Has someone visited, or perhaps lives in or near to St. Yrieix and can say whether it has suffered along with most small towns in France from the recession?
When we originally moved to this part of the Pas de Calais, our town was a thriving bustling little place, but it seems now, that the heart has gone out of it. We still have a very full and bustling market on a Thursday, but shops seem to come and go.
As a Medieval town,, with so many facilities being advertised, one wonders if the town is still as bustling as it was made out to be. They do have the advantage of being in an area which always seems to be popular and of course, the weather is warmer .
Hope you remembered to take a Doggy bag. I could only dream about a biryani.
Sure that you enjoyed every bit of it.
yep, happy days with Andrew Weir & co I did acouple of trips on the Irisbank and one on the Inverbank as sparks- did you ever bump into Riv & Pat Whisker ?
The Benline was mainly scottish crew but the container ships were chinese crew and the food was very good
The Krishna resto in Limoges is very good (cook from Ceylon) and there are also two excellent indian restos in the centre of Poitiers,going there tomorrow so will probablyindulge in a lamb biryani...
Bon soir,Fully concur re Bank Line, he, who must be obeyed, was years with Bank Line, in fact, that was where we met. The crew couldn't make a curry hot enough and when Mensahib was being served, all lined up along the dining room walls, at lunch, to see whether it was ever going to be too hot! No luck, I'm afraid. Mustn't forget that lovely slice of hot buttered toast first thing in the morning with the mug of tea. Bliss. He went on to SafMarine and Captain in Command, United Arab, before joining the Marine Dept, Hong Kong, where we were for 10 years. He trained in New York with the US Coastguards as a Search and Rescue Expert. With the typhoons in HKG, you can guess the amount of shipping in distress! What we would give for a decent Chinese or Curry! ..........
Are you living near Limoges ? Definitely worth exploring if so.
Which shipping companies was your hubby with ?
I did trips with several comapnies tho' the best frommy stomachs' point of view must be The BenLine with chinese cooks and The Bank Line with Bangladeshi cooking....deeelicious !
The eateries in Limoges sound absolutely fantastic. Having spent most of my life living abroad and 10 years at sea, accompanying my husband - I long for some authentic curries, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and any other foreign food. We don't even have a MacDonald's and after having to cook day in and day out - a takeaway even a MacDonald's - sometimes, would be sheer bliss & this is from one who hasn't eaten a MacDonald's for years and years.
Patti, are there any good eateries where one could go for a decent dinner (doesn't need to be haute cuisine) oh, and what I would give for some decent fish and chips!
Now, to start thinking about what to cook tonight................
a few years back there used to be a nice little english owned restaurant, can't recall thye road name but it was about 500m south of the centre ville on the way out of town. There is a parking area with trees sandwiched between the main road and the road where the restaurant used to be. Do you recall Patti ? It served 'simple' but great quality food.
Périgueux does have some nice eating places tho' for me, Limoges which is probably half an hour closer to you has some excellent restaurants for all tastes. The indian near the Mairie is superb and La Vache Au Plafond, not far from the station is a gourmets paradise ! I know of at least five sushi bars, four of which are brill ! not to mention a plethora of excellent north african eateries.
I am afraid I have to entirely agree about the restaurants. Very sadly lacking in that department.
Although in Perigueux there is a fantastic restaurant we have been to for special occasions called Le Grain du Sel. €30 a head for a Michelin star quality meal, that’s where we go but for lunch rather than evening as it is an hours drive. But I hear an English Tea Room/Café may open soon (with outdoor tables in a lovely walled garden).
Nice place in a nice area with Pompadour and all points south not too far away
It used to be a centre for livestock auctions which helped the economy
Always an enjoyable place to visit tho' not blessed with a great choice of restaurants in my humble opinion...
Thank you again Patti, for the detailed information. Regretfully, no, not all towns have lakes, etc. We finally got a swimming pool last year. Haven't been as understand it isn't all that large. I regularly used the one in La Chatre when we lived in the area and as we lived in Neuvy - had the lovely lake to walk around every day with the dog(s). It was over a mile around - so good exercise too. It is a fishing lake, rather than swimming - but as I said, La Chatre had a fantastic pool.
We have rain today, and I see more is due from across the Channel. You probably have sunshine.Enjoy.
Best wishes
Kerry
Hi Kerry
Yes there is a Super U in Nexon about 15mins away, and also a Netto and Super U mini in St Yrieix. I don't know of anyone in St Yrieix who decamps to warmer climes, they all seem to stay put year round except for visits to family and friends back in the UK. Perhaps people with holiday home in Brittany and Spain purchased there properties in the 90's when it was still very cheap to buy. People I know in St Y do not have second homes and stay year round. And as mentioned by someone else, there is a large swimming/fishing lake and campsite a mile from centre villa but I was under the impression most towns in France have these facilities.
It is surviving rather than thriving I would say….shops have closed but some new ones have opened and stayed open. The region is mainly farming so not a lot of money around, but the town is very well served with a nice library, cinema (with English movie nights). And of course Limoges is only 45 mins away.
Krgs Patti
Sounds an even more interesting location, with so very much happening.
Thanks,
Bon jour Patti,
Thank you for your informative email. Do the majority of expats that live in St. Yrieix return to other climes when Winter arrives? We have previously visited Brittany at the beginning of October, only to find almost every Maison closed up for the Winter. Having moved from the Indre to here, we thought that being so close to the Channel would make the population less transient. However, again, everyone seems to move south to Spain or Portugal. So almost nothing happening. Was very interested to learn that there is a new Wing on the hospital. Again, our hospitals are an hour in either direction Are there any other large Supermarkets within the vicinity. Thank you again for your all your helpful information.
Regards,
I think there is a large swimming lake nearby
Hi Kerry
We have had a house in the centre of town for 10 years. The mayor sits in Parliament and has received a lot of funding from Brussels and has spent a lot doing up the old town and the cobbled streets have all been re-done. It is a busy town, and aside from the Lycée there is a new wing to the hospital that has just been completed. The market is only on the 2nd and 4th Friday's and there are some closed shops but during the tourist season they are taken over by local artists. During the summer there are art exhibitions and concerts galore. There is a local English Club (Connect) and there are always events (Petanque, chess clubs, etc) and outings arranged the most recent being Cognac. A Lidl opened up a couple of years ago and there is a large Intermarche and Casino supermarket. It is quieter in the winter months but there is still plenty going on with Connect. I hope this helps you. Krgs
And was it bustling and thriving and a place one would like to live? There always seems to be something going on and it probably doesn't rain quite so much as it does up here.
Yes. Quite recently in fact.