Lussan and Saint Quentin La Poterie

While Kate was with us we explored a little of our local region, visiting two little villages to the north of Uzès.

Lussan – Tue 13^th May

20 kilometres from Uzès, Lussan is situated on a hilltop, overlooking beautiful green fields.  The castle and blacksmith premises were highlighted as key historical artefacts.

The village itself very small and we were able to see it all on foot, and have a coffee, in just over an hour.  It is not a tourist town, and the only places we noted to spend money were a café, a restaurant and a pizzeria.  The residents seemed to be very proud gardeners, and we noted several nice plantings, even if just in window flower boxes.

Andrew was interested to note that the village had installed a defibrillator outside the town hall, accessible to all.  He was also amused by the name, intelligent public access defibrillator (IPAD).  Lawyers from Apple Inc are yet to visit Lussan!

The other points of interest to us in Lussan were a couple of old Renaults.  The bright green one in particular appealed to Elle.

Saint Quentin La Poterie – Wed 14^th May

When we heard about nearby Saint Quentin La Poterie (SQLP), just 5 kilometres north of Uzes, we knew we had to visit.  With William enjoying weekly pottery classes for the past year, we thought he might like it, and we were all intrigued by a village focussed on pottery.

Upon arrival we decided to give William our second camera, and to see what he was interested in photographing.  Here are two of his efforts:

As the name suggests the streets of SQLP are full of pottery workshops and stores.  They are also often decorated in ceramics, and other artforms.   For a couple of hours, we wandered the streets and visited some of the stores.

We were particularly impressed by some of the ceramic signs.

Elle took William and Grace into the pottery museum.  It was not riveting.  Best summed up by Will's comment: he likes doing pottery, not looking at it.

Outside the museum, Kate and Xavier decided the bike rack could be used as a pretend bus, and we had a lot of fun with X as the conductor collecting (leaf) tickets, and commenting on the drive.

In a nearby shop window we noted a homage to concrete, which included a reference to a famous bridge in Fyansford,Victoria (near Geelong), designed by Sir John Monash using the new reinforced concrete product, before he went on to become one of the most famous Generals in WW1.

Williams comments on SQLP were :

·         ‘There were both sculptures and pottery, but I mainly enjoyed the sculptures'

·         ‘I liked the sculptures in the walls

·         ‘The museum was mainly pottery, but I enjoyed going through it (quickly)’

·         ‘I have seen everything there is to see, so no need to go back’