The Loire Valley and especially Blois
We were surprised to look out the window yesterday evening and see these mushrooms in our little wood. The first thing we did this morning was to pick them! The result is in the basket below. They are agarics, from the same family as the button mushroom. We think there must have been two sorts, including a small …
Continue reading “Mushrooms under the pines – Champignons sous les pins”
We were surprised to find a whole room of printing presses at Château de Saché where Balzac wrote many of his masterpieces. We learnt that he was a printer before becoming a writer and initially published his own works. These are not his presses, but ones used during the same period. Nous étions surrpris de …
Sunday’s bright sun took us on a bike route to the heart of Touraine and Château de Saché which provided Honoré de Balzac, one of France’s most prolific writers, with the inspiration for several of his novels including Le Père Goriot, Louis Lambert and César Birotteau. From 1825 to 1848 he stayed there regularly, away …
Continue reading “The Lily of the Valley – Le Lys dans la vallée”
We cycled pas this wonderful wood today full of cyclamens, near Monts, on our way to Saché. I thought they were wild but Susan from Days in the Claise tells me they were probably introduced at the beginning of the 19th century. They are self-seeding which means they reproduce very easily. Nous sommes passés par …
Continue reading “A Carpet of Cyclamens – Un tapis de cyclamens”
Who said radishes were pink? Or small, for that matter! Qui a dit que les radis étaient roses ? Ou petits ?
Although I have preference for blue skies and sun … Mêùe si je préfère le ciel bleu et le soleil …
I think the pattern on this pumpkin looks like empty peanut shells. I had never seen one before! Je trouve que le relief de ce potiron ressemble aux coquilles vides de cacahuètes. Je n’en avais jamais vu !
When we were visiting Saint Saturnin churchyard, we saw this gate and a visitor said she had read that the ball on the top is a symbol of nobility. Lorsque nous avons visité l’aître de Saint Saturnin nous avons vu ce portail. Un des visiteurs nous a dit qu’elle a lu que la boule sur …
I had seen this porcupine several times above the door at Hôtel Sardini, a 16th century town house in Blois but only learnt yesterday during heritage weekend that it is the “genuine” model used for Louis XII’s emblem in Blois Castle. J’avais vu ce porc-épic plusieurs fois au dessus de la porte de l’hôtel Sardini …
We got back from Istanbul just in time for heritage weekend. Today, we finally got to visit the Aître Saint Saturnin churchyard in Blois which is now a lapidary museum. This was one of my favourite pieces. Don’t you think he looks smug? Nous sommes rentrés d’Istanbul juste à temps pour les journées du patrimoine. …