You may remember a photo in June of four young explorers who were preparing a visit of our neighbourhood in Blois, Les Grouets. On Friday, I heard a lot of noise outside the gate so went to see what was going on. About twenty people were touring Les Grouets, so I invited them in so that they could …
Tag Archives: Les Grouets
First Neighbours' Day – Première fête des voisins
On Friday we organised our first Neighbours’ Day. We ended up with 31 adults and 5 children. La fête des voisins also called Immeubles en fête (which roughly means festive flats) was created at the turn of the century (this one!), at the initiative of one Atanase Périfan in the 17th arrondissement in Paris. It was …
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Trying out a lathe – Tournons du bois
Bread baking wasn’t the only attraction last Sunday at Les Grouets. We could also try our hand at a lathe. I got in early before the kids and their dads arrived – after that, you couldn’t even get close up! Le four à pain n’était pas la seule attraction à la Fête du pain dimanche dernier …
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 …
A New Château Roof – Un nouveau toit de château
Owning a château is not as simple as it sounds. The roofs need constant maintenant and Château de la Vicomté, our local château in Les Grouets, is no exception. Ce n’est pas rien de posséder un château. Il faut constamment faire de l’entretien des toits et le château de la Vicomté, notre château voisin aux …
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And the sun came out! – Eclaircie soudaine
When we set out today, it was pouring rain but on the way home, to our great surprise, the sun came out! Lorsque nous sommes partis faire des courses aujourd’hui il pleuvait des cordes, mais sur le retour, à notre grande surprise, le soleil est revenu.
A Yurt in Blois – La yourte ligérienne
You don’t often see yurts in this neck of the woods. This one is one the walking path between our street in Les Grouets and Chouzy sur Cisse, the next village. On ne voit pas très souvent des yourtes par ici. Celle-ci se trouve entre notre rue aux Grouets et notre prochain village Chouzy-sur-Cisse.
The Little Shed – La petite cabane
Don’t you love this little shed dwarfed by the surrounding trees? Qu’elle semble minuscule cette petite cabane à côté des grands arbres.
The Big Cedar – Le grand cèdre
A walk with my friends and neighbours from Les Grouets, Françoise and Lili, took us past this lovely old cedar in the grounds of our local château de la Vicomté. Une marche à pied avec mes amies et voisines des Grouets, Françoise et Lili, nous a fait passer devant ce beau cèdre dans le parc …