Reflecting on other rivers of Centre-Val de Loire, La Claise at Abilly

Messing about on boats...

Had a picnic with friends by the river Vienne south of Chatellerault yesterday before taking to the water...

putt putt putt...very relaxing, actually too relaxing had to get involved with couple of local kids to do a bit of pirating (is that a word?)

River dressing...

As I mentioned on our post on last Sunday's brocante at Vicq-sur-Gartempe its location adds something to the day. The river Gartempe here is quite stunning.

One of the things we notice on rivers around here is the build-up of white froth that tends to gather -pollution of some sort perhaps?

On closer inspection, it is the complete opposite with nature providing us with a carpet of river flowers -beautiful! 

Green with...

More green...

The rain of recent times has brought a lovely glow to the countryside around us - here is an example of its effect on the banks of the river Gartempe.

Reflections on the Claise

On the way back from the brocante at Martizay on Sunday I decided to take advantage of the fine afternoon to take some pictures along the river Claise - hope I'm not boring you with these Autumn shots.

Bridge at Martizay

From the bridge

Boats on the Claise

Big trees at Preuilly-sur-Claise

Footbridge at Preuilly-sur-Claise

Reflections Prueilly-sur-Claise

 From the bridge at Chaumussay

Other side of the bridge.

Hard to believe it was October 30th here in the Loire Valley !

The last three are from the bridge on our street, Avenue Andre Theuriet,in le Grand Pressigny.

On the 9th November.

Patrimoine 3

Our third visit on Patrimoine day took us from the Loire Valley over the river Creuse into the department of Vienne. We headed to the village of Vicq-sur-Gartempe where Karen had heard that the intriguing house just before you cross the river Gartempe  was open to the public.On our trips down to the beautiful village of Angles sur l'Anglin the house never fails to catch our eyes. We had often wondered about its history - its 'loud' exterior seemed out of place in this quiet village.

Someone had said that it was originally built by a 'lady' who had made her fortune in Paris entertaining the gentry. This, as we found out to today, was just a local 'urban myth'. The house was actually built for M. and Mme.Guyard in 1847. Mme. was in fact returning to the place of her birth with the rewards of marrying a successful business man



Today we were transported back in time to the beginning of the last century with our hosts, dressed in period costumes, serving coffee with music in the garden and providing a (form of) croquet display on the lawn.

Inside the house we were treated to the sound of records played on period turntables which were on display plus the sights of the 'Art Nouveau' inspired interior of the building itself .There were photographs on display of buildings of this period from around the world plus books on many of the finest designers and architects  

I have always loved this period and indeed our last house in Scotland had more than a touch of the influence of our own 'local hero' Charles Rennie Mackintosh who I was pleased to see featured . More on CRM here...

Our dining room suite was a replica of the famous 'Main Street Dining Suite' that he had made for his own house in Glasgow



Video below shows you a little more of the great man who actually spent four of his last five years living and painting in Port Vendres in the South of France before returning to London where he died in 1928.
There is a tourist trail dedicated to him there .http://www.port-vendres.com/page

Below is a video showing the contribution he made to his art form.