Red Rose & Unknown Insect – Rose rouge et insecte inconnu

This year the roses are very early and this climbing rose on our half-timber tower is just perfect! Below is an insect that I found today and that I hope someone can identify for me despite the blurry photo.. Cette année les roses sont très précoces et cette rose grimpante sur notre tour en colombages …

Leonardo in Venice – Léonard de Vinci à Venise

Guess who we ran into in Venice today? Our friend Leonardo da Vinci, who arrived here in 1500 and offered his services to the Senate as an engineer with all sorts of ingenious ideas to overcome the Turks which never came to fruition. As we know, he was a great friend of François I and …

Love Scallop – Coquille Saint Jacques d'amour

I was intrigued to see a scallop shell on the façade of the 14th century Palazzo Bembo on the Grand Canal as it usually symbolises St Jacques de Compostelle (Santiago de Compostela in France. Further research reveals that it is the convex scallop shell that represents St Jacques while the concave shell symbolises Venus, much …

Bleach Blonds – Blondes oxygénées

Even during the Renaissance, blond women, whether Venetian or French, were considered more beautiful. The Venetians used to bleach their hair and so did Diane de Poitiers, for example. (Detail from the Legend of Saint Ursula series by Carpaccio). Même pendant la Renaissance, on trouvait les femmes blondes plus belles, qu’elles soient vénétiennes ou françaises. …

Venetian Sundial – Cadran solaire vénétien

I love sundials and have already published two others in Blois Daily Photo – one in Les Grouets and the other on the Bishop’s Palace. This one is on the Arsenal in Venice, which explains the rope and chain. The Latin motto “Ruit hora: labora” roughly means “Times flies: work!” J’aime bien les cadrans solaires …

The Bridge of Sighs – Le Pont des soupirs

Isn’t that in Venice? You’re perfectly right and that is where we are at the moment but the weather is exactly the same here as it was in Blois yesterday – rainy! Ce n’est pas à Venise ? Oui, exactement mais c’est là où on se trouve en ce moment. Le temps pourtant est pareil …