The Loire Valley and especially Blois
This lovely house in Drysdale in the Bellarine Peninsula south of Melbourne, set among shady trees, is another home exchange. It was built as a parsonage in 1888. Cette belle maison entourée d’arbres à Drysdale dans la péninsule de Bellarine au sud de Melbourne, est un autre échange maison. Construite en 1888, c’était à l’origine …
Continue reading “Postcard from Australia – A House in the Trees in Drysdale”
This is the beautiful home exchange where we’re staying in Adelaide. I don’t know what period it comes from but I love the design, not to mention the garden. Voici la belle maison à Adelaide où nous faisons un échange-maison. Je ne sais pas de quelle époque elle date mais j’adore la réalisation sans parler …
Continue reading “Postcard from Australia – Our House in Adelaide”
This lovely old house has been built in several stages starting with the central part in the 1880s. The colour of the bricks is always a clue to the construction date. The beautiful garden laid out in front is still magnificent. It has had several owners including a mail contractor who built the stables below …
Continue reading “Postcard from Australia – Armidale: Bona Vista”
In modern day France, l’hôtel de ville is the town hall (the ô indicates that an “s” has disapppeared from the original old French. However, I have never seen a building with Hostel de Ville written on it. This beautiful door is in Orléans but so far I haven’t found any information about its history. …
We came across this little courtyard when walking in the old part of Blois. The fairy lights belong to a restaurant to the right of the photo so we’ll be back in the summer to try it out! Nous sommes tombés sur cette petite cour en nous promenant dans le vieux Blois. La guirlande appartient …
The original bishop’s house in Blois is now the Town Hall (1698 to 1704), a much grander building. The separation of church and State in 1905 forced the bishop to find a new home. A parishioner, Germaine Marcandier donated her house just a stone’s throw away, at n° 2 rue Porte Clos Haut. Although it was probably …
Let’s play “spot the difference”! Jouons à “cherchez l’erreur” !
The street parallel to the Loire in Blois on the Vienne side (opposite to old town) has just been renovated. The half-timbered houses are now much more visible. On vient de refaire la rue parallèle à la Loire à Blois, du côté Vienne (en face de la vieille ville). Les maison en colombages sont bien …
Continue reading “Half-timbered houses in Vienne – Maisons à colombages à Vienne”
Yesterday I posted a photo of the Renaissance façade of Hôtel de Grouïn in Tours. Here is a close-up of the acanthus ornaments that decorate the façade. The acanthus with its large, luxuriant leaves, is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration. In about 1500, it replaced the ornamental cabbage leaves that were highly appreciated …
We had just finished cyclling for the day when we were lucky enough to see this very large barge on the Canal latéral à la Loire between Châtillon-sur-Loire.and Briare with its famous canal aqueduct built by Gustave Eiffel. You can hear the birds chirping in the video. The passengers had to duck their heads to go under the bridge! …
Continue reading “A Barge on a Canal – Une péniche sur un canal”