Monpazier

Today (Sunday) we ventured to the Dordogne to visit a favourite lunch spot of Babička and her late husband. It is a pub associated with an artisan brewery run by two Essex refugees from Brexit (according to the Daily Mail). The brewery is called Biere de la Bastide and the pub is as un-French as could be conceived.

To the accompaniment of the songs of a fully-mulleted Rod Stewart wannabe, I had a blue cheese burger and fries, before setting out to photograph one of France’s most beautiful villages, a bastide town called Monpazier built by Edward I (Longshanks). Ted 1er may have been the Hammer of the Scots but it seems he was a benefactor to French architecture.

There’s an hotel in the village named in honour of him. He’s one of history’s most vicious (if effective) monarchs, who defenestrated his son’s lover and eviscerated William Wallace among many other acts of violence. I guess it goes to prove that there’s someone other than his mum to love every man.

More of my photographs of the village are here if you are interested. I am particularly happy with this 360º panorama I made of the medieval market square from ten original photos stitched together in Adobe Lightroom.

The other highlight of my day was taking Speranza for a much-needed wash at an automated facility near where I am staying.

As is inevitable in a high-wage regulated employment market, where virtually no-one can be fired for underperformance, the French are becoming specialists in automation.

The task was performed by a robot haute pression sans contact with detergents and high powered jets.

I just had to park, stand clear, select my program and pay by credit card.

It did an excellent job done without dodgy brushes touching her precious paintwork.

I scrounged a couple of euros from Babička to pay for a vacuum cleaner that wouldn’t accept my credit card and the job was done. She was ready once more respectably to represent her illustrious brand – consistently ranked the world’s strongest – on our journey home.