Welcome to our village
Ségur le Château is one of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France". It is one of the most beautiful medieval villages in the Limousin.
Nestling in a valley within loops of the Auvezere river it is dominated by the ruins of the 12th century chateau that gives the village it's name.
Some 35 miles south of Limoges and about 450 miles from the port of Calais it is little changed in decades. Sadly the chateau is privately owned and not open to the public. However, the village has many fine old buildings left from it's rich past. One of only three such places in the past it was the home of justice. Courts were held to decide disputes of all sorts. As a result the rich legal beagles of the day had expensive residences to keep them comfortable amongst the ordinary peasants.
It is a Jekyll and Hyde sort of village. During autumn, winter and spring it is quiet and calm. In July and August it is vibrant with events and visitors. Happily it has never become a twee tourist attraction, but it has in amongst it's population of less than 250 some residents keen to share it's delights with others.
The Tourist Committee organise a host of events for the summer. The most lively is the Monday evening Farmer's Market. Starting at 5pm you can buy many locally produced things. There is seating for about 500 or so people and a barbecue run by villagers to cook your meat on. Fresh grilled trout from just up the road and, of course, plenty of choice in the beverage department.
Live entertainment will keep visitors happy while they eat and drink. There is a bar/cafe, auberge and restaurant for more organised menus. The boulangerie closed in 2007 but there is now a small shop, open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from 9.30 to 12.30, which is a Depot de Pain, and a meat van calls twice a week, a cheese van once a week.
As well as the events there are defined walks emanating from the village from a few kms to a 4 or 5 hour trek. You can find a map of those walks on a link in the Contact & Links section. At the moment these walks are quite overgrown but restoration is planned in the near future.
We get many visitors to the village, some just passing through, some stopping off on a journey, some out for a gentle walk, some four-legged and some multi wheeled. For the most part they are very welcome.
Motorhomes were allowed to stay on the Foirail for up to 48 hours but the council in their wisdom have now decided that it no longer wants overnight stayers. So they are not allowed between 8pm and 8am. That has not gone down too well with the owners of bar and restaurants but there you go. There are good sites in Lubersac and St Sornin Lavolps just a short drive away. I've yet to hear the full details but plans are afoot to limit parking on the Foirail and make a proper car park in the village.
TF1 visited the village recently and spent the day filming. The result was shown on one of their regional programmes and can be viewed here. It is only about 3 minutes long but you can see some lovely bits of the village and some locals.
Filming took place in the village in early June for an ITV series about people moving to France titled Little England. Well you never know what might appear on your screen. Ray and Sophie Hicks and family farm locally and butcher and sell their own "English" sausages and home reared meat at our Monday night markets. They decided to try making their own pies and selling them at the cafe on Saturday nights in the summer. The promotional first night was featured in the series. The episode featuring the Pie Night in the village was entertaining and much to our surprise there was a full screen shot of Kim and then me looking out of a window at the filming. We were described by Geoffrey Palmer as "curious local French residents" watching the goings on.
Our newest residents A car rally has a rest
Cycle race pases through Not so welcome - satnav doh!
Kim's 2009 Painters in the Street winning painting. The theme this year was back in medieval days, the troubadours visit the village.