Happy May Day! – Bonne fête du 1er mai !

Today is May Day when French people traditionally give lilies-of-the-valley to their loved ones. These were given to me by Jean Michel and come from our vegetable garden (the pink ones) and the garden of our little house next door.  Thank you to our previous owners, Monique and Jacky, who planted them! Aujourd’hui c’est le …

Classic Cars in Blois – Voitures anciennes à Blois

Our friends Susan and Simon from Loire Valley Time Travel came to collect us in their 1953 Citroën Traction Avant called Célestine on Sunday to participate in the Blois classic car festival. Below are some of the other vehicles: the first was the oldest car there – a 1923 Peugeot; next a Renault 4L with its …

Surprise Red Tulips – Tulipes rouges surprises

I found these extraordinary tulips growing next to the red ones I posted last week. I didn’t plant them and I’ve never seen them before so I certainly don’t know how they got there! J’ai trouvé ces tulipes extraordinaires à côté des tulipes rouges que j’ai mises sur le blog la semaine dernière. Je ne …

Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe Abbey – Abbaye de Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe

The very tall steeple of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe Abbey church is not easy to photograph because of its height. It was initially built in the 15th century and reconstructed in the 19th century. This world heritage site is about 140 K south-west of Blois (east of Poitiers). It contains a large number of 11th and 12th century …

Angles-sur-l'Anglin

We drove through the delightful little village of Angles-sur-l’Anglin which is about two hours south of Blois by car when we went to Angoulême in the winter and promised ourselves we would come back again. Most of the constructions are mediaeval and date back to the Hundred Years’ War. It’s name comes from a tribe of Angles, …

Faithful Red Tulips – Les tulipes rouges fidèles

I don’t know how long these tulips have been around but they come up faithfully every year.with 2 or 3 more each time – 15 this year! Je ne sais pas depuis combien de temps ces tulipes existent mais elles fleurissent fidèlement chaque année avec 2 ou 3 chaque fois : il y en a …