. Nothing is hung on the walls of reflective glass, but as you walk through the exhibition, dates are marked on one wall to give you an idea of chronology. So you can stand at one side and look at the cultures of the world through the masterpieces of each era.
Antiquity takes you from Mesopotamia through the Egyptians; the origins of the Mediterranean civilisation; Babylon and the ancient East; Egypt and the great temples; cities of the Mediterranean; the Assyrians; classical Greece; the world of Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire in 70 objects. You see a strange elongated figure from the Syros islands from 2700 BC beside the gleaming bronze demon-god Pazuzu from Assyria. It may be cultural influences, but as ever, the superb classical and Greek figures in their heroic poses seemed to
me the most remarkable.
The Middle Ages has 45 works in 7 themed parts: Eastern Christianity and the Byzantine Empire;
Western Christianity and the first churches; the origins of the Islamic world; Italy, Byzantium and Islam in the West; Gothic Europe; the Islamic East’s greatest achievements, and East meets West. After the life-like classical statues, some of the Medieval art looks stilted and uncomfortable. There's a fragment of a head from a mosaic in Torcello, Venice in the 11th to 12th centuries,while stylised Gothic figures appeared later in Europe.
Modern Art has 90 works in 9 themed parts: The Renaissance; three modern Islamic Empires; Arts of the Court; Baroque Europe; French Classicism; the Enlightenment, Neoclassicism; Islam and Western Art in the 19th century and the Revolution of 1830 called Art and Power in France. The Renaissance comes out in all its wonderful glory, with life-like portraits like Balthazar Castiglione by Raphael. At the same time, the Eastern cultures were producing magnificent Iznik
plates covered with detailed scenes.
The space is magnificent, as are the exhibits, from exquisite ancient Greek marble statues to Egyptian mummies, from 11th-century Italian church mosaics to Renaissance ceramics, from art by Rembrandt to works by Goya, Poussin and Botticelli.
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Website:
http://www.louvrelens.fr/en
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ORADOUR-SUR GLANE
ANGOULEME SAINTES
THE SOUTH
LE CHÊNE VERT
Oradour-sur-Glane “a place of endless mourning” A poignant visit
On 10 June 1944, Nazi forces
surrounded and then besieged the
village of Oradour-sur-Glane, rounding-
up and murdering 642 men, women and
children; one of the largest mass
murders by the occupying German
forces. It was, to quote, an “exemplary
action”; a surprise attack possibly
designed to discourage would-be
resistance fighters and their
communities. The devastated village,
near Limoges, became a permanent
monument to the massacre thanks to a
decree by French President, Charles de
Gaulle, and today stands as a vivid reminder of the horrors of war.
The hilly, forested landscape of Limousin, replete with its isolated farms, provided an ideal setting for resistance fighters; especially as opposition mounted to the Vichy Regime of Marshal Philippe Pétain. Its capital Limoges was ultimately dubbed the “capital of the Resistance". The memorial centre at Oradour relays some of the remarkable stories of resistance by courageous individuals such as Georges Guingouin - prefect of the Maquis of Limousin, and leader of the rural guerrillas spearheading the resistance - who was dubbed the "the madman of the woods."
On 7th June 1944, the Resistance captured Tulle, a village near Oradour-Sur-Glane. The response of the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" deployed in Limousin was swift and devastating. In the reprisals that followed, 99 civilians were hung and 149 deported to
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Dachau. Oradour-sur-Glane, however, was not renowned for resistance activity, unlike nearby Oradour-sur-Vayres, leading some to assert a case of mistaken identity.
Other hypotheses have been advanced as to why Oradour-sur-Glane was targeted. Helmut Kämpfe, a major in the Waffen SS, was captured by the Resistance on June 9th, and was subsequently found dead; either executed upon Guingoin’s orders or killed whilst trying to escape. The attack on Oradour-sur-Glane is therefore deemed by some an act of revenge for Kämpfe’s death. Whatever the motive, the despicable crimes committed in Oradour bore all the hallmarks of the Nazi’s vicious Eastern Front campaign.
