Caves and limestone.

But first we passed through the picturesque Rochefort en Terre.

Probably because we told the gps "no motorways".

After sitting in the queue that wasn't getting past a broken truck blocking the way we followed an unsuspecting  recovery truck through some back streets.

This is "Le Chateau de  La Forêt sur Sèvre". We just happened to walk past it on the way to the village centre.

This is Le Mairie. We assume its a sign of very local government rather than the amalgamations that have occured in our part of Australia. 

And like all good French villages it has a boulangerie. We do like our bread and cheese for lunch.

Visited by one of the locals checking us out, this very unconcerned Falcon, and a lone Englishman living nearby.

It seems to have been a while since we got close enough to the wildlife to get a reasonable photo.

Did some washing and a minor repair to the air intake behind the cab. The topmost section has rusted out and is now held together with used milk container and duct tape.

Surely a travelogue to be envious of.

The vineyard in the foreground grows grapes for cognac production.

Full marks for our brand recognition but we figured it won't taste any better here than off the shelf in Aus.

We are happy with wine, cheese and fresh bread.

Sers also provided us with information on La Route de Tonneaux des Canons.

In the 17th century, north and west of here, were small iron ore mines (pits), charcoal kilns, and forges (to smelt iron and make canons).

Looks like Rochefort en Terre, that we passed through a couple of days ago, was the gateway to the sea from the river system (we think) used for transport.

Looks like we'd need a bit more detective work to find remains.

We've been in France long enough this time to notice the difference in baguettes from different bakers. A sense of a crusty outside, sufficient body, and substantial centre without being too chewy, being to our liking. Perhaps the difference between "baguette ordinaire" and "baguette traditionale". Etc. Obviously we have a lively future as bread connoisseurs.

We aren't sure what this contraption is. Its in La Place de la Bascule.

Bascule can be translated several ways. Related to roundness of a horse or, originally, a form of torture. Its also a type of opening bridge that's counterbalanced and rolls - like Tower Bridge in London - a sort of seesaw and balance..

The figure seems to be wielding hammers. We'll settle for shoeing horses held steady in the frame. There's a suitable, adjustable, yoke at the far end.

There's an old industrial weighbridge nearby, just to confuse!

A group of walkers with ski poles (or maybe even a group of skiers with walking poles!) out for Saturday morning pre ski season training?

A very large turnout for a small village.

Maybe we should have joined them.