Loches-en-Voix...sounded like a good day out

We had a good day out on Saturday taking in the diverse range of music on offer at Loches' free music festival 'Loches-en-Voix'. The fact it was Saturday meant that we also had the atmosphere and colours of their great morning market. Our first taste of music was with 'Fanfare la Saugreneu' who were wandering through the town giving us a taste of their music...lively bunch and very entertaining.

We then moved up to the stage that was set out in front of the 'Hotel de Ville' where our afternoon's entertainment would continue. We had pre-booked a table for lunch just up from the stage at the 'Lanterne'.

Our seats at the front of the restaurant meant we could hear,if not see, the acts perform on the nearby stage while we ate a good lunch. This also happened to be the restaurant of choice for many of the musicians.

 First up we had the trio 'Riendanstonfolk' who gave us an interesting set that included Johnny Cash's 'Burning ring of fire', Neil Young's ' Harvest and songs from 'Oh brother, where art thou?' from where they had taken the musical 'style' from...really enjoyed them. At the time I thought that they deserved a bigger audience than they had (they did)  but on reflection their time-slot of midday probably wasn't the best as most of the French, like us, would be sitting down to lunch. 

The restaurant were kind enough to let us keep our seats until the next musical offering took to the stage at 3.00pm. In-between times we were entertained by a wedding party taking to the stage - they had to to access the 'Hotel de Ville' - for a photo shoot and to release some heart shaped balloons.

Next up were the 'a cappella' group 'Pitch Perfect' from Holland who almost lived up to their name. The way they were 'miked' up I don't think did them justice,that plus the open air stage meant their performance was slightly lost. There was however no doubting their obvious talent. 

 As we moved away to assure ourselves of good seats in St. Anthony's for the gospel choir we had to pass by the back of the stage where the sound was actually better!

More on the choir tomorrow...

My first steps...part III

As part of the step project I am building a little retaining wall down one side as you can see above but had to stop as we had guests arriving. Will have to get back to this when I can - that and the retaining wall I am building at the bottom of the slope.

I have used some corrugated iron I had behind some reinforced pillars I built and will eventually  face it with the stone we have lying around.

Church on Sunday...Saint George's Chapel, Rochecorbon

On a recent trip over to Vouvray we decided to try our luck and see if the little Saint Georges Chapel in Rochcorbon was open...and this time it was.

Saint Georges used to be a small village in its own right but as its population diminished it was absorbed into the larger Rochecorbon (1808). As you drive along the banks of the Loire towards Rochecorbon from Tours keep you eyes open for a small (very) sign on your right ,first major road off to the left. 

For such a small place it is full interesting things..

Not least, its 12th century frescoes...

  depicting the last supper.

More pics...will add more detail when I add it to my 'churches'page on experienceloire.com

Bastille day fireworks...

This weekend they will be hard to avoid...here in Southern Touraine we could have three nights of them.
Saturday night we can watch the fireworks on the bridge at La Guerche (11.00pm), Sunday we have the option of  Abilly (10.30pm), here in Barrou (11.00), Chambon (10.30pm), Le Petit Pressigny (11.00pm), and Preuilly-sur-Claise (11.30). On Monday you can have more at Betz leChateau (10.30pm), Descartes (11.00pm) or Le Grand Pressigny (10.30pm)...so really spoilt for choice. We are actually slipping 'over the border' to watch the great show they put on at the bridge at La Roche Posay on the 14th (11.00).

My first steps...part II

At certain stages I could only get the concrete down by the bucket load - cheaper than a gym membership! 

Although it was hard wok I enjoyed the new challenge.

More on Monday...

My first steps...part 1

No, not as a child, I am referring to my June 'project' at 'Le Bourg' where the mixing and laying of much concrete lead to the ultimate formation of a new set of steps down to the 'lower garden' at the rear of the house. 

The steps have over the years had many incarnations - originally there was a straight set of stone steps down the side of the perimeter wall but it became overgrown and unusable.The next one which twisted and turned down the slop was formed using felled trees holding back earth and gravel. This lasted a long time but over the years erosion has made them unsafe.