Today the tram tracks with their overhead power lines still guide visitors down the main street towards Champ de Foire, which served as Oradour’s marketplace and which is now marked by the car of Doctor Desourteaux, left where it had been abandoned on that day over seventy years’ ago. Here the village’s male population were rounded up and executed in nearby barns and warehouses. A little further on lies the roofless Catholic Church where some 450 women and children were slain. The ferocity of the killings was such that fewer than 10% of the victims’ bodies could be identified. Amongst those victims were 25 Spaniards who had sought sanctuary from the Civil War, along with those displaced from Alsace-Lorraine.
Every building in the village had been torched. Plaques on the ruined buildings recall the function that they once served - bakery, the school, epicerie - along with the names of their owners. Remnants of sewing machines, bicycles, boilers and clothes racks, plus burnt out cars and other machinery, provide man-made reminders of ordinary village life. Oradour-sur-Glane is a nurtured ruin; not abandoned to nature, but preserved to ensure the broken fragments can tell their story to future generations.
Despite the preservation of memory, there is a strong sense that justice has never been served. A 1953 military tribunal in Bordeaux found only twenty defendants guilty, with Eastern Germany preventing the extradition of other perpetrators. 14 of those were French nationals of German ethnicity from Alsace, all but one of whom claimed that they been forcibly recruited by the Nazi. The uproar in Alsace and the pragmatism of post-war reintegration lead the French parliament to grant amnesties to those Alsatians recruited against their will, sparking furious protests in Limousin. By 1958 the remaining defendants had been released. General Heinz Lammerding had ordered the attack was never extradited.
Seventy years on, in January 2014 the state court in Cologne charged 88 year-old Werner Christukat, 19 at the time, with the murder of twenty-five and being an accessory to murder of hundreds more. Though Christukat conceded to being in the village at the time, he claimed that he had not been directly involved. The case was eventually dropped in December 2014 due to a lack of evidence. Whilst further reinforcing the sense that
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justice continued to elude the victims of Oradour, it served as another important reminder of how Europe to this day pursues the perpetrators of atrocities committed during the Second World War.
A sign at the entrance to the village today implores visitors to remember. As Second World War survivors become a rarer commodity, so the human dimension of remembrance is increasingly lost. War has in many respects been sanitised and censored by contemporary media. A certain numbness accompanies images from Aleppo, despite the very victims of this and other tragedies now arriving daily on Europe’s doorsteps.
Oradour-sur-Glane lies just over a hundred kilometres from the Cognac birthplace of one of the architects of European unity, Jean Monnet. Such tragedies are a reminder of the devastation that was once wrought upon Europe, and the importance of the continuing pursuit of justice for victims. Oradour-sur-Glane remains a “place of endless mourning” and a permanent reminder of the “martyred village”; not just for the martyrs of the village itself, but for all those who perished at the hands of terror, East and West.
The memorial to the dead at Oradour-sur-Glane
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Perched on a hill above the Charente, Angoulême became the ‘Capital of Paper’ in the Middle Ages when dozens of mills lined the river. Today, it is internationally renowned as the ‘Capital of the Image’, especially comic strips or bandes dessinées (BD).
Angoulême’s annual festival
is the most important of its
kind in the world and
welcomes nearly 6,000 professionals and 220,000
visitors each year, to more
than 20 different venues
across the town. But comic
strip fans can enjoy the
Musée de la Bande Dessinée
at any time of year. Opened
in 2009 in an old wine warehouse beside the Charente, its unique
collection includes 8,000
original drawings. Visitors
can explore four themed
areas covering the history and techniques of the comic strip, with exhibits rotated three times a year. Enjoy temporary exhibitions and browse the extensive shop for your favourite characters. You’ll find cartoon characters depicted in over 20 giant wall paintings on the sides of buildings all over town - pick up an
annotated map from the Tourist Office. Even the street names are contained within speech bubbles!
Also discover the town’s fascinating heritage on three themed walking tours. Stop off at the magnificent Romanesque cathedral of Saint-Peter; enjoy the eclectic collections of the town ’s museum.
