Corrèze: our home for the week

Corrèze.  It’s a town in the Département de la Corrèze.  With a name like that, you’d think it would be Chief Town.   But no, that’s Tulle, a city just down the road.  Corrèze has fewer than 1200 inhabitants and is reached up a winding forest-flanked road with no dual carriageway in sight.  It’s the River Corrèze, flowing through the edge of the town that gives it, and the département,  its name .

It’s one of dozens of beautiful and ancient towns and villages in the region, but it hasn’t made the A Team.  It’s not been designated one of the most lovely villages in France, and I hope it’s grateful for that.  The ones that have, like Collonges-la-Rouge are tourist meccas.  Doing a spot of DIY or trying to relax in your garden if you live there must be a real pain, with rubber-neckers down every street and alleyway throughout the summer.

Though it is popular with tourists, it’s not a must-see destination.  And yet just look at its historic town centre.

The gate into the historic town centre.
Just inside the gate: the church of Saint Martial.
The town square, glimpsed through the doors of the church.
The Notaire (lawyer)’s place. Built during the Renaissance.
Near the town walls, a couple of houses still have evidence, high up, of the sanitary arrangements….
The old town centre, as seen from Sharon and Andrew’s house.
Who’s this little devil, spotted high up on a house wall?
The old town

It’s been around since the 9th century, but it really started to grow when it became one of the convenient stopping places for pilgrims on their way through the Limousin to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  The Auberge opposite Sharon and Andrew’s house still offers dormitory accommodation to pilgrims.

The town was largely neglected by the big events in history, though the English burned it down in the 100 years war.  The French Revolution passed it by, but sadly not the First World War.  The town never really recovered from losing 100 of its young men.  Its war memorial makes for affecting reading, recording the deaths of two, three, even four young men from the same families.

Part of the memorial to the fallen of WW1.

Just enjoy a few pictures from the old historic centre of this town, which has supplied all our needs all week without our needing to travel further than the country paths surrounding it.  There’s far more I could show you. It’s a thoroughly civilised place to be.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

17 thoughts on “Corrèze: our home for the week”

  3. Your posts on Correze ( sorry can’t find grave accent on phone) are so delightful. A welcome break from marking 150 year 10 scripts. I’ve looked at a map, read Sharon’s blog, read tourist information sites and imagined my holiday there. So jealous. Do you catch a ferry across to Europe?
    Meg
    Ps where did you live in France – I need to research that too

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    1. It’s been a wonderful introduction to a new part of France for us. We loved our little corner too. We were in the Ariège, which is well south of Toulouse, in the Pyrenees. Yup, we usually do the Dover-Calais ferry – quite a pleasant trip, usually. Ugh. Marking. What fun 😦

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  4. What a wonderful place! Your photos really capture some great details–the red doors and shutters against the blond stone are gorgeous. And the shot of the memorial, with the 4 dead LaCroixs and all the others from one small town, is heart breaking.

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    1. It’s been great, really so relaxing. But the war memorial we saw today was worse. So many families ripped apart in a tiny village must have been unbearable.

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  7. I have visited once and was quite sure it was one of the 100 most beautiful villages of France….. ah the power of nostalgie – I still would LOVE to come back and look after anyone‘s dog if I could stay there for free….. Did you hear?! 😉

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  8. Oh yes this looks gorgeous. What a treat for you both and the joys of the woof. Whenever I read or hear mention of the 100 years war, I think that the EU maybe imperfect but it is nevertheless a marvellous solution.

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