Something for the weekend...

http://www.experienceloire.com/whats-on-in-october.htm

The unfortunately titled annual 'Art & Lard' festival (for English speakers anyway) is this Sunday at Le Petit-Pressigny  You can view the works of up to 20 local artists set up in a variety of locations throughout this charming little village. This year's event will also have some musical content in the form of a concert by a brass quintet in the church (not sure when) plus a 'retro-swing group' providing street entertainment. The 'lard' part of the day involves 'tastings' for children and adults plus an exhibition of medieval crockery. 

We understand  there is also an 'exhibition' at the nearby Château de Ré.

From 2013
From 2012
From 2011

La Folie...

We had often sat at the traffic lights at the junction where the D50 from Veigne meets Rue Nationale on the way up to Tours and looked over at the busy carpark at the the adjacent restaurant 'La Folie'.

To us this is always a good sign of good food at competitive prices but we had never tried it - we were always either passing before or after lunch as we'd be on 'a mission' of some sort and as anyone will tell you you can't complete much over lunchtime...except a good lunch perhaps!  

On the way up to Tours yesterday to pick up Miki (the owner of 'Le Bourg') we noticed it had reopened after a bit of a makeover so, as it was in fact a lunchtime train we were meeting, decided to try it on the way back to Barrou.

The new interior is very modern and comfortable. We had a lamb tagine (there was thee other choices) which was very tasty. A couple of things we didn't like so much were the fact that you selected your desert from a chill cabinet and had to take your coffee from a little machine (you can see it on the left above) but overall it was tasty and good value for money.

Late arrival...

 Pauline's flight from Dublin yesterday was delayed by over half an hour despite the ten minutes it showed on the 'arrivals board'.The actual time shown was also wrong as well and for someone without a watch or phone was a little confusing. Apparently they had been held up 'in the air' as there were military aircraft taking off. This also delayed the take-off the return flight which arrived back in Dublin about an hour late. Now had this happened last week Pauline would have struggled to make her connecting flight to Prestwick.

Because of the time she arrived we decided to just have lunch at the airport restaurant where we have eaten before and we were not disappointed. The chef there makes an extremely thick burger with everything on it - half cooked as the French like it - very good!

Irish humour...

When we were off playing on our golf trip last month we did, as we have always done before, spend the last afternoon in Dublin,normally in the temple bar area of the city. Walking around Dublin we passed this bicycle - don't know if it was a crime-scene or just that the owner wanted to keep his front wheel and seat.

I actually had to stay overnight due to flight time back to Tours. In the taxi to the hotel the driver said, when I told him where I was staying, "You don'y want to be staying there,they make you make your own bed" keeping it going I said that that was ok as I was pretty domesticated,to which he replied " No, I mean they give you a hammer and nails" - you have to love them.

On the face of it...

 
While Pauline has been away in Scotland I have concentrated on facing the retaining 'wall' I installed at the foot of the slope at 'Le Bourg'.

Finished it midday yesterday just as it started to rain.

It takes 35 steps to get to the top of the hill and I calculated that just to carry the lime mortar mix down I must have taken around 2700 steps...cheaper than a gym membership!

Bloomin' 'eck...

Great to see the flowers still blooming into October these are of Abilly's 'wall flowers' and bridge.   

Church on Sunday...St.Hilaire de Mer

We happened upon the church of St. Hilaire as we passed through the small town of Mer (nowhere near the sea) on our way to Beaugency recently. Its striking 35 mtr high Gothic style 16th century bell tower is hard to miss.

There was a priory church on this site in the 12th century The nave with its two side chapels was rebuilt in the 15th century, it ends with a three-sided apse

From the outside it appears quite a narrow building but once you step inside you are immediately taken by how wide it feels!

The side chapels.

The rather ornately carved pulpit.

There is a rather flamboyant wooden side altar.

Organ

It has a  wonderful wood panelled vaulted ceiling fitted out in 1700...

...and some pretty windows.

The baptismal font with luxury carpet - nice touch!

Where's Joan?...see near to her greatest victory sadly she doesn't get a mention!

As you look down towards the back of the church it is easy to see the offset door of the bell tower...

...why the bell tower is offset to the rest of the church I'm not sure exactly, plus the history is a bit unclear. If the bell tower is from the 16th century then it was built after the nave was rebuilt in the 15th (?)

(credit: NotreFamille.com)

Found this copy of postcard which purports to date from the 1900s showing a taller central nave

When you look at one side of the tower you can see where it was attached to to another building but only only on this side!

Just makes the church that little more interesting.

I'll follow the sun...

Took these shots on way back home via the D50 on the same evening last week...

I was hoping to make it to Le Grand Pressigny to catch the sun behind the chateau.

Did make it!

Something for the weekend...

 04/10/2014

On Saturday the Opera House in Tours is hosting an open day and inviting visitors in to enjoy privileged access to the venue, including the costume storage area. In the afternoon, you can attend costume rehearsals. A great opportunity to get behind the scenes. We went along last year - very interesting.

http://www.operadetours.fr/

Easily missed...

On way back from Ligueil on Sunday we made a detour through Chatilier as our friends who were with us had never been. The chateau there is unusual as it still has a water filled moat - quite unique around these parts. Although it is privately owned and cannot be visited it is well worth a 'drive-by'.

In this shot you can see the lady of the house entering via her own little drawbridge - which I would have to say looks a little precarious!

Throughout the year the chateau organizes concerts in the 'Grange des Protestants' (barn) which is a great venue. 

Homme free!

As we arrived in Ligueil on Sunday we were met by these happy ladies, pleased with their purchases and happy to have left their hubbies at home something they had plotted on an earlier blogpost.

Jean's pic.

One sad thing re our visit to Ligueil was discovering that 'Le Croissant' had closed down - it was Jean who had put us on to this place back in 2011.It is always sad to see this as small villages / towns here in France desperately need to keep a hold of as much commerce as possible.