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But Angoulême is a city of much more than just painted walls. Every year the rumble of engines can be heard and the smell of hot oil floats on the air. The International Circuit des Remparts turns Angoulême into a giant museum on wheels where old-timers and classic cars make fans dreams come true for three days every September. The route has remained unchanged since it first started in 1939 and you can see the ramparts come alive in 2016 from 16th to 18th September!
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Villemorin
This little village, known for its Cognac production, is located within vineyards and sunflower fields
The landscape by day or night will
inspire you to paint, write, relax and
enjoy a little photography. It is also
the perfect place from which to
explore the beautiful countryside on foot or by bicycle.
The square in Villemorin boasts a pretty church recently renovated with stunning stained glass windows.

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Saintes
Situated on the river Charente, Saintes is just a 29 mile drive from Villemorin. As the first Roman capital of Aquitaine, the city - birthplace of Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin - still possesses many remnants of its Roman past.
Taking pride of place on the riverbank is the L’Arc of Germanicus, which was dedicated to emperor Tiberius (one of Rome's greatest generals) - his son, Drusu, and his nephew, Germanicus.
The remains of the former ampthitheatre, Les Arènas, which once held 15,000 spectators is another must see attraction, and is reached either with a brisk walk up the valley from the old town, or via car (set
the satnav for 20 rue Lacurie, 17100 Saintes).
Saintes is also famous for its Romanesque architecture, including the
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landmark Cathédral of St-Pierre and the twelfth century Abbaye aux Dames.
Its most important monument, however, is the eleventh century Saint-Eutrope Church, dedicated to Saint Eutropius of Saintes (whose remains lie in a sarcophagus in the presbytery). Saint- Eutrope Church, which was built by Benedictine monks, is a UNESCO world heritage site, situated on the major Santiago de Compostella Pilgrim route.
The narrow, meandering streets of
visitors will have no problem finding local distilleries offering tasting samples.
The river Charente itself can be explored on a replica of an eighteenth century gabarre - a flat-bottomed boat that used to carry a variety of products (salt, cognac and cannons) - or on more contemporary modes of transport.
For horse lovers, Le Haras National de Saintes - one of 23 national horse studs in France - maintains a variety of local breeds, including the Poitevin draught
Saintes’ Saint Pierre district in the heart of the old town are home to a variety of restaurants, cafes and shops. Saintes’ market - open Wednesday and Saturday - offers a variety of stalls selling cheeses, meats, fish, fruit and vegetables; testament to the town’s surrounded agricultural riches. As Saintes lies at the heart of Appelation Cognac Controlee,
horse and the Poitou donkey.
Aside from providing excellent walking opportunities, the surrounding countryside is also dotted with various Château, including Château de Dampierre, Château de la Roche-Courbon (known as the Castle of the Sleeping Beauty), Château de Crazannes and Château de Montendre.
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French Restaurant and Art Gallery
If you love French cooking at its best, then this is a restaurant not to be missed!
An easy 14 mile drive from Villemorin to the village of Aumagne and you will find Le Chêne Vert Restaurant and Art Gallery.
The restaurant is housed in one of the reception rooms of a stunning old Charentaise house and looks out onto the owner’s beautiful garden. It is run and owned by a Belgian lady Gisèle (front of house and the artist) and Scottish gentlemen Andrew (Chef)....and that's it. It’s just the two of them and they keep the numbers small in order to deliver a fabulous dining
experience.
Andrew sources his produce both locally and from his Scottish homeland. So you will not only find the likes of brilliant local foie gras and guinea foul on the menu but also a wee bit of Haggis!
Everything is made on site, even the bread and you are likely to find your dish contains vegetables from their vegetable patch and is decorated and
garnished with flowers or herbs from their pretty garden.
Through the garden you will also find a small art gallery where Gisèle displays and sells work produced by local artists. Another room in the house plays host to Gisèle’s work as does the restaurant. She describes her work as “naive art” and there are some lovely pieces on display. You may find some of her sheep adorning your wine bottle and whilst enjoying the wonderful food you might just notice a Scotsman resplendent in his kilt and bearing more than a passing resemblance to Andrew keeping an eye on you; another
brilliant piece by Gisèle.
