Video killed...

Radios for sale at Sunday's brocante at La Roche Posay racecourse...

...what a difference from last year's rather wet and dismal day.

Church on Sunday...Monts

The church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens  in the village of Monts on first glance appears quite innocuous, if not unattractive. It is a design that is repeated by degrees throughout Indre et Loire because of the influence and designs of busy19th century architect Gustave Guérin.

The church, like most others in the region, sits on the site of its 12th century predecessor (1114) of which very little remains.

There is a very impressive fresco depicting  the last judgement in the centre of the nave...

...and a restored earlier fresco on the ceiling of the apse.

There is also a very ornate side chapel...

...so all in all, a church full of surprises.

Where's Joan ?...

If you are visiting Chateau Cande  its worth popping into the village for lunch and visitnig the church.

                                 

Energy conservation,French style...

A recent set of guests at Les Balcons were really charming and also very considerate of their French neighbours.When we popped over to check they had settled in and were comfortable we also asked if they had any questions. They asked if the village people (not the 70's lot) had got together and agreed the light curfew at 11.30pm unanimously. Let me explain...
In Le Grand Pressigny, like many other villages in the Loire valley and indeed France, the lights go out at night to conserve energy, so, as to not have our guests be met unknowingly by this, we inform them during our introductory chat and in our information booklet (very professional don't you think?).This means if they do go out and are returning late they are not met (as we were in the early days) by a 'black wall' and have torches with them to find their way into the house.  However I may have to re-write this as the guests thought it meant a total voluntary ban on the use of electricity and had being going about for the first couple of nights (after 11.30pm) with torches - how sweet. When told they could of course 'light up' they were very amused and somewhat relieved, that this conservation act was over for their stay!

It is easy to understand their thinking this as we have often looked over our part of the village and found it difficult to find a light source - this will be a lot to do with shutters but also the careful use of an expensive resource!

As we were leaving they said it was nice that they could stay up a little later that night....

It was always going to be pretty...

Back in June I showed this wall of flowers in the village of Abilly here in the Loire Valley...

Here is the wall yesterday- looking good.

Two strikes and you're out...

Almost a year ago we reviewed the 'Relais de la Mothe' restaurant in Yzeures-sur-Creuse and although it wasn't a great experience we did agree that we should give it a second chance. Well it took a long time but yesterday with friends we visited it again for lunch, sadly we were not impressed. We went for the lunchtime menu of main course and 'café gourmand' at 14€. The main consisted of a not large fish 'parcel' including a vegetable selection that left you looking around for something to add some sustenance. At least we had the 'café gourmand' to look forward to. Sadly, when it did arrive it bore little resemblance to what we have become used to here in the Loire Valley - you would normally see at least three samples of desserts sitting beside your coffee but not here...this is what we got.

The restaurant had only two tables for lunch which perhaps tells its own story. The staff were very pleasant but the general consensus was that it will be another long time before we are back. 

Fashion statement...

On a recent visit to Tours caught this message in English, on a shop front promoting a more colourful trousers - and apparently if you dare wear pink then you'll be a happy chappy .

In the eye of the beholder...

Here in France the diversity of the housing stock goes a long way to giving the country much of its character. It is rare to find a building that sits uncomfortably in its surroundings - the example above however,spotted on a recent outing, must surely fall into this category. They have called it 'The storks' which might just explain the landing pad on the turret.

Whealy nice...

Here is another bicycle to add to my collection  spotted outside a charming little shop in Tours.

Church on Sunday -Veigné

The Church of St. Maixent in Veigné is an odd looking building from the outside as its 12 century square tower (the oldest building in the town) looks out of place against the more recent 19th century neo-Romanesque styled addition.

Inside the church is very similar to others in Indre et Loire with its vaulted sanctuary and side chapels.

The words 'autel privilegie' adorn the arch over the alter which I think indicates that this is the alter that must be used when mass is being said for the deceased.

The ten stained glass windows are from the Lobin workshops in Tours.

Where's Joan? - she is given pride of place here.

The exterior of the church is rather stark with the old tower probably its only redeeming feature.

                             

No more poo-pooing French signage

Well that's clear enough

Drinks bill...

