French Life-expat France

We just managed to escape for a couple of days, and took the opportunity to visit a small cluster of villages classified as ‘most beautiful villages in France’ in the southern Limousin region. The ‘middle’ of the three was Collonges-la-Rouge, located between Curemonte and Turenne.

These French classified villages are almost never a disappointment. Some are large and jam-packed with tourist facilities, others are small and undeveloped but they all have something to discover.

I can think of only two classified villages that we have visited that quite frankly seemed unexceptional, out of perhaps 30-40 that we have visited in total. These two are not part of the three we have just visited - and I’ll spare the villages their blushes by not naming them here!

Anyway, the ones we have just been to all had something interesting (and beautiful) to offer. The biggest surprise was the contrast between them. Often the villages within a region are a bit similar to each other, and after a week of visits they can all become melded together in your mind to create one ’super-village’. Not so here.

Collonges-la-Rouge is, well, very red, and in a valley. All the houses are constructed in a burgundy red stone, and the village was mostly restored, but tastefully. Curemonte was a mostly unrenovated village (my favourite type because some of the character of a village gets lost with the renovation work) strung out along a hill crest. Turenne was spread up a steep hill with narrow streets leading up to the remnants of a castle at the top.

Have you ever confronted teenage children with their third beautiful village of the day, even worse a village on a steep hill? I thought we’d have to physically drag them up the hill.

Younger daughter explained to us that you could learn things from the television without needing to walk up hills, while older daughter stopped every 25 metres to announce that she wasn’t going to take another step, then complaining loudly before taking a few more grudging steps.

Poor old Mrs B grimaced to herself at what a miserable bunch we all were.

If you are ever in the southern Limousin or the eastern Dordogne (east of Souillac) or the northern part of the Lot department (north of Rocamadour) I highly recommend you explore these villages and the surrounding countryside.

And in case you’re wondering, it took less than two minutes after returning home for two computers, a television and a stereo to all be turned on. Back to normal then!