The Loire Valley and especially Blois
On 17th May 1882, the Noizay municipal council built a small hut to provide shelter for the night to “destitute wayfarers, labourers and homeless souls” passing through the village. A salary was paid to the person in charge of cleaning the hut built along the walls of the château de Noizay. Subsequently,the “garde champêtre”, a sort of …
Continue reading “The Wayfarers' Hut – L'asile des voyagers”
This is the chenin blanc grape used to make vouvray wine, which can be dry, sweet or bubbly using the champenoise method. It comes from Anjou where it was mentioned as early as the 9th century and is probably named after Mont Chenin in Touraine. Many of the vines are very old. Voici le chenin …
Continue reading “Bubbly coming up – Les bulles qui arrivent”
The Loire is full of sandbanks and little islands that prevent it from being navigable. This one is on the right side of the bridge looking towards Amboise. La Loire est pleine de bancs de sable et d’îlots qui l’empêchent d’être navigable. Celui-ci se trouve en aval du pont qui mène vers Amboise.
The McCormick harvester and twine binder, maufactured in 1881, was the first binder which tied the bundles with twine. Jean Michel remembers seeing them in the sixties on his grandparents’ farm. This one, in Onzain, just across the Loire from Château de Chaumont is decorated with fllowers every summer. La faucheuse-lieuse McCormick, fabriquée dès 1881, était la …
Continue reading “McCormick decked with flowers – McCormick fleurie”
This is my favourite view of Château de Chenonceau taken from the bike path. Of the “four C’s” – Chenonceau, Chambord, Chaumont and Cheverny, I think Chenonceau is the one I prefer, but the other three are not far behind! Voici ma vue préférée du château de Chenonceau prise depuis la piste cyclable. Des “quatre …
Continue reading “Chenonceau from the Cher – Chenonceau depuis le Cher”
We were very surprised to see this lovely slug on very dry ground. Nous étions bien étonné de voir cette belle limace sur un terrain très sec.
The bike up the top of the staircase between Place Louis XII and Blois Castle would have had a long winding path up the other side. Le vélo en haut de l’escalier entre la place Louis XII et le château de Blois a dû prendre un chemin long et sinueux de l’autre côté.
Yesterday, we found our first leccinum carpini in the little wood behind our house. The taste of this boletus is nothing sensational but it still enhanced the taste of our omelette. Hier nous avons trouvé notre premier bolet des charmes (leccinum carpini, également appelé bolet raboteux, bolet rugueux et cèpe gris) dans le petit bois …
Continue reading “Leccinum griseum – Bolet rude des charmes”
Today, we brought in our potato crop. Potatoes are very easy to grow and require absolutely no maintenance, unlike our tomatoes which suffered from lack of watering and got blight. Aujourd”hui nous avons récolté nos pommes de terre. Il est très facile de faire pousser les pommes de terres qui ne demandent aucun entretien à …
Continue reading “A Barrow of Spuds – Une brouette de patates”
Early morning mist on the Loire between Blois and Chaumont. Brume du matin sur la Loire entre Blois et Chaumont.