La cave à vins

A small town snapshot.

Appearances can be deceptive.   Inside is very much less shabby and the owner socks a good selection of wines.  Most of the shops around here are shabby outside, but one or two are much the same inside and one in particular looks as though it hasn't been changed for a hundred years or more.

The season has started

The season for the local brocante or vide grenier. I find it hard to translate - flea market, car-boot sale without (most of) the cars, a community garage sale.

Everyone has something to sell, though whether anyone wants to buy is another matter.

And if we're very lucky, there is a local band.

Some bands are better than others, but where they may lack professionalism and skill, they always make up for it with plenty of enthusiasm.

Go to Small Town Snapshot Sunday to join in and find more small town shots.

An alternative view

Entering this small town, you follow a boring and somewhat scruffy road.  What you can't see is.......

... that these houses look very different on the other side.  I took this photo from.....

...the pathway that runs along the ends of their gardens, and.....

.... alongside the river.  A boring street, a placid river: which is the front view and which the back?

Go to Small Town Snapshot Sunday to join in and find more small town shots.

Derelict

Around much of rural France you see a large number of derelict or semi-derelict buildings as young people continue to move to larger towns and cities in search of work.  They are no longer interested in rural or small town occupations.  As a result the towns and villages have fewer amenities to offer, and the outward flow continues. 

In the picture above you can see a typical old property, left to go into ruin.  The situation may have  been worsened by the French inheritance laws which insist that no property can be sold without the agreement of all offspring of the owner.

Judging by the stacks of roof tiles outside, this house is going to be renovated.  Typically, this will be done by foreigners, or by Parisians looking for a holiday home.  Some small towns are almost completely closed up during the winter months, when no visitors are there.  Alternatively, houses for renovation are bought by British (mainly) people looking to make a new life in another country.  There are some places where there are few French people left.

It's quite a problem.  It must be preferable to have buildings maintained, but the influx of holiday home owners or non-French people does change the character of a place completely.  It's not a problem confined to France.  Parts of Wales and south west England have similar situations.

Go to Small Town Snapshot Sunday to join in and find more small town shots.

The focal point

A local small town centre, taken early last summer.  It may be an exaggeration to call it a town.   Note the one size fits all establishment on the left - bar, tobacconist, hotel, restaurant, grocery store, with the added attraction of having the only signpost right outside.

Go to Small Town Snapshot Sunday to join in and find more small town shots.

Make do and mend

In a small town (609 inhabitants) just south of Limoges in central France.

Go to Small Town Snapshot Sunday to join in and find more small towns shots.