The Loire Valley and especially Blois
This was the view when we picnicked on our cycle route this evening. The 12th century church of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur (Saint James the Greater) in the little village of Seillac in the Cisse Valley has bell-wall (rather than a bell-tower) which is unusual for this region. Voici notre vue lorsqu’on a pique-niqué ce soir sur notre …
Continue reading “A Country Church – Une église de campagne”
We are having a little weekend away in the Médoc area near Bordeaux. These painted pillars are in the Romanesque church of Saint Peter in Vensac below. The apse was built in the 12th century while the nave and polychrome decorations were added in the 17th century along with the spire. Nous passons un petit week-end dans …
Continue reading “Postcard from Vensac : Painted Pillars – Piliers peints”
Saint Nicolas in Blois has a lot of spires. The building on the right is the Classical part of Blois château with Foix Tower in front of it. Le titre anglais est un jeu de mots car “spire” veut dire “flèche”. J’invite nos lecteurs français à proposer un titre du même type. Je n’ai trouvé …
We visited Château de la Bourdaisière south of Montlouis for the first time on Sunday. This is the delightful little chapel at the entrance to the grounds. I can’t find anything about its history unfortunately. Nous avons visité le château de la Bourdaisière au sud de Montlouis pour la première fois dimanche. Cette adorable petite chapelle …
Continue reading “La Bourdaisière Chapel – La chapelle de la Bourdaisière”
No, the sun did not shine today and the sky was not blue but I couldn’t bare taking another grey photo so I used this one that I took last week when we were having our thermos of tea and biscuits in La Chaussée Saint Victor looking at the spire of the church of the same …
Marie François Sadi Carnot was born on 11th August 1837 in Limoges and died on 25th June 1894. He was president of France from 3rd December 1887 until he was assassinated on 25th June 1894. This impressive statue overlooks the lower part of Angoulême. You can see the bell-tower and dome of the cathedral on …
Continue reading “Postcard from Angoulême – President Sadi Carnot”
On the way back from our city break in Angoulême today we visited the Abbey Church of Saint Savin with its stunning frescoes and painted pillars. It was rebuilt in the 11th century and restored numerous times. It has been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1983. Below are somoe of the frescoes in …
The Romanesque cathedral of Saint Peter in Angoulême has a complicated past. It has been renovated several times and it is difficult to know today what it really looked like in the past. It dates from the 12th century but was partly destroyed by the Calvinists in 1562, then rebuilt in 1634. Paul Abadie, a friend of …
This photo is taken in the old quarter of Blois near the cathedral. I learnt today that there is a town under the town and that there are cellars in which you can see old shop fronts. I’d love to see one! Cette photo est prise dans le vieux quartier de Blois près de la …
I took this from the car as we drove into Blois this morning at about 8.20 am. The church is Saint Saturnin. J’ai pris cette photo depuis la voiture ce matin lorsqu’on se rendait à Blois vers 8h20. C’est l’église Saint Saturnin.