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Information:
Gisèle and Andrew - Le Chêne Vert - 31 Rue Principale, Aumagne, Poitou-Charentes - Telephone +33 5 46 33 04 22
Find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeCheneVertChagnon/timeline
TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g2136226-d1877219- Reviews-Le_Chene_Vert-Aumagne_Charente_Maritime_Poitou_Charentes.html
“Traditional French kitchen with an in-house artist, always homemade fresh ingredients, nice garden”
Reservations recommended
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TAKE THE TRANSBORDEUR across the Charente
If you are paying a visit to Rochefort you may wish to stop-off and take a look at the amazing Transbordeur Bridge. The bridge crosses the Charente to the south of Rochefort. Set your satnav to Avenue Jaques Demy if approaching from the Rochefort Side, otherwise for the village of Échillais if approaching from Royan, ile d'Oleron, or the south. The bridge is open throughout the summer months for pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge is open every day, but hours do vary - so please check.
The Transbordeur Bridge at Rochefort was built in 1900 and declared a national monument in 1976. It is now one of the only remaining operational bridges of this nature in the World.
There is a very good cafe on the Rochefort side, serving particularly nice salads. On the opposite side of the river to Rochefort, in Échillais, there is a free museum.
Note that the 115th anniversary of the bridge is being celebrated on Sunday 26 July, between 9am and 11pm, with fireworks.
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MAY
Night markets
And What’s On in 2016?
Sample the delights of our regional produce at this popular event during the summer evenings. See posters in villages for more information.
From 1st May, 2016 To 30th September, 2016
7th International Festival of Chamber Music
Each weekend from May to early June, the Eglise et Cloître St Martial at Chalais hosts the International Festival of Chamber Music. Although it's a bit of a hike, at around 1 hour 40 minutes from Villemorin, Angouleme is on the way so you might consider combining the two for an enjoyable day out.
From 7th May, 2016 To 5th June, 2016
Musique Metisses - World Music Festival, Angoulême
2016 sees the 41st anniversary of this world music festival in the hilltop town
of Angoulême. Last year saw around 100 artists from 15 countries perform on the three festival stages, with associated side-events.
From 13th May, 2016 To 15th May, 2016
la Foire de Rouillac
Every 27th of the month, throughout the year and come rain or shine, Rouillac Fair is held. Appealing to locals and visitors alike, there are plenty of stalls throughout the centre of town selling fruit, veg, cheese, local wines and terrines, plus plenty of other items. From 8am officially until 5pm, although we suggest you get there a bit earlier than that! Rouillac is around 40 minutes from Villemorin.
From 27th May, 2016 To 27th May, 2016
JUNE
Night markets
Sample the delights of our regional produce at this popular event during the summer evenings. See posters in villages for more information.
From 1st May, 2016 To 30th September, 2016
7th International Festival of Chamber Music
Each weekend from May to early June, the Eglise et Cloître St Martial at Chalais hosts the International Festival of Chamber Music. Although it's a bit of a hike, at around 1 hour 40 minutes from Villemorin, Angouleme is on the way so you might consider combining the two for an enjoyable day out.
From 7th May, 2016 To 5th June, 2016
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La promenade au jardin
Explore more than 50 parks and gardens in the Poitou-Charente, many of which will be arranging special events for the third national 'rendez-vous aux jardins', which this year takes the theme "a walk in the garden'.
See also -
Parks and Gardens in Poitou- Charente From 3rd June, 2016 To 5th June, 2016
Polychromies de Notre-Dame, Poitiers (free light show)
If you are in Poitiers, why not stay until dusk for the free light show every evening which takes place on the facade of the Notre-Dame-la-Grande church, Place Charles de Gaulle.
2016 dates are provisional!
From 19th June, 2016 To 13th September, 2016
Bordeaux wine festival
The Wine Festival features a mix of concerts, events and a 2km 'wine route' featuring 80 Bordeaux appelations, displays, tutorials and local foods.
