Lamagdalaine to Solignac

We had a good nights sleep in our airè but this morning it at 7am the church bells woke us up and it was a chilly 9°c inside Wanda, but because we had electric I put the diesel heater on and within 10 minutes we were toasty warm and drinking coffee in bed.
We had another big day of driving ahead of us today so I wanted to be on the road early and we left our airè at 9am. We talked about visiting Cahours but because it was cold and wet outside we decided to just push up further and we’d come back another day.
Today we were heading to Limoges and Château de Châlucet. We’ve been to Limoges before and this was missed out on our first visit, so this time we are on the right road and we’ll be passing right by.
It was a 114 mile journey and when there was just 70 miles to go we decided to stop at an ALDI and stock up on junk food and by Ben some junk food for Christmas. Then we drove around the corner and stopped at an E’ Le Clerc petrol station and topped Wanda off as we’ll be off grid for the next couple of nights. The whole of the journey to get to Château de Châlucet has been cutting across the country without using toll roads. There were no big roads or motorways until we got to the last 55 miles. Then we picked up the A20 and we were flying along at 60mph on cruise control. I have to say the scenery was nice on the back roads but it does get very monotonous changing speed all the time and having to drop to atleast 25mph in the villages, sometimes slower.
The last 55 miles flew by and at 1:30pm we finally arrived at Château de Châlucet. Before we climbed up the steps to go and see it we had lunch. Ellie had found some spring roll looking rice and chicken things that were actually really tasty and then we set off.
It was a short walk and then a short but incredibly steep climb to reach the remains of the chateau that left us both with burning legs and out of breath. At the top of the steps was a T junction and we first turned right towards a huge tower.
It was Le Tour de Jeanette and nobody knows why it was called that but it had a door halfway up and used to have wooden steps leading up to it. The tower was originally a dungeon and had no windows, no other doors and no toilet, it was a fascinating structure but unfortunately we couldn’t get inside.
Behind the tower were the remains of an old town that housed approximately 200 people. It was pretty much foundations now except for the gable ends on a huge house and the underground cellars.
Then we doubled back on ourselves and went to the main Chàteau. It was a huge towering structure, with arched doorways and windows everywhere. We couldn’t get inside because it’s all fenced off but we could get right to the front door using the original stone steps. It must have been an amazing looking building in it’s day.
From the Chàteau we headed back down the steps to Wanda and plotted our park up for the night as it was now 3:30pm.
It wasn’t far to our final destination of the day and by 4pm we had arrived. The small village of Solignac has made an area for 10 motorhomes right next to the football field. It has water a dump station and even has washing machines and dryers and toilets that are beautifully clean. For such a tiny village this is an amazing free airè.
On arrival we had a quick wander around to see what was what and then Ellie went and got all our dirty laundry and cleaned it, and this time the dryers actually dried everything.
While Ellie done the laundry I made Wanda ready for a cold night ahead. It is set to be around 1°c by 3am so I’ve put the thermal window covers in and closed the front curtains. If it does get down to 1°c this is going to be our coldest night yet.
Then it was time for dinner, warming Wanda with the heat from the oven and settling in for the night.Read more