Much excitement as we prepare to visit our first South Western Les Plus Beaux (most beautiful) French village of Mortemart, so named for the ‘dead sea’, aka marshes on which it once it stood.
It’s a fair way down but the morning drive is very pretty through every shade of green forestry and best of all, creature sightings! Those of you who have read the blog before will know how unusual it is to spot a bunny in the French countryside, especially given French farmers’ propensity to use bunnies for nefarious purposes. In fact the only place where we’ve seen bunnies aplenty was in the Park of the Felines, a countryside attraction featuring every manner of small and large cat one could possibly imagine. Within the park were hundreds of rabbits some even within the big cat enclosures, happily cleaning their whiskers and ignoring the lions etc around them. If there’s a gauge of how much risk is involved in being a French rabbit, that’s a pretty good indicator. The lions have been assessed as the lesser of two evils.
Given all that, the sight of a baby bunny hopping through the grass is an utter delight. He shouldn’t be out this late in the morning. All good little rabbits ought to be in bed. He’s bolting through the grass, clearly aware that he’s made a terrible mistake. A little while later there’s another Spring baby on the loose. A tiny, fiercely red squirrel darts up to the edge of the road, spots the motorhome, thinks better of of it and darts back into the forest. He was *tiny* and the reddest squirrel I’ve ever seen.
Later, we spot Babe’s young wild piggy cousin, wandering through a wildflower meadow as if he hasn’t a care in the world. I could just about hear him singing “la la la” from here. My last sighting is a foxy fellow. I try to decipher what I’m seeing as he’s in the distance, perfectly still, but he lifts his head and of a sudden he comes into focus. With a fabulously brushy tail and a full winter coat, he’s quite magnificent. Himself takes the honour of the last sighting of the day – a family of deer calmly grazing in a forest clearing. Cool and rainy Spring might but there’s creature spotting aplenty.
We arrive at Mortemart in the afternoon.
It’s a tiny little spot with a population of 118 and a history reaching back to 995 whence it was award to Abon Drut as a reward for his defense of a neighboring town against Count Guillaume de Poitier. He built the Chateau des Ducs in the 10th century compete with moat and battlements.
Mortemart boasts a Louis XIV favorite, Madam de Montespan, born into the family in 1640. In the 14th century, building began on Carmelite and Augustinian convents, but it took until the 18th century to complete the work. That’s a punishing timeline. The Augustine chapel still stands with beautiful 15th century wood carvings underneath the wooden stalls. Apparently sermons could go on for hours – the stalls offered monks a place to rest.
Later in the 17th century, Mortemart flourished as a market town. The houses of wealthy merchants and prominent locals still stand today.
I make a couple of horsey friends on the way out.
Mortemart is a very pretty, flower decked peaceful oasis. Our Most Beautiful Villages of France has delivered yet again.
Miss Baci Travels 