Today, I cycled to Chenonceau with my daughter (not from Blois – we started from Vallières-les-grandes). By the time we visited the château it was around 6 pm, By then most of the tourists had left and we had the place to ourselves. The photo is taken from Diane de Poitier’s garden. Aujourd’hui je suis …
Author Archives: avril
The Old Presbytery – Le vieux presbytère
Today we participated in a series of private visits organised by a group called “Maisons paysannes de France” (Country Houses of France). This was the last, an old presbytery in Feings, most of which was built in the 18th century, though some parts are much older. The weather was perfect, which helped! Aujourd’hui nous avons …
Abbaye de la Guiche
We have often seen the sign to Guiche Abbey but it was not until we went exploring on our new electrically-assisted bikes today without having to worry about hills that we finally discovered it. We had to shelter from a downpour on the way! Once a Poor Clare monastery, it was founded in the 13th …
Neighbours' Day – La fête des voisins
This is the view from the Orangery of Château de la Vicomté where celebrated our 3rd Neighbours’ Day tonight. Tomorrow, there will be a wedding party here. Voici la vue de l’Orangery du Château de la Vicomté où nous nous sommes réunis pour notre troisième fête des voisins ce soir. Demain il y aura un …
Electrified at last! – Electrifiée enfin !
No post last night because we got home from Orléans too late after picking up my new electrically-assisted bike (the more you press the pedals, the more assistance you get) and testing it for 3 hours, including a heavy downpour on the way back when we sheltered in the porch of the church you can …
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The Stripey Butterfly – Le papillon rayé
The only reason I could take this photo is that the butterfly was obviously on its last legs. I don’t know what sort it is but I hope it shows that our garden is a friendly environment. La seule raison que j’ai pu prendre cette photo est que le papillon était souffrant. Je ne connais …
A Castle in the Trees – Un château dans les arbres
La Fondation du Doute
You may remember my post about the cloud-lined steps recently. Today we went to see the artist’s exhibition “More than 100 skies” at La Fondation du Doute. The outside was interesting though I found it a little infantile. Inside the exhibition, which started with a passageway through some overhanging dead leaves and strangely distorting mirrors, …
Double Rainbow – Arc en ciel double
This is the stunning rainbow we saw at 7.30 pm today. It was actually double but I needed two more photos to get the entire picture as you can see below. The last time I captured a double rainbow was in the Palais Royal in Paris where we used to live. Voici l’arc en ciel …
First Roses – Premières roses
The pink and white roses on our half-timbered tower are always the first to bloom. Next come the red roses which are currently taking over the rose of sharon. Last are the roses on our front steps, the most magnificent of all. In another week or so, I’ll post another photo. Les roses blanches et …