CHINON IN SUMMER

Some photos from my girls’ weekend last July (2010).

I love Chinon, it is still my favourite town in France.

We went to Chinon for the day, parked by the campsite and admired the lovely view of the château as we walked into town.

We walked over the bridge and lingered a while, marvelling at the sight of the river, the Vienne,  below.

It was hard to choose where to have lunch, there are so many restaurants and cafés in Chinon.

You can’t escape the images of Rabelais, the monk, in Chinon.

This is my favourite stationery shop in the whole of France.

There are plenty of leafy places to escape the heat for a few moments.

There are so many lovely old buildings and such a feel of history all around as you walk about the town.

The fishmonger is now sadly closed.  I remember it when it was thriving, an old fashioned place with traditional tiling on the floor and walls.  It’s sad to see it closed down.

We have been visiting Chinon for almost twenty years and it has slowly changed.  It was rather more down-at-heel when we first stayed there, on the camp site.  But it still had lots of places to eat well.  Nowadays it seems smarter and more up-market.  But we still love it.

I think this was actually the first time I had seen these colourful little macaroons anywhere.  My friend and I resisted.

This is where we had morning coffee.

Then another fabulous view of the château and the town as we returned to the car to go home.

These fascinating flowers were on the tree next to where we had parked the car.  I have no idea what they are.

AROUND LE GRAND-PRESSIGNY

A few photos from previous years taken around the village.

The Rue du Four Banal

The château and the top of the Four Banal

Barrie’s well in Rue du Château

The old factory

Quaint little old house, recently sold

A corner cottage, recently abandoned and since then it has been boarded up

WINDOW SHOPPING IN CHINON

The patisserie is always a favourite window to look in.

ODDS AND ENDS

A mélange of photos from 2010.

A field of cosmos on the road between Le Grand-Pressigny and Preuilly-sur-Claise.

Inside our favourite restaurant in Chinon, L'Ardoise.


Isabella and Amélie line-dancing chez nous on a beautiful August evening.


My dream car. A Renault 4. Although I'd prefer one without straw sticking out of the back.

L'ART & LARD 2009

The "Art & Lard" has just taken place in Le Petit-Pressigny. We missed it this year, sadly, but last year we were there. It was fun. A sort of mixture of art and food, with a few old cars and tractors thrown in for good measure. Aslo a fishing competition.

Actually, the old cars and tractors seem to be at every event, everywhere.

LA ROCHE-CLERMAULT

On an an incredibly hot day in June 2006, we stopped at La Roche-Clermault. We were riding around, trying to find a gite we had booked and which we were sure was somewhere nearby. I took a break under a shady tree by the church while Nick continued the search. As it happens, the gite was nowhere near. We were looking in the wrong location. Gites are like that, we have found.

TOUR DE FRANCE 2008

The Tour de France passed through Le Grand-Pressigny on a beautiful summer's day in July 2008. What a fabulous spectacle it was. I wrote about it in the blog here.