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A loo
G and I went to look at bathroom fittings last week in Villeneuve sur Lot, about an hour away. It turned out we could only look at things in catalogues (which we could have done on the internet anyway) so it was quite a long way to go for not a lot of use. This was our plombier's bathroom fittings supplier. It seems that the French plombiers are not satisfied with charging about double what you would pay in England, but they then want to make a profit out of you from the things you buy (loos, taps, basins etc.). The very helpful, and rather pretty, girl could only quote us what she described as the "public" price (though she didn't/wouldn't speak a word of English). If we are to negotiate a discount we have to do this out of the profit the plombier is making. And just so they don't miss out, if we buy the stuff direct from another supplier, the small print on the devis says they will increase their charge for fitting the appliances by 25% if the things don't come through their own supplier. |
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| Far reaching views from Penne d'Agenais |
Still, on the way back, we called in at Penne d'Agenais, a place we had wanted to see. It is in a most spectacular spot, perched high above the river Lot, with views for miles around.
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| King of the Castle (Richard the Lion Heart's) - photo by the dirty rascal |
The Duke of Guyenne built a castle here, and said Duke later became King of England, aka Richard the Lion Heart There is not a great deal left of it now, but above is a picture of G sitting on the remains.
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| Notre-Dame de Peyragude |
It also has a rather weird basilica right on top of the hill, just below the castle ruins, called Notre-Dame de Peyragude. The blurb says it was started in 1897, the same date as the Sacre-Coeur in Paris, but not finished until 1948. It is not really very attractive, but it has a silver dome which glistens spectacularly in the bright sunshine at the top of the hill.
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| The silver/tin foil dome? |
I don't know if it is actually made of real silver (presumably if it was, it would tarnish), but close up it looks like tin foil. Maybe the same architect who built the equally incongruous concrete church tower at Tournons d'Agenais had something to do with it?
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| Hideous concrete tower attached to the old church at Tournon d'Agenais |
