The Magic Way – La route de la magie

I’m in two minds about this. I can understand that the city of Blois wants to attract people to its “House of Magic” Museum in honour of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, the famous French illusionist born in Blois in 1805, but I think it disfigures the steps up to the square in front of the castle. What …

Gabarres in Vienne – Gabarres à Vienne

I took this photo when I was almost across the other side of Pont Gabriel bridge in Blois yesterday. You can see the traditional gabarre flat-bottomed boats on the Loire River. J’ai pris cette photo lorsque j’avais presque traversé le pont Gabriel à Blois hier. On voit les gabarres traditionnels ancrés dans la Loire.

Bread-Baking Day – La fête du pain

For the 9th consecutive year, our neighbourhood, Les Grouets, held a bread-baking day at part of the French national fête du pain celebrations. Norbert, the owner of the century-old wood-fired oven, starts heating it four days beforehand. Local children bring along their brioches on Friday but the main celebration is on Sunday. I took along two …

The Train Track – Le chemin de fer

Our house is two doors down from the last house in the photo on the left. This is the closest we can get from the other side of the train tracks. Notre maison se trouve à deux portes depuis la deuxième maison à gauche dans la photo. C’est le plus près qu’on puisse approcher depuis …

House with a View – Maison avec vue

Blois was initially built on a hill. This house is at the top, with a view of the Loire below, seen in the following photo. I took both photos from the same place. Au début, Blois fut construite sur une colline. Cette maison se trouve en haut de la crête, avec une vue de la Loire, comme …