WALK AWAY
As you may know we live on top of a hill so we have great views out over the Tardoire Valley. Rolling country, tree lines on ridges, distant horizons and fields of crops changing colour. Tra-la-la. Good for walkers to walk in and, of course, for painters to paint.
Our summer bedroom faces east and we get up early when we have guests. The sunrises are magnificent. Now, I am not really a morning person (yet to find the time of day when I am at my best) but greeting the sun through the window as it slides up out the dark line of the Dordogne is one of the high spots of my summers. Another reliable joy is walking with congenial company in the glorious Charente countryside.
WALK ON
Around L’Age Baston there are literally hundreds of miles of paths and tracks to walk. It’s a legacy from thousands of years of farming and no enclosure acts. It means you can walk forever without opening and closing gates or clambering over styles. It also means the paths and tracks get looked after – which is good for us walkers don’t you think? What’s more the area is chock full of curiosities, picturesque villages, and lovely countryside. We have walks enough to cater for most interests; birds, butterflies, wild flowers, pre-history, Templar churches, rivers, lakes, caves and even city-centres. You name it and we can probably work a walk out. No mountains of course and the hill climbs are fairly short and gentle but it’s a very satisfying bit of the world to walk in.
WALK THE RESISTANCE
We like to add new walks to the old favourites every now and then and we have a “Resistance Walk” in the programme now. Based around the village of Chatelars, a few kilometers to the north, it’s a shortish history trail on the theme of local resistance action in the Second World War.
The track winds through village and farmland and then dives into deep chestnut woods. It stops on the way at convenient waymarks to tell you what went on back in the days of the ‘maquisards’. You pass by abandoned hamlets, a very discrete pre-historic cave and relics of an old arms dump and a secret resistance hideout in the forest.
The woods are deep and quiet here and it’s easy to imagine the men and women of the resistance slipping past on the old paths. It’s a walk that gives you Buzzards all year round and nightingales and skylarks in summer. There are cowslips, orchids, giant asphodels and foxgloves in season. You might also sometimes be surprised by the scent of sweet chestnuts and acacias in flower.
The walk eventually swings round and circles back to the start. We should get there by about half past twelve but by that time we’ve usually started thinking fondly about lunch.
There is nothing like a walk in the country to freshen the senses and perk up the appetite. Walking makes a great deal of sense. Maybe you should come and join us and find out just how much. You can check the website for dates and details on www.lagebaston.com or contact Alex/Victoria at victoria@lagebaston.com or on 02319 857208
See you soon!