An official looking building with the flags out front. I think it's town hall, but also the tourist office.
You can see some parts of the castle that dominates the heights above the town. It's a very nice château, but much of it is just ruins. Still, the town has built a very modern prehistory museum on the site that integrates beautifully with the other buildings and ruins. Worth a stop if you're in the area.
ummmmmmmmmmm, bacon...it makes everything delicious! :)
ReplyDeleteThe official building is as you say Walt, the Marie.... but the Tourist Office has moved and is now next door, just below the Butcher's in a beautifully renovated building... and now they've almost completed the renovation of the outbuildings behind it into a "Social Services and Advice Centre".
ReplyDeleteI love the thought of us having a City Hall... given a population of less than 2000.
The museum is well worth a visit as you say... but walk up past Jean and Nick's and then climb up through the "four banal" building on the way... also well worth a visit.
I guess for one living in the village, you will need the mairie for everything pertinent for the day-to-day administartive papers and when one has to say "Oui devant les hommes" before going to the church for a "oui devant Dieu " :-)
DeleteTim, it's mairie, not Marie — the town or village hall word has two I's. A lot of anglophones get that wrong. The pronunciation is different too: mairie = [may-REE] and Marie = [mah-REE]. With the French R, of course. You probably know all that but some other readers of the blog might not.
ReplyDeleteYes... my mistake... didn't check before posting... excuse... hadn't had my usual three mugs of tea before starting to type. I knew it looked wrong!! But your "real" pronunciations are always useful... I've never learnt how to read the dictionary pronunciation symbols... they are totally meaningless to me [and that goes for all dictionaries!!]
DeleteWish I was still there, sigh..........
ReplyDeleteTim, thanks for mentioning the "four banal".
ReplyDeleteI've seen lots of the community "lavoirs" throughout France, but never a common oven.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communal_oven
Dean, there are a number around here... one village holds a "Fête du Pain" and cook bread in their four banal all day. Two years ago they set the roof alight whilst firing the oven up... they still continued... using a tarp to shelter them... all now repaired with a nice new roof.
DeleteAnother great photo.
ReplyDeleteTim, I'd like to know about the Fete du Pain, where and when it's held. We're thousands of miles away at the moment, but who knows?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a communal oven, but it doesn't set well with me that the lord of the manor charged for its use. And the mill. And all the other ways in which they exploited the people who were tied to their land and produced the food they ate.
Carolyn, there's a Fête du Pain in the town of Montreuil-en-Touraine, just north of Amboise, in September. I don't know if that's the one Tim was referring to.
ReplyDeleteAs for exploiting the paysans, plus ça change... and in the US too.
Thanks for your info, Ken.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.