Every evening at 11pm a 20 minute light show is projected onto the walls of the ancient Palais de la Bourse, followed at 11:30 by a river fireworks display.
From 23rd June, 2016 To 26th June, 2016
Fete le Vin
JULY
Night markets
Sample the delights of our regional produce at this popular event during the summer evenings. See posters in villages for more information.
From 1st May, 2016 To 30th September, 2016
Polychromies de Notre-Dame, Poitiers (free light show)
If you are in Poitiers, why not stay until dusk for the free light show every evening which takes place on the facade of the Notre-Dame-la-Grande church, Place Charles de Gaulle.
2016 dates are provisional!
From 19th June, 2016 To 13th September, 2016
Cognac Blues Festival/ Cognac dans les Etoiles
Not just blues, but a variety of musicians performing at various locations in and around Cognac, plus associated events showcasing Charente food and drink.
There are rumours that from 2016 the festival will be rebranded as 'Cognac dans les Etoiles', and we will update this entry when we know more! Last year featured Lenny Kravitz
From 5th July, 2016 To 9th July, 2016
Classical Music Festival, Abbaye aux Dames, Saintes
A range of musical and cultural events in and around the Abbaye - please refer to their website for more details: the program is expected to be announced on 20 March. Saintes is around 45 minutes from Villemorin.
From 8th July, 2016 To 16th July, 2016
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Francofolies, la Rochelle
Francofolies takes place in various locations around the old port of la Rochelle. Very much a French music festival, last year's headliners on the main stage included Johnny Halliday and Florent Pagny.
From 13th July, 2016 To 17th July, 2016
Bastille Day
Help celebrate the French National Day! Last year there was a supper and fireworks in Aulnay, and there is usually a communal lunch in Villemorin itself.
From 14th July, 2016 To 14th July, 2016
Rallye de Saintonge - car rally
Follow the cars in the countryside around Saintes.
2016 route details are not yet available.
From 22nd July, 2016 To 24th July, 2016
A Violin in the Sand, in and around Royan
Imagine sitting on a sandy beach beneath a star-studded sky and listening to the most beautiful classical music... with your own champagne picnic – of course!
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 'un Violin sur le Sable' concert series in 2012, a new 'fringe' event, 'un Violin sur la Ville' was created. The 'Ville' concerts now take place alongside the 'Sable' events, with locations in and around Royan, la Palmyre, Mornac sur Sudre and other nearly locations.
2016 dates are currently provisional. From 23rd July, 2016 To 30th July, 2016
la Fete du Cognac
Organised by local cognac producers, this festival down at the old quay celebrates the famous drink of the region – down it straight or specially made cocktails and shooters. Also there for the tasting is pineau, the local aperitif, plus other specialities of the region such as oysters, snails and melons. Each night there are two concerts, one at 9pm, the other at 11pm, usually involving french artists (see http://www.lafeteducognac.fr/ concerts.html).
From 28th July, 2016 To 30th July, 2016
AUGUST
Night markets
Sample the delights of our regional produce at this popular event during the summer evenings. See posters in villages for more information.
From 1st May, 2016 To 30th September, 2016
Polychromies de Notre-Dame, Poitiers (free light show)
If you are in Poitiers, why not stay until dusk for the free light show every evening which takes place on the facade of the Notre-Dame-la-Grande church, Place Charles de Gaulle.
2016 dates are provisional!
From 19th June, 2016 To 13th September, 2016
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Fouras Jazz Festival
2016 sees the fifth edition of this three day festival at Fouras, with a mixture of free and ticketed concerts.
Fouras is around an hour from Villemorin.
From 5th August, 2016 To 7th August, 2016
Open Air Opera
For 2016, there will be three performances of Verdi's Rigoletto at the open air theatre. Last year, the concerts commenced at 9:30pm, but no doubt this will be confirmed in due
course. The ticket office usually opens on 1 April, and we strongly recommend making an advance booking.
Sanxay is around one hour from Villemorin.
