Turn right out of our place and after about three and a half miles you’ll reach the village of Meziérès-sur-Issoire, the administrative centre of the commune we live in, and which has featured in this series in the past.

Turn left and travel the same distance, however, and you will reach the village of Saint-Martial-sur-Isop. Press on for a couple of hundred yards further and – on the same road and quite indistinguishable apart from the tell-tale road signs – you’ll be in the village of Saint-Barbant. Two churches and two mairies, all within a radius of about a hundred yards: only in France.

There are no shops or other amenities in either village: Saint Barbant had a part-time Post Office until a few years ago (now a private residence) and going further back it boasted a tram stop. The most important thing about both places, though, is that they have some very interesting doors (and gates), as we’re going to demonstrate over the next few weeks.

The doors in this first instalment are all located in Saint-Barbant – and they all come with flowers:

Although patently, this house is unoccupied:

And this isn’t even a house:

…and nor is this one:

Thursday Doors 1 June 2017