We received this Email  from EDF our electricity supplier.

Chère cliente,

Vous avez choisi le Service Relevé Confiance et nous vous en félicitons. Vous recevez ainsi des factures calculées sur vos consommations réelles.

Nous vous invitons à nous transmettre le relevé de vos consommations avant le 20/09/2012, délai limite de prise en compte, afin d’établir votre prochaine facture, conformément au relevé que vous aurez effectué.

Google was kind enough to offer this translation.

Dear Customer,

You have selected Service Trust Statement and we congratulate you. You receive bills and calculated on your actual consumption.

We invite you to send us a statement of your drinks before 09.20.2012, deadline for consideration to establish your next bill, according to the statement you have made.

Now that could be embarrassing! 

Set of sunsets...

Over Barrou Monday night.

Self praise...

One of the few ways I stay in touch with what is going on back in Scotland is by receiving the the daily headlines from http://www.heraldscotland.com. Yesterdays headline of "Scottish crime writer is victim of bad plot" caught my eye. It revolved around the fact that Scottish crime writer Logan Mc Rae who had been given poor reviews on Amazon for his latest novel. Nothing unusual about that and 'Nicodemus Jones' is entitled to his opinion - sadly however it turns out that the said Mr Jones is none other than fellow crime writer R.J. Ellory. The same Mr Ellory who apparently,under a pseudonym of course, called his latest tome 'A Quiet Belief in Angels' a "modern masterpiece"

You may (or may not) know I love a good coincidence,except when its used by poor screen writers to make sense of a bad plot, so as I was reading the article I raised a small smile in the knowledge that the well-read Mrs Craig was chomping her way through the very 'masterpiece'!! (Review later but probably not using her real name). 

The power of the internet to influence peoples buying decisions is becoming more and more apparent and like everything else that can be abused it is, by some people. Being in the 'Travel Industry' in the small way we are, we watch this manifesting itself through the ever growing influence of people like 'Tripadviser' a site where a bad review, true or otherwise, can harm a business's reputation irrevocably. It is interesting to note that their group continues to make acquisitions like 'Holiday Lettings' where reviews play a big part in people's choices- no conflict of interest there then!

Footnote: Logan Mc Rae's latest novel 'Birthdays for the Dead' was released last week.  

  

Bedside manner...

Above is a good example of what you will find at almost any brocante in this part of France. It also highlights a particular problem we had when looking for a pair of bedside cabinets for one of the bedrooms in 'Le Bourg' - you rarely see two. We saw many fine individual examples but never a pair at most of the events we visited. This was later explained to us by a French friend - one thing a lot of French country houses do not have the luxury of is space! So in most bedrooms the bed would be against the wall so only allowing for one cabinet - probably for monsieur.

What's in a name?...

Although I quite like 'cobbler' I think if I repaired shoes I would prefer the French title...

'cordonnier' this is probably nearer the old term 'cordwainer' for an actual shoemaker, derived from the name of the Spanish leather from Cordoba,

Church on Sunday...St.Etienne,Tours

We are staying in Tours for this Sunday's church, visiting a church that perhaps gets visited by few tourists because of its competition from churches and cathedral north of the boulevards (Béranger and Heurteloup)

The church of Saint Etienne (Place Michelet)  we see today was built between 1869 and 1874 after a few false starts with temporary churches serving a local community (Saint-Etienne) that was only annexed by the city of Tours in 1846, I'm sure the people of the area thought it worth waiting for...

Its neo-Gothic style is a joy with three pillared aisles supporting a beautiful ceiling.

     

The side chapels and transept windows are again works of the Lobin workshops -you can see much better photographs than mine here

     

Looking from the alter towards the entrance.

    

These two fine specimens look down on you as you leave the church -who and why is uncertain.

There are large shells holding holy water for blessing yourself as you enter the church.

Where's Joan ?

Pas de Joan!

Exterior view of this fine church.

View Saint Etienne church,Tours,France in a larger map

A trim and something for the weekend...

Walking around Tours last week I took this pic.thinking that although it looked pretty it could do with a little trim - especially the fringe.

Its immediate and yet discreet neighbour  intrigued me - no prizes for guessing what type of shop it is.