Sisters to Arms
19th August 2018
Blasimon, in the shadow of the Abbaye Saint Maurice founded about 908
Blasimon is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France, population 801 last time anyone bothered to count and a lot of the Abbaye is still standing but the monks have long gone and now all work for deliveroo and uber (I made the bit about deliveroo and uber up, but their descendants probably do!).
So, a nice carefree afternoon by the lake somewhere near Puisseguin, yesterday, but come the early evening we were getting the long, hard evil eye from each and every one of the (admittedly) very few passers by and I was having my doubts about it’s suitability as a place to spend an undisturbed night. What removed all doubt was the avid ascent of the mozzie in a frenzied cosmic tango with the descending sun.
Time for ‘Plan B’ then and a short trip to the old town of Castillon la Bataille on the north bank of the river Dordogne - a very beautiful, slow moving, wide waterway of riparian voluptuousness. All the town’s parking possibilities proclaimed ‘no campervans between 8pm and 8am’ and although I am strictly speaking not a campervan I think the only safe interpretation of that sign is ‘no overnight sleeping in your vehicle’.
We then spent a fair time cruising both banks of the river in all directions without coming across anywhere suitable. In the end I simply kept going east on the south bank of the river until we came to the pretty village of Flaujagues complete with its own little quay and municipal campsite.
By now dusk was falling fast and I was tired and Amy restless and the campsite was very quaint and quiet and the lovely concierge lady fell immediately in love with Amy and consequently let me have what must be the site’s most secluded little plot for just five euros including a hot shower!
What had been rapidly turning into a fraught evening was suddenly all milk and honey. We had a wonderfully restful night there with not even so much as a squeak from any of our neighbours and we were up, walked (along the stunning riverbank towpath) and showered (utter bliss) this morning before any of of them showed signs of life.
From the campsite we drove a few km due south where I soon found Amy a fairly decent walk along a green lane where she could let off steam without the restraint of her extendy lead, which caution dictated I used on the earlier towpath walk.
After the green lane we bimbled south until we saw the Abbaye Saint Maurice lurking in the near distance and pulled off the D road to investigate - and what a good decision that was! The Abbaye itself is very interesting from an architectural perspective but it’’s greater legacy (to Amy and I today, at least) is the adjacent lake, together with it’s 4 km circular walk and the extensive and beautifully laid out public rest area which nestles close by. Best of all, despite the natural beauty of the place it is not a busy venue. Sure, there are a few folk about but it is a sunny Sunday in August so there is nowhere in the whole of France that is going to be immune from people taking their leisure. However, I suspect that by dusk the place will be utterly deserted and best of all we can overnight here perfectly legally so the locals can evil eye us all they like!
If you ever find yourself down this way and want to see for yourself here are the GPS coordinates:
Google Maps
Latitude : 44.75124 (44° 45′ 4.47″ N)
Longitude : -0.08012 (0° 4′ 48.42″ W)
accuracy of signal : 5 m
One other big attraction the place offers is a 1.8m height barrier at the entrance so, oh deary, deary me - no eurocampers can get in. What a shame!
Now then, I had a thought about yesterday’s appeal for info on any worldwide organisation that is opposed to hunting - and the thought goes something like this:
I have yet to see a woman hunter. I am not saying there aren’t any but they are certainly few and far between and the whole business of gun ownership does seem to be a male dominated thing.
Whenever I am back amongst the chattering classes in the UK I am struck by just how ardent a feminist the modern mature lady is, even to the extent of seemingly to be eternally locked in low key battle (constant and withering verbal sniper fire) with her male partner.
The general impression I form from these decidedly devout ladies is that everything that’s wrong with the world today is down to the nefarious antics of men and should be stopped whenever and however possible.
What better focus for them then, in the furtherment of their cause, than to take away the ultimate male toy i.e. the gun? !
No guns, no hunting - no brainer!
So come on ‘sisters’ draw a halt to greedily gazing at the world through a dark glass bloody ceiling and, rather, collectively focus on a change that might actually do the planet some worthwhile good - or is the feminist cause simply too narcissistic to embrace the truly desperate plight of other species?
About half of them are female too!
Your cause has the global coverage - grasp the opportunity, today, to take away the ultimate boys-toy and do the planet a HUGE favour at the same time!
