Recently I’ve been contemplating what makes one French village more lovely and desirable than another and came to the conclusion that it all depended on the day, time and season of the visit. Maybe I was very fortunate on the day we visited Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère: the weather was warm, the day bus visitors had vanished for the season, and the lunch offerings were most appealing.
The village of around 500 residents sits right on the Vezere river which flows like liquid molasses, gently and lazily around the village and nearby woods. Sparkling miniscule mites buzz in the golden rays, the warm air tinted with the colours of Autumn. A leaf strewn walk beside the river, a crunch through carmine and russet, provides a wild contrast to the benign and domestic village. St Leon’s tastefully restored church invites quiet reflection. The hardest part of my fascination with this village is sorting through the prolific amount of photos I took on the day. Come for a walk around Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère with me.
Next time I visit, I’l stay a while, hire a canoe, walk till the paths run out, and visit the cemetery. But then perhaps beautiful memories should not be tarnished through revisiting.
ALMOST ITALIAN 
We are renting a barge on the Midi at the end of September, so it is nice to know the weather should be nice. I hope we find some places as pretty as this!
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I am so envious Gillian. Have a wonderful trip.
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How absolutely lovely, Francesca, the colours are wonderful. It would seem such a dream to live in such a place, but i guess life has just as many problems and worries, ups and downs as any where else. How interesting that the French for a Real Estate agent is so much like the word ‘immobilise’ – we are going through the process of downsizing and negotiating for our next home and i feel completely immobilised! Pear Tiramisu sounds like a very nice variation, and i would most definitely invite myself to one of your picnics.
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I would feel immobilised too – such a huge task. Funny, but the opposite, mobilised, at least in Italian, means the personal things you can move, unlike the real estate, which you can’t. But then over a long life, you just get too much stuff and moving it becomes immobilizing.
On France, I couldn’t stay in those lovely villages too long-the houses are just too dark and I love the sunlight streaming through the windows here.
Good luck with the move Jan.
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Absolutely lovely pictures! Those colours…
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I enjoy your photos! I have never been in France and I hope to visit it some day. Thanks to you I find it is better to visit it in off season. Thanks for sharing!
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I do hope you get there one day.
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A most beautiful village, river and surrounds. Off-season – gorgeous. While the facilities for the many visitors that apparently come in season (June/July and especially August) look appealing and admirable, it could be a time to be elsewhere.
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Only made more beautiful by sharing the day with you, as always.x
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What a lovely place
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Thanks Sue
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Looks absolutely lovely. I remember the stunning photo of sunlit church interior from a previous post. Ciao, Cristina
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Hi Cristina, yes, that town just deserves another post. You could go back there on a mid summer day and find it crawling with people though…
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Thank you for the picturesque tour Francesca. I’ve never been here before but it looks lovely.
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What a beautiful treat, thanks to you and the interweb’s magical transcendence of time & space. Our weather appears to have -at least for the moment- turned it’s back on a lingering summery autumn, becoming slightly chill & damp. Unsurprising as ANZAC Day is nigh. And I was feeling it, until I took myself off for a restorative wander via your reminiscence.
For me, Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère and such places where one could linger, enthrallment is a distinct possibility.
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Gosh I wouldn’t mind moving in and tending those gardens . Such lovely images Francesca.. love the light on the castle. Privately owned too ..
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The river looks so inviting. Drifting along in a canoe, a paddle in one hand and a large glass of chilled Loire Valley Rose in the other, bliss. Lovely post.
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