Charroux

Today we took a closer look at the medieval town with a very rich past, the village of Charroux.

Being a much cooler morning, there was not the necessity to be out and about so early. The French Motorhome Club rally decamped fairly early before we had finished breakfast.

Charroux is listed among the most most beautiful villages of France. Its streets and cobbled stone paved alleyways offers an authentic glimpse of what a medieval village looked like: with ancient houses, a 12th-century church with a cut-off bell tower, clock tower, market hall with wooden pillars, a residence with a timber frame from the 14th century and numerous old wells.

Charroux was originally an ancient Gallo-Roman military garrison settlement, and then an old medieval town, with fortifications that we were able to view today. Old towers and gates and some sections of the fortifications walls still remain.

Charroux was considered an important town from the 13th and 19th century - there were between 1500 to 3000 villagers. Today the population is around 400.

Over time the village has suffered, like some many other villages in France, from the 100 Years War, the Wars of Religion, the plague, and the French Revolution - and it still exists today.

On our wandering through Charroux we came across a wealth of artistic and artisanal skills: jam and soap shops, candlemaking, saffron production, painters and painting.

Candle and soap making shops - magnificent colours too.

Saffron production with many different products made with the saffron.

The village houses an incredible museum of ancient time pieces in the Maison des Horliges. These clocks are housed over three floors with some needing this height for the pendulum lengths to be accommodated.

Not only were the clocks just time keeping devises but also very carefully crafted items too.