Saint Gervais d’Auvergne (referred to as Saint Gervais) is the closest town to us with a supermarket and a boulangerie. It is between 12 and 14 kilometres away depending on which tiny roads we take. We have been here a few times over the past two weeks, including when we came to visit the French Resistance Museum.

Today, Mick and I went on our own – pas de chiens (no dogs). I had an important appointment. We had to enter the town from a different direction this morning because the road we normally take was blocked due to some very serious tree trimming activities.

We decided we would do some exploring and we were pleasantly surprised.

Not every little town has one of these. In fact, this is the first one we have seen outside the larger towns. Mick was happy to ‘window shop’. He actually would have preferred if it was a boucherie or a cave à vins (wine seller). But, we have not seen any of the latter in this area. The farmland here is not used to grow grapes, rather it is used for growing cattle and sheep and the crops the farmers need to feed them. In fact, Saint Gervais hosts the Charolais Competition each year.

Mick did some exploring while I went to my appointment and he ended up at the bar (on the left) where he had a …..

…..coffee while sitting in the sun. It was way too early for anything stronger.

The Church of Saint Gervais stands out as many streets seem to radiate from it, so from whichever direction you  are coming from, you can see the spire. It is considered to be totally Romanesque (whatever that really means) and dates back to the 12th Century.

My favourite building though is this very old hotel – Castel Hotel – which is actually relatively new for this little town, dating back to 1904.

Sadly the sun was not in the right place for the best photos, but hopefully you get the idea.

The hotel was wrapped around a large courtyard, with lots of rooms, some covered with a vine that I am sure would look spectacular in summer. Mick wondered why there was need for so much accommodation in such a small town. Perhaps the Charolais Festival is a big thing!

Now to my appointment…

It has been nine weeks since I had my haircut in Caudiès – and I was badly in need of one. I’d made the appointment last week when we were in town for the markets and this morning I enjoyed being pampered while practising my French.

Mick asked me to pose for the ‘after’ photo in front of these very well-trimmed topiaries.

Mick thought they looked as though they had just had a ‘haircut’ as well!!