Indre Valley châteaux

Those fields of yellow colza flowers I posted yesterday are bookended by two interesting châteaux. One is called the château de l'Isle-Savary. It is open to the public for one guided tour per day between April and October, and the daily tour is at 1400 hours — 2:00 p.m.

Le Château de l'Isle-Savary, near Le Tranger and Clion-sur-Indre

As you can see, we were lucky to get there during a short sunny period between rain and sleet showers, but it was past 2:00 so we were too late to take the tour. The château was built in the mid-1400s, replacing an older castle on the site, and it has been only slightly modified since then, evidently.

Palluau-sur-Indre, a village crowned
by a medieval château and church

The other bookend is the château at the top of the old village of Palluau-sur-Indre, which I have blogged about several times before (here, here, and here, for example). It's one of my favorite "finds" in the region.

Tower of the château at Palluau

Palluau is listed in the Michelin Guide, so I didn't really discover it, of course. But I had no idea it existed until a couple of years ago. The village has about 1000 inhabitants and not much commerce. This time we were there on a Sunday afternoon, and it seemed all but abandoned.

House for sale in Palluau —
travaux à prévoir

I noticed several buildings and houses for sale in Palluau, so there might be opportunities there for somebody who wants to do serious renovations. You have to drive eight to ten miles east or west to get to a supermarket, but there must be a weekly outdoor market of some kind in the village itself. The closest big town is Châteauroux, pop. 35,000 and 20 miles east.