Before we left the South of France almost five years ago to come up to the Loire, I catalogued all our familiar dog walks. And here I am again - about to do the same as we move again. Only up the road fifteen minutes but the walks will suddenly all be different again. No doubt, we'll return from time to time and do some the favourite ones for nostalgia's sake, or not . . . maybe they will be just part of that particular chunk of time.
The walks are twice daily; usually not involving the car, unless the weather requires walking in a wood to escape heavier rain. A good source of exercise for us and dog, and time to think, compose stories/music, or just observe the local birds, seasonal changes, etc.
These and the previous walks all have and had names. The Southern ones: The runny fields - where the dogs could really chase each other, run for long stretches, and be exhausted enough to flop to their respective sofas on returning to the house. Up top - a good half hour workout up a steep hillside just nearby. Up top - big: the long circuit with spectacular views and a vertiginous climb at the beginning, again from the door. Vendemies: a favourite walk which did involve a short drive up a small mountain and through a hamlet with the name - Vendemies. You might encounter Monsieur Oui, Oui, Oui, a delightful old guy who lived in the house on its own surrounded by vine fields. There's a whole post about him somewhere on this blog. Sand and Field: a local walk taking in a river walk, sand for Gala (now no longer with us) and across various fields. And several others, including more suburban ambles such as: The music houses walk.
The walks of around here are more pastoral, paths cutting through fields, views of distant lines of poplars, the further away woods and forest, and the cliffs on the other side of the Loire.
Some favourite ones: The posh house walk - down the road circuit, taking in the posh house, chalky tracks, corn fields and virtually never any traffic. The dogs walk off lead on most of these walks (Or rather Bali does - we lost Gala a couple of years back). The posh house extension - longer walk involving more chalky paths passing through pasturelands. The Cow House walk: longish walk through woodland paths, past munching cows and horses, the ubiquitous tuffeau stone farmhouses, and eventually through the cow farm's land - not possible after a lot of rain as everything becomes pure mud. The Pumpkin field, more pasture land and a good place to nick a few discarded pumpkins/courgettes or whatever has been harvested that autumn. And, pictured below: the Moulin de Lécé - a walk featuring a hamlet which once had its own church, manor, and windmill; a great walk for imagining times before, the vestiges of life before cars, supermarket visits etc. on this walk we often encounter Jean Paul, my often mentioned hero of organic veg production, digging, weeding or preparing his produce for the next market.
