Outnumbered...but in a good way!

The ladies at Amboise

For the last few days in the Craig household the males (me) have been slightly outnumbered as we have Pauline's sister Eileen and her friends Geraldine and Linda staying with us for a Loire Valley experience. We are trying to cram as much into to their time with us as possible,,,  

On their way to visit Chateau de Chenonceau

Queens of the castle at Villandry

In troglodyte cave for lunch

More l'Art & Lard...

This weekend sees the annual 'Art & Lard' festival return to Le Petit-Pressigny. You can see our highlights from last year's festival here.

Something for the weekend - brocantes / vide-greniers Saturday 13th / Sunday 14th...

Brocantes / vide greniers Saturday 13^th October

* Up to 50 stalls ** 50 to 100 stalls *** 100 to 200 stalls ****More than 200 stalls    ? Unknown

Chatellerault,  Magasin But   Vide-greniers ***

Brocantes / vide greniers Sunday 14^th October

* Up to 50 stalls ** 50 to 100 stalls *** 100 to 200 stalls ****More than 200 stalls    ? Unknown

Ambillou Vide-greniers ?

La Croix en Touraine  Brocante *

Saint-Branchs  Vide-greniers ***

Ending on a high...happy guests at the Old Walnut Mill

Geraniums still putting on a show as they said goodbye!

Comment in guestbook from the last guests of this season at the Old Walnut Mill:

4th October 2018

What can we say that hasn't already been said, lovely place to stay, Jim's helpful emails and website etc.. Some places to eat that haven't been mentioned, 'Creperie le Kerlouet' in Chatellerault, Chez Grand Ma in Le Grand-Pressigny and just a short walk over the bridge to Lesigny and the L'ere de Temps.

Jim & Pauline were wonderfully welcoming and they even managed to arrange for all but one day of blue skies - some feat for late September, early October!

With thanks and very best wishes

Mike & Helena,

Frome

Somerset

UK

Walk and rock...in light and shade around Marcé-sur-Esves

Thursday's club randonnee took us over to the countryside around the village Marcé-sur-Esves  which sits 10 km north of Descartes.

It proved to be a walk in light and shade with a lovely bright and very warm October day.

Our leader took of off the route to check out 'Le Dolmen le Chillou du Feuillet' which apparently dates from the 3rd or 4th millennium BC...that's pretty old!

Interesting bit tree art from Mother Nature.

2018 Sancerre road-trip part II - cathedral stop

As we were nearing our destination, Sancerre, our navigator John and his sat-nav took us on a slightly unexpected approach to the town which turned out to be fortuitous, as it took us past the Cathédrale de Jean Linard a place I had read about but not visited. As we actually drove past it I caught sight of it out of the corner of my eye and made a quick reversal as our lead car sped on.

They realised we were not behind them and returned to find us (not for the first,or last,time!). We were all glad they did as this is quite a place! Not a cathedral in the true sense of the word but it is the life's work of an extraordinarily gifted artist Jean Linard.

I have created a page on our site for this unique place where you can read more and get links to other material.

A surprising find during 'patrimoine' weekend...

During the last weekend of  'Journées du Patrimoine' we came across this interesting church within the forest near Chateau de Usse. Notre-Dame de Rigny just springs up from within the trees - quite the surprise - you can see more on this interesting church here

Barrou - a walk back in time...

On Saturday afternoon,(Oct 6) come and discover the craft and commercial heritage of Barrou.

The walk will be commented by the association HPB (History and Heritage of Barrou).

Meet at 2.30 pm, place des tilleuls in Barrou.

Grande Rue...then and now

2018 Sancerre road-trip part I...picnic lunch and a 'beau detour'.

Travelling from our homes here in Southern Touraine over to Sancerre for a bit of wine tasting, we have many opportunities to take in new places to visit, for this trip Liz had suggested Mehun-sur-Yèvre at the gateway to the Sologne. It is listed as one of ‘Les plus beaux detours de France’, which is always a good point of reference. John who was our navigator for the trip ( he has sat-nav ) had identified a good spot for us to stop and have our picnic lunch – the ‘Jardins du duc Jean de Berry’in the centre of town, which proved to be an excellent choice.

Covering an area of ​​about 3 hectares, in the heart of the town, the gardens are actually crossed by two rivers the Yèvre and Annain. They have been allowed to meander indiscriminately to create little  islands accessed by a series of bridges which make for a very pleasant walk

The backdrop to the gardens are the impressive towers of the former chateau of 'Duc Jean de Berry' and the imposing Notre Dame church.

After a hearty lunch to which everyone had made contributions we headed off thinking (especially Liz, as it has a pottery museum) that there was probably more to explore here than just the gardens.

Footnote: This lot know how to do picnics...we even had a fab dessert of apple pie and custard, courtesy of Angela.

Something for the weekend - brocantes Saturday 6th / Sunday 7th October

Brocantes / vide greniers Saturday 6^th October

* Up to 50 stalls ** 50 to 100 stalls *** 100 to 200 stalls ****More than 200 stalls    ? Unknown

La Riche  Vide-greniers ***

Brocantes / vide greniers Sunday 7^th October

* Up to 50 stalls ** 50 to 100 stalls *** 100 to 200 stalls ****More than 200 stalls    ? Unknown

Chambray-les-Tours  Brocante / Vide-greniers ***

Joue-les-Tours   

Pernay  Vide-greniers ***

Tauxigny-Saint-Bauld  Vide-greniers ?

Tours, Boulevraud Beranger  Brocante ?

Tours, Boulevraud Beranger  Foire au Troc d’automne

Vicq-sur-Gartenpe  Vide-greniers **

A bit of 'Old Hat'

Dominique and I will be trying out some material on Saturday night at Barrou...your support would be appreciated! Also all going well we will repeat it on the 12th in Le Grand-Pressigny.

Randonnée des Fruits d'Automne...Le Grand-Pressigny

Some images from yesterday's Randonnée des Fruits d'Automne' here in Le Grand-Pressigny

 Waiting for the off...

and we're off!

We took our visitors up to see our chateau...and why not,

it was looking great under a blue sky!

Then it was back through the village to the walk 'proper'.

Uphill to  Etableau and then uphill into the woods...

and some shade...

which didn't last long!

Then it was down through Corveaux, past the decheterie and over the metal bridge

Up yet another slope...

before seeing and arriving back at our starting point.

It was autumn and there was fruit (?)

There was certainly plenty of fruit back in the Salles-des-Fetes where our visitors were treated to well deserved cakes, made by our members, plus a glass of cider.