Everywhere in France is part of one commune or another (and every commune belongs to a canton, and every canton belongs to a département, which in turn is part of a region and so on). Our little hamlet is about four miles from the eponymous village in the commune of Mézières-sur-Issoire.

Although we’ve now lived here for over four years, there are still parts of the village that I’ve never explored or looked at in any detail, but a recent Sunday afternoon provided an opportunity to redress that shortcoming and discover that there is no shortage of previously unseen – or at least unnoticed – interesting doors (not to mention gates, although that’s for next week).

For example, this charming wooden outbuilding, set back from the main road:

as is this barn:

Along a little lane which I’d never previously ventured down was this door in the corner of the garden wall of one of the village’s larger houses:

Much more familiar is the very grand house right in the centre of the village that’s lain empty for years. Somebody’d just bought it for a knock-down price, but now faces the mother of all renovation projects. Good luck with that (he said from personal experience).

This imposing edifice, also on the main road used to be a commercial premises of some sort, but the sign has faded to illegibility:

On a smaller scale and down a side road is another former commercial outlet, to judge by the door on the left, but again I’ve no idea what sort of business used to operate out of there:

Next week’s post will be devoted to gates rather than doors. On my wanderings around the village, I came across some highly photogenic ones.

Thursday Doors 17 November 2016