This leafy corner with its bench is on one side of the courtyard of Blois Castle. You can see the different architectural periods in the background. Ce petit coin arboré avec son banc se trouve sur un côté dans la cour du château de Blois. On aperçoit les différentes périodes d’architecture.
Category Archives: Historical buildings
Saint Nicolas at sunset – Saint Nicolas au coucher de soleil
The church of Saint Nicolas receives the last rays of September sunshine. Les derniers rayons de soleil en septembre éclairent l’église de Saint Nicolas.
Two Renaissance Windows – Deux fenêtres renaissance
These two Renaissance windows with their elegant ogee arches are on the Petits Degrés Saint Louis steps leading up to the Cathedral. Ces deux fenêtres Renaissance aux élégantes accolades se trouvent sur les Petits Degrés Saint Louis qui conduisent à la Cathédrale.
The Cadran solaire de l'évêché – The Bishop's Sundial
This analemmatic sundial is on the wall of the former bishop’s palace, now the town hall. It is painted on two right-angled walls and has a large disc with a centre hole. There are two mottos. On the right: DUM TEMPUS HABEMUS OPEREMUR BONUM – While we have the time, let us do good; and on the …
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Fireplace at Chambord – Cheminée à Chambord
Château de Chambord, designed as a hunting lodge by François I in 1519, has more than 300 fireplaces which are much less decorative than those of Blois Castle. Despite their dimensions, they were hard put to heat the enormous rooms Le château de Chambord, conçu comme résidence de chasse par François I à partir de …
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Church of Fougères sur Bièvre – Eglise de Fougères sur Bièvre
Fougères sur Bièvre lies 20 kilometers south of Blois. Saint Eloi’s, with its three-light mullioned windo,w was built in the early 12th century (nave, vaulted apse and bell-tower) and completely reworked in the 16th century (southern aisle, northern seignorial chapel and southern stained glass window). The northern aisle, reconstruction of the vault and the western …
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Château de la Vicomté
Château de la Vicomté in Les Grouets, known in the 15th century, has survived to the present day without the slightest claim to fame, according to La Nouvelle République. That may be so, but I think it gives a certain distinction to the street where we live, Rue Basse des Grouets, and I love to see …
Louis XII fountain – Fontaine Louis XII
The Louis XII fountain was reconstructed in 1511 by the distinguished engineer Pierre de Valence. Up until the 19th century, it was located at the corner of Saint Lubin and Bourgmoyen streets. However, when the houses behind it were destroyed to build the Louis XII square in 1820, it was transferred to the southern corner …
Denis Papin's House – Maison de Denis Papin
The construction at 13 rue Pierre de Blois, known as Hôtel de Villebresme, or more recently, and for no justifiable reason, as the house of Denis Papin, in honour of the city’s inventor of the steam engine (hang on, wasn’t that James Watt?) and the pressure cooker, were built in the 15th and perhaps early …
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Saint Jacques Fountain – Fontaine Saint Jacques
It’s very easy to pass by the fountain on Place du Marché au Beurre without seeing it, because it’s on the original street level which has now been raised, and partially hidden by the terrace of the Saint Jacques Restaurant . It was given to the town by Louis XII under the somewhat uninventive name of “Neighbourhood Well …
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