Surbiton-sur-Charente

One of our favorite pastimes on a sunny afternoon is to do a bit of local exploring. We have a look in the Michelin, choose a likely looking area in the region , link up the GPS (or Satnav to anglophones)  and set off to see what is to be seen. In this way we have found lots of charming places and some that were not what the map suggested!  I often choose villages on the Charente, our local big river and one of my absolute favorite watercourses.
   Yesterday our choice fell upon Vouleme, a small town which seemed to be in a meander of the river and we set out to drive there, via Taizé Aizé, a town whose name proved more picturesque than the reality, though it was pretty in a small way. continuing on, we arrived at Vouleme.
   The little town did impress us with a certain charm. It is built in a steep valley of the Charente with rocky cliffs on one side and a many-arched bridge crossing the river. The other side is more at river level with a grassy car park next to the water and a chinese-looking footbridge over the flow. We parked in the car-park, where some sort of event was taking place, or rather had taken place as the stalls were closing down. But what struck us both forcibly was that all the participants were English. We could have been in Surrey at a town fete!  Totally surreal..  On investigating I saw several posters in the English-registered cars scattered about advertising a summer fair. The poster was totally in English and made no mention of the organisation`s name.  Very odd.

  The final piece of the puzzle was found when we walked into the little town. The large local restaurant was called EDNA`S and was advertising `Sunday Lunch`.
  I really don`t know if this little town has been taken over by the English aliens, or whether we happened to call when the local WI branch was holding its annual fete. If anyone knows, please tell me.

     Bye for now