From 8th August, 2016 To 12th August, 2016
Festival de Confolens
With a heritage dating back nearly sixty years, the Festival of Confolens offers an exciting mix of world music and dance, with over 500 artistes from five continents.
Confolens is around 90 minutes from Villemorin
From 10th August, 2016 To 15th August, 2016
Festival Art et Passion du Bois
Held every two years (2016 dates are tentative) This festival will again celebrate the best artisans and designers who share a passion for wood. Competitions in wood-turning, demonstrations, sculpture exhibitions and shows will enliven Breville and its surrounds. From 22nd August, 2016 To 23rd August, 2016
SEPTEMBER
Night markets
Sample the delights of our regional produce at this popular event during the summer evenings. See posters in villages for more information.
From 1st May, 2016 To 30th September, 2016
Polychromies de Notre-Dame, Poitiers (free light show)
If you are in Poitiers, why not stay until dusk for the free light show every evening which takes place on the facade of the Notre-Dame-la-Grande church, Place Charles de Gaulle.
2016 dates are provisional!
From 19th June, 2016 To 13th September, 2016
Circuit des Remparts, Angoulême
First staged back in 1939, the weekend-long events sees classic cars hurtling around the ancient, twisting roads of this pretty hill-top town. The demanding course with its right- angle bends and hairpin turns, hasn’t changed since that first race and it is one of the very few motor races to take place within the walls of a town.
The weekend starts on the Friday with the ‘Concours d’Elegance’ – a beauty parade for cars with prizes to the best presented car and driver. Saturday is the day of the Charente International Rally, with some 300 cars driving around the countryside. Take a picnic and watch them pass. Race day is Sunday and best watched from one of the stands but book your ticket early as they do sell out. Throughout the weekend there are various exhibitions. From 16th September, 2016 To 18th September, 2016
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Barrobjectif, 17th festival of photo-reportage
The small village of Barro, with only around 400 inhabitants, becomes a giant exhibition hall with more than 1,000 photographs displayed in the open-air – on walls, in trees, in the streets and squares, in barns and garages, on the water.... During the nine days, enjoy exhibitions by world-class amateurs as well as professional photo-reporters. in 2015, the event attracted 15,000 visitors.
Aside from the website link, you can also visit the Facebook page 'festival barrobjectif' Barro is just over an hour from Villemorin.
From 17th September, 2016 To 25th September, 2016
Grand Pavois boat fair, la Rochelle
Europe’s largest in-water boat show with more than 100,000 visitors and 700 boats (with more than 300 in the water). The 100,000 square metre exhibition is split into several themed areas and there is also a packed programme of water-based events.
From 28th September, 2016 To 3rd October, 2016
OCTOBER
Grand Pavois boat fair, la Rochelle
Europe’s largest in-water boat show with more than 100,000 visitors and 700 boats (with more than 300 in the water). The 100,000 square metre exhibition is split into several themed areas and there is also a packed programme of water-based events.
From 28th September, 2016 To 3rd October, 2016
Please note that the above is for information only, please refer to appropriate websites etc., for up to date information re: dates and opening times.
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Les Cottages le Triskèle
February 2016
We hope our little magazine has wet your appetite for a trip to France in 2016. Whether it’s to the North with it’s poignant poppies and rolling hills of the Seven Vallies or a little further South with it’s rolling plains and brilliant Sunflowers. Both locations offer an abundance of attractions and beautiful beaches on which to relax. Or take your bicycle and meander through the countryside at a leisurely pace.
We had a super 2015 season and we are now looking forward to welcoming guests in 2016.
We would be delighted if we could entice you back to le Triskèle; we’re sure there are a few more beautiful places still waiting for you to visit, or just come and relax in the garden with a cool glass of wine. Or if you fancy a wander around the North have a peek at our property in the Nord Pas de Calais.
Don’t forget, as a “friend” of le Triskèle, you and your family and friends automatically receive a 10% discount on our published prices. Just quote “friend of le Triskèle” when booking.
So please come and see the poppies or the sunflowers or both, in 2016!
Best Wishes
Ian, Joy and Family
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