A very appropriate weather vane in Cour sur Loire – a flat-bottomed boat! Une girouette très appropriéé à Cour sur Loire – une gabarre !
Author Archives: avril
Flower Boat – Une barque de fleurs
This boat may never have sailed the Loire, but it’s makes a great planter! Certes, cette barque n’a jamais vogué sur la Loire, mais c’est une jardinière bien sympathique !
Saint Martin and the Sword – Saint Martin et l'épée
You may remember the photo of the little church of Saint Martin de Crouy that I published recently. We took the same cycle itinerary again the other day and I recognised it immediately. This time, I took a close-up of the sculptured group on the façade depicting Saint Martin cutting his cloak in two to give to …
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CDP Theme Day – French Takeaway
This one was a challenge for me because takeaways apart from pizza and hamburgers are not part of French culture. However, we have traiteurs, which are a bit like delicatessens, where you can buy prepared meals. On today’s menu: blood sausage & Caribbean grill on the left-hand board and stag sausage and terrine on the right-hand …
Chambord Grand Canal
We discovered a new view of Château de Chambord today while we were cycling. Wewere delighted when we found this view from the bridge at the end of the Grand Canal. Nous avons découvert une nouvelle vue du Château de Chambord aujourd’hui en faisant du vélo. Nous étions ravis de trouver cette vue depuis le pont …
Snails at dinner – Escargots à la fin du dîner
We were just finishing dinner al fresco when I spied these enormous snails (the shell was about three fingers wide) among the weeds after the rain. Nous étions à la fin de notre repas dans le jardin lorsque j’ai vu ces énormes escargots (la coquille mesurait environ trois doigts) parmi les mauvaises herbes après la pluie.
Doomed mullions – Des meneaux condamnés
Mullion windows (the ones at the top divided into four by a stone cross) appeared well before the 10th century and are typically seen in Renaissance buildings. I’ve just discovered that many French property owners destroyed their mullion windows after a new door and window tax was instigated in 1798 which was based on the number of …
The Little Town Hall – La Petite mairie
To tell you the truth, I can’t remember where this was taken, but it was in a little village on a bike route. I think it must be the perfect place to work! A vrai dire, je ne me rappelle pas où j’ai pris cette photo ; c’était dans un petit village sur un itinéraire de …
The Long Longère
A longère is a long farmhouse built on ground floor level. This one has the typical semi-arched windows you find in Sologne and is exceptionally long! Une longère est un bâtiment rural, de forme basse et allongée. Celle-ci a les fenêtres en demi-arceaux typiques de la Sologne. Elle est exceptionnellement longue.
… open the doors and here's all the people
Well, not exactly all the people, but we did see a number of murals. When it was built in the late 11th century, the Church of Saint Martin de Crouy originally included a nave, a narrow chancel and an apse which was made into a sacristy n the 17th century. During the 16th century, the chapel was elevated …
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