The Loire Valley and especially Blois
I love the steps on the town hall in the nearby village of Chouzy sur Cisse, which has a population of fewer than 2,000 people. A little girl was sitting very decoratively on the steps but she ran off when she say me take the photo! J’aime bien l’escalier de la mairie du village voisin …
Continue reading “Chouzy sur Cisse Town Hall – Mairie de Chouzy sur Cisse”
This is the local primary and pre-school in Noizay, 10 km from Amboise, on the road to Tours. It has a population of about 1200 inhabitants. The school has four classes totalling about 100 children, from ages 3 to 9. The town hall, much less impressive, is on the other size. Voici l’école primaire de Noizay, à …
Continue reading “Noizay Local School – Ecole Communale de Noizay”
During our evening promenade in Les Grouets, our neighbourhood in Blois, we always pass this manor house with its turrent, probably built in the 18th century. I love the semi-circular shutters. Ce manoir avec sa tourelle, sans doute construit au 18è siècle se trouve sur notre promenade du soir aux Grouets, le quartier de Blois où …
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 beautiful freize with F for François I beneath a crown above a row of scallop shells underneath is on the Renaissance wing of Blois Castle. Cette belle frise avec le F de François Ier surmontée d’une couronne au-dessus d’une rangée de coquilles saint jacques se trouve sur l’aile Renaissance de château de Blois.
I’m not sure what this little slate-roofed stone teepee in Sologne really is – maybe a dovecote. Je ne suis pas sûre à quoi sert ce petit tipi en Sologne avec son toit en ardoise et ses murs en pierre – un pigeonnier peut-être ?
In the weathervane series, traditional slate roof on the castle in Fougères sur Bièvre. Dans la série des girouettes, toit traditionnel du château de Fougères sur Bièvre.
I’m not exactly sure what this wall in Saint Laurent Nouan represents but it appears to have the arms of different towns called Saint Laurent. Je ne suis pas sūre à quoi correspond ce mur à Saint Laurent Nouan mais il semble porter les écussons de différentes villes qui s’appellent Saint Laurent.
This is a typical blind wall in Sologne called opus spicatum, literally “spiked work”, consisting of bricks in a herringbone bone between and half-timbering. Unfortunately, many of the brick kilns in the area have now disappeared. Voici un mur aveugle solognot typique dit opus spicatum, c’est-à-dire, un appareil en épi et des briques en remplissage sur une maison à pans …
You may remember a post about mullion windows recently in which I explained that, for tax reasons, people removed the mullions and transoms from the windows to pay less tax. This window on Hôtel de Villebresme in Blois would seem to be an excellent example. Vous vous rappelez peut-être d’un post concernant les fenêtres à meneaux dans …