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New garden in Poitiers
If you wondering where we've been hiding well, apologies. "Mundania", chiefly in the form of exam orals, exam marking and a stint of entrance interviews of applicants for next year's Bachelor's course...
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La grêle!
Yesterday was a glorious day warm, sunny and towards the late afternoon quite 'heavy'. France Météo had been warning of possible thunderstorms, so early evening we checked the weather online. An orange...
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Le girouet
The Valley of the Loire has held UNESCO World Heritage status since November 2000. Stretching from Sully-sur-Loire upstream of Orléans to Chalonnes-sur-Loire just downstream from Angers, it covers...
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Avon-les-Roches
We've driven through Avon-les-Roches often enough on the way to somewhere else and each time remarked that "we really should have a look at the church the next time we pass through". Well, we finally...
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Bréhémont
Bréhémont is a little place on the left bank of the Loire. Nowadays it is a sleepy place, although in the summer season it is busy with cyclists who bike along the Loire and Cher rivers.The large port...
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Azay-le-Rideau - not the chateau
Azay-le-Rideau was once known as Azay-le-Brulé on account of an 'insult trading session' in 1418 between the Burgundian garrison who held the village and the Dauphin, [the future Charles VII] who was...
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Not the chateau part II
Inside, the church at Azay-le-Rideau isn't nearly as interesting. However, the original apsidal nave does retain some vestiges of 13th wall paintings. By far the best are the 3 horses above a low arch...
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Bumper Harvest
All this past week and a bit we've been harvesting mirabelles. Lots of mirabelles....Our Mirabelle de Nancy To be honest until about two weeks ago we didn't even know we had them! That may sound odd,...
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Chaumont show gardens part I
Last Monday we took our friend Jane, who is staying with us for the week, to visit Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire. We went to have a look at the show gardens and the chateau. Every year Chaumont hosts...
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Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire
Recently, we had a super time at Chaumont and only scratched the surface. There was plenty we didn't get around to seeing. We did, however, mange to have a good look at the chateau proper and a bit of...
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The dining room at Domaine de Candé
Earlier this month we took our friend Jane to see the Chateau de Candé near Tours. On the day we went we had the place to ourselves. There wasn't another soul about- perhaps because the weather was...
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Impressions: Chaumont show gardens II
Both our friend Jane, as well as ourselves, took plenty of photos when we visited the show gardens at Domaine Chaumont-sur-Loire so here are a few more for you to enjoy. These three above are from a...
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Langeais: 16th century fashionistas
Recently we went and visited the chateau of Langeais. We'd never been and the poster below piqued our interest- we particularly liked the 'Lou Reed' style shades. They have extended the exhibition...
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Stage & Screen costumes at the Logis Royal
This weekend is the annual JEP weekend [journées européennes du patrimoine] when all sorts of monuments are open to the public. It is a great opportunity to visit places that are in private hands and...
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Art Deco ablutions
Last month when we visited the Chateau de Candé one of the things that impressed us was it's "live-able" feel. The rooms were of a size you could imagine using and given it isn't too enormous you...
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Concours de labours
Every September one of the local farmers gives up a field to hold the Charnizay ploughing competition. Last month the weather was good and under a hazy sunny sky the furrows were drawn and judged. The...
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Dunsapie Loch
Firstly our apologies for such a long break between posts. Things have simply been extremely busy and we've been over to the UK for a visit with family and friends as well. The result is that we have...
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Christmas 2014
Season's Greetings!Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas andAll Good Things for 2015 Thank you to everyone for reading and commenting on our blog. We've really enjoyed all our exchanges and it...
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Christmas Day dinner on Christmas Eve
Our normal Christmas tradition here has become a seafood platter on Christmas Eve and our main festive meal eaten on Christmas Day. This year we reversed the order as we went to visit Chateau...
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