No, not storks & angels!
Every spring we get more and more storks nesting in trees near the village of Cigogne...
...which is stork in French.
Now which came first, the village...
...or the storks?
Not far away is the town of Angles, a popular town to reside as property is much cheaper than on the coast.
What looks like an old mill now houses an antiques depot and several apartments. Matt & Cynthia once lived there.
The church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges is an impressive building in the centre
We actually visited inside this time too...
...including the crypt.
To save your eyes I'll copy (and slightly correct!) the information about the 'Malbête':
Looking out from the top of the front façade of the church is a curious beast known locally as 'the bear'. There are many myths both pagan and Christian that have been associated with this pre-Christian statue.The most popular story is that this black bear-like monster lived in the valley of the Troussepoil, and bathed in the stream named after it.
One fine day the beast-like monster decided to leave the valley, and went out roaming around the village dining on sheep and young local maidens, terrorising the local population.
One day Martin, a local hermit succeeded in capturing the beast by sprinkling it with holy water and making the sign of the cross. He led it back to the church meek as a lamb.
No longer frightened, some young village girls started making fun of Martin, their sarcastic comments upsetting him. Unhappy, Martin ordered the beast to climb to the top of the church. From now on you will stay there for eternity, he said, and you will feed on the beauty of the young girls from Angles and thus turned him into stone.
From that day onwards when going to church young girls entered the the church via the side door avoiding the monster's gaze trying to recover some of their charm!
Continuing our local sightseeing we drove towards Les Conches
Just at the side of the road there's a memorial to seven young British airmen...
...shot down on 24th July 1941. Five were killed and two taken prisoner.
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