We had a sudden snowfall this morning. They were big fat flakes but they didn’t last long unfortunately. Looks like it might be another winter without snow in the Loire Valley. Nous avons eu une chute de neige subite ce matin. Il y avait de gros flocons mais malheureusement ils n’ont pas duré longtemps. On …
Author Archives: avril
Blue Sky after Hail – Ciel bleu après grêle
By the time we were ready to go to the market this morning it was pelting with hail. We waited until it was finished to leave home. In the centre of Blois, only 5 km away, there had been no hail at all. But then it started raining. After about 10 minutes it stopped and …
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Younger than it looks – Plus jeune qu’il ne paraît
When we first saw this château, we thought it was Renaissance but in fact it was built in the 19th century. Previous owners included Annette de la Rochejaquelein and the Chauvelin family but today it belongs to the regional authorities and is used as a residential medical centre. The second photo shows a circular dovecote …
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Barn Repairs – Réparations de grange
One of our barns is in serious need of repairs. The roof needs retiling and unfortunately some of the beams are rotten after years covered in creeper. It’s going to be a long job. Une de nos granges est en bien mauvais état. Il faut refaire les tuiles du toit et malheureusement une partie de …
Wisteria in Winter – Glycine en hiver
January is when we prune our wisteria and grape vine so we made the most of the higher temperatures this week to do so. I also cut back the raspberry canes. They are my favourite European fruit. If you’d like to see the wisteria in full bloom, click here. C’est au mois de janvier que …
The Water Hole – L’étang
The temperatures have gone up – a maximum of 7 degrees today and 12 tomorrow – and it looks like they may stay there for the next ten days or so. A blue sky makes a big difference to someone born and raised in tropical Australia! Les températures sont montées avec un maximum de 7 …
Cat & Moss – Chat sur mousse
Every time I turned the radio on today they were talking about Covid vaccinations for the over 70s which began today. With everyone complaining about the slow rollout, the process was bumped up. Now they are running out of Pfizer vaccines. Chaque fois que j’ai écouté la radio aujourd’hui on parlait des vaccinations contre le …
Next Door to Mick – Les voisins de Mick
This is Mick Jagger’s next door neighbour in Pocé-sur-Cisse. His château is set so far back from the road that my iPhone could only just see it. This house is more in the style of an early 20th century holiday home in France than a main residence but the troglodyte cellars are obviously from an …
Bears at the Market – Des ours au marché
We have a new curfew across the country from 6 pm to 6 am. With 21271 new cases today and 76 in our immediate area (Loir-et-Cher), we need to be very careful. We found little respect of social distancing at the market today but everyone was wearing a mask, although not always on their nose, …
Baa Baa Black Sheep – Mes bêtes noires
The title in French has nothing to do with our nursery rhyme. « Bête noire » which literally means black beast or black animal is used to indicate something you hate such as spelling. Le titre en anglais n’a rien à voir avec bête noire. C’est le début d’une cantine pour enfant « Mê, mê …