Spoilt for choice...

At the weekend our guests at Les Balcons (http://www.loirevalleyexperience.com/) and Le Bourg (http://www.loirevalleyselfcatering.com/) could visit:

 a medieval festival at Loches,

(source)

 the caves at Vouvray for a bit of wine-tasting,

(source)

a book fair at Angle-surl'Anglin

or horse racing at La Roche Posay...

spoilt for choice really.

Blues brother...

"They promised me the Blues Brothers"

Communauté de communes des Vals de Gartempe et Creuse – site ...

www.vals-gartempe-creuse.com/agenda/2013/08/16/‎

Grand concert "Blues Brothers": sur la place de la République - La Roche-Posay -16 Août à 21:00. Reprises des plus grands succès du mythique groupe des ..

.We went along to our second free music concert at La Roche Posay on Friday night to get a taste of the Blues Brothers but instead we got...

A tribute to Claude Francois,the man who gave us the song* that would eventually become'My Way

This concert, like the previous 'Queen' tribute was free and the singer and the dancing girls were very excitable and energetic but it was all my worst Eurovision nightmares coming true all at once. What he did do however was entertain the crowd...they seemed to love him, even when he got them to clap along out of time with the music... and they gave him a great send off after a few encores. Did I tell you it was free?  

I would have to say a certain member of our company...perhaps starved of a good nights bopping also enjoyed the night...for what it was...live music...and  free.

You can just hear her singing along on this song... 

                                              

Now if  I had a hammer!

*Check out the words on Claude's big hit 'Comme d'habitude'

...oh dear!

Church on Sunday...Candes-Saint-Martin

(Visit our guide to the Loire Valley here)

When you first approach the 12th century collegiate church of Saint Martin from the narrow main street of the town dedicated to his memory, you could be forgiven for thinking what you see is a rather ornate castle rather than a church.

This is the result of the addition (15th century) of fortifications during the Hundred Years War as a means of protecting the original building.

Although, this did not stop damage being inflicted during the wars of religion,which can be witnessed after walking up the steps under the impressively ornate porch ...

...with many of the carvings missing heads.

Here you can also see renovation work that has been carried out on the ornate carvings.  

Through this entrance you enter the impressive nave of the church 'side-on'. The nave's vaulted ceiling is set high above you and is more reminiscent of a cathedral than a church.

There is an impressive arch leading into the choir of the church that contains the main altar and side altars.

The tall fluted pillars are adorned with interesting carvings at varying heights. 

The north transept chapel is dedicated to St Martin and there is a large painting of him as a Roman soldier above the arch. A marble slab on the floor records St Martin died here 8 November 397.

There is a stained glass window above depicting St Martin's body being taken from the church to a boat to be transported upriver to Tours.

Where's Joan ?...she's portrayed in fine style here... 

The west portal which externally looks like the main entrance is reached up a narrow street by the side of the church.

Look out for the heads of Robespierre, Danton and Marat that a worker has made to replace the plumes on one of the capitals of the porch. This was apparently done ​​during the renovation of the church in the middle of the nineteenth century.

If you walk around the church you will see the different styles of architecture dating from different build periods.

Pimp my scooter...

(Visit our guide to the Loire Valley here)

(photo source)

Following on from Thursday's post thought I'd let you see an item from the Saumur tank museum that would have made the rivalry between the 'Mods' and 'Rockers' of the 60's a bit one-sided...

a scooter with a bazooka!

Quinze août...

(Brought to you from experienceloire.com)

Was a bank holiday here yesterday...spent it with friends in Mike and  Liz's lovely garden in Lesigny.

The setting,company, food and wine were great.

 'gone to lunch'

Tanked up...

When our son Paul was over recently we took him over to visit Saumur and when we were there we decided to visit the tank museum.

It's a great place to visit if the weather is less than perfect...or if you are into military hardware.There is a great selection on show from early models...

right up to with missile firing examples...

...but it's not just tanks on display.

Each display has information in French,English and German.

Although there is a 'do not climb on' notice for the tanks they have allowed a small area where kids, young and old can do a bit of clambering. We reckon the entrance fee of  €7.50 is good value but the € 5.00 for taking photographs a bit surprising.

Bikes in tandem...

On a drive through Montsoreau recently we spotted this pair of bicycles outside a restaurant, two for the price of one for my Pinterest bicycles.

Doing our bit for Barrou...

We are busy (thankfully) just now with regular changeovers (guests out - guests in) and after a fairly hectic week last week realised that we were in fact responsible for 18 guests in Barrou alone at the various houses we manage/rent.This didn't include the 4 guests at 'Les Balcons' though they were also enjoying the great spell of weather we have been having here in Southern Touraine. It is pleasing to know that in our small way we are contributing to tourism here in the Loire Valley.

Because of the weather many of the guests,especially the ones with teenage kids, have been enjoying the safe river swimming at nearby Lesigny, a popular place for locals and tourists alike.

Winner of best brocante hat goes to...

My favourite shot from yesterday's brocante at Yzeures-sur-Creuse...where items on display icluded...

the usual unwanted soft toy ...ahhh!

something to take your frustrations out on...

the deerest items?,sorry...

and this classic piece.