St Germain, Poitier, and beyond

 Another slow start so not so many KMS covered. I must say the driving has, on the whole, been easy, though there has been the odd narrow road and a couple 'duh' moments from the satnav.

We only got as far as St Germain by lunch time, and unfortunately the abbey was closed for a long lunch of their own so we missed some renowned frescoes. Still, the outside was nice. A 13th C bridge beside a later 18thC imperial route version.

After lunch it was on to Poitier where the Moors were fought to a standstill to prevent their expansion into France. There are connections to Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II here too.

There are a large number of churches of all manner of architectural styles, from Romanesque to Gothic.

Poitier was also besieged unsuccessfully during [one war or another - I'll come back to you on that] and this is where the guns were set up. Behind us is the 9th Marine Brigade barracks and they had fire-sticks to ensure their 'no photo' policy was adhered to.

A doer-upperer

St Pierre Cathedral inside

These murals were discovered under coats of white-wash. So vibrant!

A massive organ, which you can hear if the video at bottom works. 

Cathedral St-Pierre outside

Another Notre Dame

Students enjoying the sunshine outside Our Lady. (Chill wind though...)

We had a bit of a scare leaving Poitier as the engine temp guage shot up. It seems that our oil was low though we only had the MoT last week. Mind you, the dip stick was very hard to read so we are still not sure where we stand. On the basis of better safe than sorry we added a couple litres and the guage now shows normal. We'll definitely have to keep an eye on it.

The French air force flew one of their Typhoons over us, though at speed so we only caught a glimpse. 

Oh, and en route to Poitiers we passed a demarcation marker that showed the boundary of Vichy France. Odd they have left it standing, but it's an interesting reminder of that WW2 history.

Our southward progress is rather slow, but really, what's the rush?

We are now parked up in a lovely camp in Saint Junien, near Limoges. At this rate it'll take another three days to get to the border!