The Loire Valley and especially Blois
As you may have guess if you’re familiar with Blois, Jallanges Castle near Vouvray, built in 1465 by Louis XI for his first Superintendant of Finance, is almost contemporary with the Louis XII wing of Blois Royal Castle erected in 1498 to 1500. The façade has been beautifully restored but the inside is hardly worth visiting. …
Continue reading “A Brick Castle – Un château tout en brique”
We don’t seem to have seen many hot air balloons this year but when we were driving to Amboise on Friday we saw no fewer than eight! The photo is taken through the car windscreen with Château de Chamont behind. Nous ne semblons pas avoir vu beaucoup de mongolfières cette année mais en nous rendant …
Continue reading “The Balloons are Up! – Les mongolfières sont de sortie !”
When we arrived at our monthly Loire Connexion anglophile get-together Ile d’Or at in Amboise last night, the light was extraordinary. And just as I was about to take a photo of the castle, this cat ran past along the wall in front of me! Lorsque nous sommes arrivés à la soirée mensuelle d’angophiles de la Loire …
Continue reading “The Cat and the Castle – Le chat et le château”
We have passed these before on Itinerary n° 8 of the Châteaux au vélo bike path near Huisseau-sur-Cosson but I didn’t realise they were for holiday rent. You can find them on www.lesroulottes.fr if you’re interested! Very handy to Château de Chambord. Nous sommes déjà passé devant ces roulottes en empruntant l’itinéraire n° 8 des Châteaux à vélo …
Continue reading “Stay in a roulotte – Séjourner dans une roulotte”
Today is the first day of summer and we finally got some good weather, a good 10 degrees more than yesterday. We cycled to Chambord and saw signs of the recent flooding. Aujourd’hui est le premier jour d’été et nous avons enfin eu un peu de beau temps, avec une température de 10 degrés plus …
This little statue of Saint Vincent is io be found in one of the wine cellars at Château d’Ussé. Saint Vincent, the patron saint of wine growers was born in Spain in the 6th century. No one really knows why he is connected with wine. One plausible explanation is that a royal abbey containing Saint …
Continue reading “Saint Vincent, patron saint of wine-growers – Saint-Vincent, patron des vignerons”
After publishing the photos of Ussé, I received an email from Margaret Smith Springwood, an Australian reader, with these two photos: “I was in the little chapel [Chapel of the Immaculate Conception], turned to face the doorway and was startled to see this quite eerie face looking down at me from on high. I’ve not …
My photos of Amboise are usually taken from Le Shaker on Ile d’Or but this one was taken from the levee coming from Vouvray. You can see the water on the footpath. Mes photos d’Amboise proviennent souvent du Shaker sur l’île d’Or mais j’ai pris celle-ci depuis la levée sur le retour de Vouvray. On …
Continue reading “Amboise from the Levee – Amboise depuis la levée”
The second view of Château de Montreuil-Bellay that has remained fixed in my memory is this rose-covered tower. It, too, did not disappoint. You can walk up through the tower and onto the ramparts. La deuxième vue du château de Montreuil-Bellay qui reste gravée dans ma mémoire est cette tourelle recouverte de roses. Je n’ai …
I took this photo of Ussé Castle just before the rain started to pelt down. Ussé is known as “Sleeping Beauty’s castle” because it was one of the châteaux that inspired Walt Disney via Charles Perrault who stayed there on several occasions, The original 11th century castle has been rebuilt several times, which explains its …
Continue reading “Ussé before the Rain – Ussé avant la pluie”