Gnomes, monks and a dinandier

Scheming gnomes trying to look innocent

On an unusually sunny and lovely day yesterday, we took a  drive to Montignac to cruise through a somewhat disappointing little Brocante fair. Despite the slim pickings,  we still managed to liberate seven disgruntled gnomes from their previously ignominious existences lurking about in the back of someone's barn. I'm not sure if they're happy with their new home yet...some of them look a little suspicious of their new surroundings. I think they're planning something...

Village of St. Amand de Coly

   As we headed back toward Sarlat from Montignac, we decided to make a left turn and head into the hills to visit the little village of St. Amand de Coly. I've wanted to go there for years and years now, but we've never turned off the main route to follow that tempting sign.

   We were surprised to find ourselves there in just a few minutes, and even more surprised by how quiet and calm it felt, while the rest of the region around Sarlat was madly teeming with hordes of tourists.

 

A parishioner collects dead flowers from the altar displays

St. Amand de Coly is home to a magnificent and looming 12th-century fortified church which also served as a hermitage and abbey. Spiritual needs gave way to defensive requirements during the Hundred Years' War, when the church was more of a fort than a place of meditation.

It's a very tall, imposing tower, foreboding and austere and impenetrable. Some of the defensive walls are as much as four meters thick, and there is still a large ditch or moat around the perimeter. Yet the interior is well-lit, wide open and uplifting. A simple wooden cross adorns the main altar.



The pale golden stone glows with the light from the windows; some portions of chapel walls show traces of frescoes that have faded away. Refreshingly, there's not much inside the church other than ancient, worn stone floors and staircases and an open, airy and austere space. It's simple, unembellished, with no fancy giltwork or elaborate cornices or decorations or statuary. Just those cool, silent stones.

Les Toits en Lauze

The cluster of houses around the church have well-maintained (and/or restored) lauze roofs, made of heavy slabs of limestone wedged into a wooden roof system designed to support their weight. 

To the right, you'll see some interior and exterior views of these amazing and typical roofs, found only in the region around Sarlat.

The peculiarly steep pitch of the roofs helps keep the entire structure from collapsing from the weight of the stones. Closely spaced beams and rafters add more  support for this indigenous roofing material with an approximate weight of 500kg per square meter – about 102lb per square foot.

Highlight of the visit...le dinandier.

 Alain Lagorsse has been hammering out a living for 35 years in St. Amand de Coly.  

His certification and achievements include Meilleur ouvrier de France, compagnon du tour de France et des Arts Sciences et Lettres

Rolling and pounding

These awards are kind of a big deal, indicating that his original craft education included at least seven years of rigorous  training and apprenticeship.  Compagnons du Tour de France are highly esteemed;  those who survive the program and are awarded membership in this mysterious 'brotherhood' are considered to be among the top artisans of their crafts, which originally included watchmaking, masonry, metalwork and carpentry. You can read more about the Compagnons du Tour de France here: Compagnons du Tour de France

Alambic still and saucepans

Above, Mr. Lagorsse is hammering out a sheet of copper to replace the chimney on the oval tank seen on the right. It looks like a muffler, but it's really part of a portable alambic still. Although he's primarily known for his delicious kitchenware, he still does all kind of metalwork as needed, handling odd jobs and repairs for his local clientele.

Mr. Lagorsse's workshop

His workshop overflows with an amazing collection of tools of his trade, from various anvils, forms, lasts, drill presses, finished and unfinished projects both utilitarian and decorative, to hammers, awls, and rollers.

A vast selection of his hammers

I thought a hammer was just a hammer. Silly me. I guess he needs about fifty different hammers to get the job done properly. Some of the hammers were as beautiful as the items he produces with them.

Shining, gleaming pots and pans

His copper cookware is exceptionally beautiful, totally handcrafted, signed by the artist, and  expensive.

I'll be back someday, and treat myself.

    

Off to the Brocantes!

You've probably seen my references to brocante fairs and vide greniers. Maybe you've wondered why the heck Albert and I spend at least a little time, nearly every weekend, wandering through these open air markets where people sell junk/antiques/bric-a-brac. Maybe it goes waaaaay back to when we first met, in the mid '70s. We had little or no expendable money then (about the same as now, probably), so we would spend our romantic weekends wandering through the Sebastopol (Calif) flea market, and every once in awhile we'd hit the big Veterans Building parking lot flea market in Santa Rosa. I guess we like to look at other people's cast-offs.

 Now that we spend six months in France each year, we were thrilled to find that we could start wandering among tables of FRENCH cast-offs. We rarely actually buy something, but we just love looking at old stuff and figuring out what it was used for, when it was made, etc.

Biscuit jars and Baccarat crystal

 A  brocante is a place (either a store or a gathering of dealers) where one can buy used items, some which may be just old junk, others which may be true Antiques  (antiquités). The first two pictures have some pretty high class, beautiful and expensive items. These were tables belonging to professional dealers.

Silver and Limoges porcelain

A vide grenier (empty attic) is an event where community members pay for a table or tables, and bring things from home to sell. It's something between a flea market and a rummage sale. This is where you might find a bargain...or you just might stumble into what we call a BBT. Broken baby toys.

I think the deer foot hat holders are interesting, but can't say I want them in my house. 

Some things to hang your hats on

The photo below is a fun mix of items. Note the remnants of last year's politics on the steel door, the tattered remains of a poster advertising a new political party, the Anticapitalists.

Here's a typical conglomeration of fabric, statuettes,  old clocks, a painting, an old fan...and a ceramic raccoon?

Now, what do you collect?  Old wooden duck decoys or hand-painted whirligigs? Bird decoys? Cork pullers? Oil lanterns? These decoys were really cool folk art items. But very expensive.

Old duck decoys

Stick-in-the-mud bird decoys

 Perhaps tool collecting is your game. Here we have some interesting old carpenter's planes...

 ...and the tools of the butcher trade, a chopping block, cleaver and butcher's saw!

 Maybe doll furniture is your thing?

 Or real vintage clothing?

What are you looking for?