The Loire Valley and especially Blois
We are off on holidays at last! We are joining my son, wife and beautiful 9-month old grandson in Italy on Sunday. Our first stop is Aix-les-Bains on Le Bourget Lake perfect for 2 days of cycling to Chanaz and Chambéry. Nous sommes enfin partis en vacances ! Nous rejoignons mon fils, sa femme et …
Continue reading “Postcards from Aix-les-Bains and Chambéry”
Today we cycled to Château de Chaumont and I couldn’t wait to see the dahlia beds. My favourite is still crème de cassis. My own dahlias, after succumbing to slugs when I replanted them are finally producing some flowers. Aujourd’hui nous sommes allés au château de Chaumont en vélo et j’avais hâte de voir les …
Ravenna is famous for its Byzantine mosaics and we visited all the city’s most important monuments but I think my favourite was the Basilica of Saint Apollinaire in Classe, about 5 km outside the town and on the bike route. It was consecrated in 549. Ravenna est célèbre pour ses mosaïques byzantines et nous avons …
This is the third time we’ve cycled to Valmer gardens but only the first time we’ve visited due to the restricted opening times. It was well worth the visit. The chateau burnt down in 1948 but Le Petit Valmer, built in 1647, still remains. C’est la troisième fois que nous sommes allés au jardin de …
I had to get my feet wet to see this chateau built in the 16th and 17th centuries – we had to ford a small stream on our bikes. I should have taken my sandals off first. I don’t understand why Jean Michel came through practically dry. J’ai dû me mouiller les pieds pour voir …
Continue reading “Through Another Archway – A travers une autre arche”
On Sunday, we went cycling, including a visit to Châteauroux and the neighboring town of Déols where the church has a 3rd century Gallo-Roman sarcophagus. When we entered the church it’s seemed foggy but we assumed it was incense. We found the door to the crypt with the sarcophagus but there was a phone number …
Continue reading “We Saved the Church – Nous avons sauvé l’église”
Although it might look like field of poppies it actually a wheat field. we often see them when cycling but they are not easy to photograph because there is not usually a line of trees to define them. Cela ressemble peut-être à un champ de coquelicots mais en fait c’est un champ de blé. Nous …
We finally went cycling again today from Rochecorbon to Château de Villandry. We had never approached Tours by bike from this side of the Loire. The building on the left is Saint Gratien’s Cathedral and the one on the right is the town library. Nous avons enfin fait du vélo aujourd’hui pour aller de Rochecorbon …
I’ve gone back to work with a vengeance but we took today off to go cycling. We started in Beaulieu les Loches, a village of 1700 inhabitants with a surprising number of interesting buildings. This is the remains of the 11th century abbey with its Romanesque steeple. J’ai replongé dans le travail depuis lundi mais …
We arrived in Périgueux yesterday at 3 pm. Our first rental apartment had no hot water and we learnt at 5 pm that it couldn’t be fixed for at least 24 hours. We found another apartment. Availability was confirmed and payment made but we couldn’t get in touch with the owners. We finally learnt at …