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Rural France

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The Creuse, Limousin

This part of the world presents many photo opportunities, so expect to see more here when spring arrives! It's very rural, mostly cattle country due to the large amount of granite and steeply sloping land making crop-growing difficult, and with vast areas of woodland, mainly deciduous - beech, oak, silver birch and sweet chestnut. From a gardening point of view it's pretty good as well - free draining acid soil, and great if you like rockeries.
The two main varieties of cattle here are Limousin (unsurprisingly since this is the Limousin region!) and charolais. Limousin are the tan coloured ones and charolais, creamy-white. Donkeys are also very popular as pets, probably a relic from peasant days. A large proportion of country-living people at least have their own chickens, and some have geese, ducks, guinea fowl, sheep and goats, pygmy goats being especially popular as pets, while French alpine goats are kept for milk. With this lens I hope to bring a taste of this region to you.

Further down the page you can find some of my images that are for sale at Zazzle on mousepads, mugs, greeting and postcards, posters and more.

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This department in the Limousin is called la Creuse, which literally means "the hollow or hole". Sadly this has given it a rather unsavoury meaning in some other parts of France, probably because, until recent years, it was the land that time forgot. In spite of that, it has a few claims to fame. The town of Bourganeuf was the first place in France to have electricity, generated from this nearby small rocky river. It also had quite a resistance movement during the second world war, called the Maquis - in fact, one of our neighbours recently found a grenade on his land. A bit of a worry when you're digging the vegetable plot!

Living in France

A selection of books about France and the area

Creuse through the seasons

A field of dandelions in spring, Boussac with a flower decorated well, a lake in the autumn, autumn woodland colours, a snowy lane and a tree in the evening sunshine.

Creuse, Limousin, France 2012 calendar calendar

Boussac, Creuse, France postcard postcard

Woodland in autumn business card profilecard

Some of the aforementioned animals

Free range eggs business card profilecard

Limousin & Charolais are the most popular cattle in the area, plus another typical French breed, the Vache Normande

And just for fun, a stretched limo :)

Massif Central

Although the Limousin is a part of the Massif Central, it is mostly a foothill area, and to the west it gets quite flat. On the Eastward side is the volcanic region which contains about 450 extinct volcanoes, the most famous being Puy de Dôme in the department of the same name, in the Auvergne. Though not the highest, it stands out and can be seen for about 150km - the steep spiraling road to it's summit has been used several times on the Tour de France. It's a popular spot for paragliders and hangliders, being right next to the city of Clermont Ferrand. Nearby are the lesser known ski resorts of Mont Dore and Super Besse.
To the South, the Limousin and Auvergne regions both border the Midi-Pyrénées, though at that point it's a long way from the Pyrénées themselves. Adjoining the Midi-Pyrénées and the Auvergne is Languedoc-Roussillon which runs down through the Cevennes to the south coast. These four regions make up most of my photos, mainly as the only time we can get away is in the winter when we prefer to aim for warmer parts!

Scenes from the Auvergne

Views of the Auvergne with the château Anjony on the cover, a view towards Monts Dore, view over Orcival, the view from Puy Mary, the view from Puy de Dôme, and the traditional Auvergne breed of cow from the town of the same name - Salers.

Fauna

Being a sparsely populated and agricultural area, there is plenty to see in the way of insect, birds, mammals and reptiles. Lizards are one of the most obvious - on a hot sunny day you can lose count of the number of vertical sunbathers on the house walls. Fire salamanders aren't seen very often (I've seen one twice in 6 years) but quite startling when you do see one. This is a damp part of the world - most valleys are quite boggy - so newts, frogs, toads and dragonflies are abundant. There's a fascinating variety of insect life - stag beetles, bright blue chafers, butterflies and moths, which leads to an abundance of bats as well. Being well forested, there are plenty of woodpeckers, in fact it sounds like you're surrounded by machine gun fire in the spring. Among the mammals are wild boar (though I've never seen one, but seen their tracks), red deer, foxes, polecats and martens, red squirrels, down to the edible dormouse or glis glis which are really cute but I haven't got a photo of one yet - wiki link. Actually, they're not so cute when they get into your roof space, but we've never had that problem.

French Theme Dinner Party with Snail invitation

The common wall lizard, and edible snail (though they don't actually come in these colours normally), and a European nuthatch.

Although wolves are slowly reintroducing themselves in the French Alps, there are none in this area except in reserves.

This year our tiny garden pond has acquired 5 of these green and black marsh frogs - pelophylax species, related to the edible frog of frog's legs fame, and a woodmouse living next to the patio (I do love being an armchair photographer!)

Insects

There are some quite spectacular insects here, among them is the bright green lytta vesicatoria - Spanish Fly blister beetle, they were used to make aphrodisiacs at one time but are mostly outlawed now. Another blister beetle is the Oil beetle, meloe violaceus.
The red and black fire bug, pyrrhocoris apterus, is seen almost everywhere at the base of trees and walls, sometimes in huge congregations (and frequently joined rear to rear for mating purposes, which must make navigation a bit tricky for them). In French it's known as a gendarme (policeman) or suisse (Swiss). A plentiful variety of bees, including the huge Violet Carpenter Bee, which can be a bit scary but is quite docile.

Spanish Fly beetle, Violet Oil beetle & Fire bugs

Emerald green Spanish Fly beetle sticker

Violet Carpenter bee, a white-tailed bumblebee, Rose chafer,

A red and black shield bug, Great Green Bush Cricket and Hummingbird Hawk-moth,

Red and black striped bug sticker sticker

Great green bush cricket postcard postcard

Peacock butterfly, Silver-washed Fritillary, and Purple Emperor

Silver-washed Fritillary postcard postcard

Purple Emperor butterfly postcard postcard

Demoiselle Agrion (damselfly), Four spotted Chaser, and a blue Skimmer

Demoiselle Agrion damselfly postcard postcard

Yellow brown dragonfly business card profilecard

Blue dragonfly business card profilecard

Some other regions

From the Rhône-Alpes, a barge on the River Rhône near Montpelier, the medieval town of Estaing, Aveyron, Midi-Pyrénées, and a misty morning in Provence

The Canal du Midi in Languedoc-Rousillon, the medieval town of Conques and a view of the Pyrénées from château Mauvezin - both in the Midi-Pyrénées

Canal du Midi, France birthday card card

We've all heard that "laughter is the best me more...0 points

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Reply

SheilaMilne Apr 29, 2012 @ 2:41 pm | delete

I really love the Creuse. We live (part time) further along the river in the Indre.

Reply

lestroischenes Mar 26, 2012 @ 12:03 pm | delete

This is a wonderful lens. I live in the Haute-Vienne in Limousin and haven't really explored the Creuse. I'd love to travel around a bit but seem to be able to fill my days ten times over here in Videix.

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mbgphoto Feb 3, 2012 @ 1:30 pm | delete

Love your photos! Beautiful!

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decay39 Jan 31, 2012 @ 9:14 am | delete

Ive been to Paris once, I missed out a lot not leaving the city. Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

Reply

Lindrus Dec 17, 2011 @ 1:40 am | delete

Yes, you are lucky to live in rural France - seems so beautiful and relaxing. Thanks for sharing!
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