Le Grand-Pressigny will be our new home, so we’re out and about taking in the sights while learning more about our new country.

I’m learning about France’s various departments, communes, hamlets, villages and such, so you can learn along with me. Continental France (which excludes its overseas territories) is divided into 94 administrative departments, numbered 1 to 95, except there is no department 20. Le Grand-Pressigny is in department 37. Paris is department 75, shown as the red dot on this map.

This small village of about 900 people is in the Indre-et-Loire region in central France, just a 90 minute TGV train ride from Paris (if you don’t take TGV, then you’ll have a much longer train ride, up to 4 hours). You can also take a bus from Paris, which we did earlier this year when the train workers went on strike. The bus ride is also about 4 hours. There is no train station in Le Grand-Pressigny, but from Paris, if you can get to either Chatellerault or Saint Pierre des Corps, and we’ll come pick you up there!
The Chateau at Le Grand-Pressigny sits above the village and now contains the Museum of Prehistory. The exhibits there contain extensive displays on all aspects of the Chalcolithic flint for which this area is known, as well as interactive terminals and excellent displays with information about the various groups of people who lived in this area over 100,000 years. Details here:  http://www.prehistoiregrandpressigny.fr

The first chateau was erected during the 12th century and was gradually completed in the 15th and 16th centuries.

And the view from the chateau ain’t so bad either.

Have I said how excited we are to be moving to this adorable little village?