Why I Love Limousin

These are just a few of my Granny’s recipes for pies, meat and vegetarian. There is a bit of a story to go with this one though ……

http://www.squidoo.com/pie-recipes-from-my-grandmothers-kitchen

Gifts from Les Trois Chenes for lovers of France and all things French!

I only have three items at the time of writing, (massive learning curve), but do take a look and keep an eye on it for the future! Les Trois Chenes On-line Shop 

I went home for Christmas found some of my Grandmother’s recipes so I set about creating articles based on them and on the pie birds and pie dishes that I remember from her kitchen. My mother found a few that she used to use in the far-distant past. Have we lost the pie-making habit and skills? The best bit about all  this is that my Mum bought me a blackbird pie bird just like the one my granny used to have. Take a look at it and the pie that I made.

http://www.squidoo.com/Best-Gift-Ideas-Pie-Dishes-and-Pie-Birds

 This is the story of how I trained as a plumber in Limousin, S W France. Although I’m a professional artist and running painting holidays here in France, we have spent eight years renovating our ancient French farm house. Imagine, then, how delighted I was to be offered the opportunity to train as a plumber in deepest, rural France. This is my account of how I fell into the trade almost by accident, and then  how I fell out of it again and back into painting. It might point the way for you to become a plumber in France too.

On the 1st  June 2011 we welcomed horses for the first time to Les Trois Chenes B&B. A group of holiday makers discovering Limousin in horse drawn traps stayed the night with us on their journey through this wonderfully green and pleasant part of France.

Bring your own horses, or let us book at holiday for you. We have a network of excellent bridle ways starting just outside our house, and it’s possible to drive along some of these lovely shady paths with pony traps. We are just five minutes away from two riding stables, the Centre Equestre des Lacs de Haute Charente and the Centre Equestre du Barrage de Lavaud, and we can join with them to organise riding holidays.

You can also stop off at our B&B for a night or two with your horse as you travel through Limousin. Your horses will stay in our field and help us to manage the grass!

Ok, my New Year’s Resolution, to keep my blog up to date by making at least one post a month, so here’s my News from January 2011.Christmas was busy for the first time here at Les Trois Chenes. We had Bed and Breakfast guests staying over for Christmas Week which inspired us to devise some special breakfast treats. Our newly converted gite, finished in July last year was also blessed with Christmas Visitors. It was a challenge to get the new Godin wood burning stove installed in time, but we made it and the gite was cosy and warm.

I managed to learn the art of saving my own Google Maps and marking routes on them and on the many gloriously sunny days I was out and about on a couple of long walks. I found two neolithic burial sites, or Dolmen; huge slabs of stone supported by two other stones that would originally have been covered in earth. I also discovered the delights of Cognac-la-Fôret and saw my first lantern of the dead, or Lantern des morts.

Guess what Santa brought for us? Yes, a fabulous new tramoline for our son and all our guests to use. The children absolutely love it! Along with the swings, the play area in the peach and apple orchard is coming on a treat.

Last Year Saint Junien swimming pool re-opened after a complete make-over. It now has two indoor pools, one for adults swimming lengths and one for kids with all sorts of fun, watery things going on. Outside there is a smashing pool with slide and plenty of sun-bathing space around the edge for adults who just want to chill out - or rather warm up in all that glorious summer sunshine.

It is nearly Christmas and my New Year’s resolution is to keep this blog up to date and to try to make one decent contribution every month - at least. I am put off opening up my blog because I do find it hard to manage, but practice makes perfect and there’s certainly plenty to write about here.

This is to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

At the end of November it snowed which is quite an event in Videix. When the sun came out we just had to get out into the countryside and enjoy the “winter wonderland”. Here are a few pictures that I took just to show that Limousin is the perfect holiday destination in winter as well as summer.

I hope that you have enjoyed these pictures and little bit of history, but more than that I hope that it has whetted your appetite and that you’ll come and have a look for yourself. If you can’t make it have a look at a few more pictures here Videix in the Snow 

The beliefs and the superstitions of Limousin, deep in the countryside of rural France where wolves roamed the beautiful and wild countryside not so long ago , and people feared werewolves, witches and vampires. They believed in the healing waters of the fountains and the local healers. There are still healers in the Limousin, and a wolf park keeps the memory of the wolf alive - listen to the howling in a short video clip. Les Trois Chenes Guest house and holiday cottage is on the borders of the Limousin, the Dordogne and the Charente near the medieval town of Rochechouart. A perfect place to stay for a really magical French holiday.

Limousin - Land of Wolves and Witches

Witches</a>

The Nautical Centre or, to give it it’s official title, the Water Sports Centre of the Haute Charente Lakes, sits on the banks of Videix Lake, just outside Verneuil. You can hire boats, (optimist, sailing dinghy, catamaran), wind surfs, canoës and rowing boats and explore the 40 ha of water. There are no motor boats so you can enjoy the wild life, the beautiful countryside, the peace and quiet.

You can also hire mountain bikes here.

 Read more about how a holiday in Limousin is good for your health