Miki, the owner of the house had tried to improve the situation by adding tiles she had and again this helped for a while before they began to slip down the slope.

 Because of the twist and turns my first task was to come up with a framework that I could use to form the steps in sections...that done...

I could start to mix and pore the concrete.

More tomorrow...

Something for the weekend...

This weekend Loches is doing its best to entertain you...you have the end of their week-long 'Loches Plage', which sadly has not been given the opportunity to shine due to inclement weather and their long weekend of 'Loches en Voix'.Which features the eclectic mix that only the French could put together...something for everyone perhaps?

Free to all. 

'Loches Plage' program (PDF): > link

Loches en Voix:
www.ville-loches.fr/festival-loches-en-voix

Right Royal posting...

Photo credit

I have never been a great one for reading tabloid newspapers as I found them to be politically motivated often lacking in any real substance and full of mainly bad news.Back in the UK I did buy the larger, both in physical size and substance, 'Sunday Times' in an effort to open my mind to more 'life comment' but inevitably found myself in the'Business section' or only glancing at headlines in search of a story to sustain my interest or simply reverting to the 'magazines' where I often found articles that informed me and drew me into the world of words.As the week advanced I would often glance at the pile of paper and consider the trees that were lost to provide myself and others with much information that we did not really need.

Since moving to France I have become less interested...one because my lack of French makes it very difficult to read the newspapers and two because I have adopted a 'need to know' attitude to news,by visiting the BBC's news homepage on the internet and checking via their headlines that the world is in fact still in turmoil but still turning.'One minute world news' does it for me. One thing that has often intrigued me about the news is how a story dies when it loses, in someone's eyes, its news worthiness.Flight 370 for example is no longer given any column inches yet the story is the same today as when it first 'broke' - it is still missing!. The people directly affected by the incident are still affected but apparently are not now worthy of consideration by 'the press'.

Where am I going with these ramblings I hear you ask...

The internet is of course a good source of information (and misinformation) and through it I try to keep up with the bigger picture of what is going on around us here in our adopted 'homeland'. Things are not great here from an economic perspective and the desire for this 'proud' country to hold on to its old ways in terms of  power,whether it be of the people or the politician may ultimately be their undoing. We have noticed the gradual changes in the cost of living here - this is normally the only measure we have of the bigger picture - but I have also found some interesting reading in the 'opinions' of Rafik Smati a French entrepreneur. He is, I find, very good at getting to the point and where we all know the world's view on French bureaucracy he defines it in a way that hits home.His headlines certainly catch your attention 'The French are lions lead by donkeys' got me reading! Love the fact that in one article he defines the new 'Labor Code' by weight, it weighs a kilo and a half by the way, which is an obvious burden to employers.He also gives out little snippets such as the 'Official Journal' of the administrative and fiscal system having increased from 15,000 to 23,000 pages per year in twenty years, the 'statute of the Assembly' has gone from 433 pages in 1973 to nearly 4000 pages in 2004 and the 'general tax code' is an easy read at 3450 pages long.  He also often 'has a go' at his country's 'relationship with power' citing the photograph at the top of this article as an (bad) example of this. With the queen holding her own brolly while the new mayor of Paris has her 'man' for the job. It was further embellished by the addition of a second photograph (below) added by Lee Hesse. Oh dear!!

P.S. Love the fact that both bureaucracy and entrepreneur have French origins - two words that do not have a lot of synergy.  

Getting shirty with me...

I received a couple of additions to my wardrobe on Saturday evening, the two t-shirts above. The 'Barroudeurs' one was given for my small contribution in helping set up the evenings festivities and the second was from friends Jane and Peter who brought it back from their home town of Mjddleham in the Yorkshire Dales who had them made to celebrate the Tour de France's 'Grand Départ' which included passing through the town as part of the route.

We were lucky enough to share the 'Tour' experience here in the Loire Valley last year with Jane and Peter.