Near Laval

Last Wednesday.

The Risle valley

I have thought almost every time I have driven across this viaduct that I would like to stop to take a photograph. Last Saturday week I got my wish when the car broke down but unfortunately the sun was too low for some of the pictures I would have liked to take.

In old Pouance

This is the only picture I took on our recent flying visit.

Another dawn

Because it is situated almost at the extreme western end of its time zone, La Prévière can be a good spot to see the dawn without having to get up early - especially in October.

Chartres

On our journey both to and from the Auvergne we spent a night at Chartres. The cathedral is considered a Gothic masterpiece and I allowed time on our return trip for a visit. We had seen it before, many years ago, but my memory of that occasion was vague, as was Mrs S's.

Having booked into our hotel, we had time to spare before dinner so we set off (by car) towards the city centre. I eventually managed to get fairly near to what I thought to be the centre, although the cathedral was hidden by the high buildings by which we were surrounded. I was lucky enough to find a blue badge parking space and we got out of the car and crossed the square in which I had parked, only to find that we had arrived slap in the middle of the shopping centre and not within walking distance of the cathedral for Mrs S. We made our way back to the hotel for dinner.

The following morning we tried again, and this time managed to park just 100 yards from the cathedral. Walking round to admire the west front, one of the most spectacular in Europe, we were disappointed to find it clad in scaffolding and completely hidden from view. We got back in the car and headed for the Channel.

Two for the price of one?

The French very nearly have two Rivers Loire. There is the Loire, feminine and spelled with an 'e' at the end, and then there is the Loir, masculine and without an 'e' to its name.

La Loire (feminine, with an 'e') is the longest river in France. It rises in the volcanic mountains of the Auvergne, flows north and then turns west before finally emerging into the Bay of Biscay by St Nazaire after some 629 miles. Le Loir (masculine, without an 'e') on the other hand, is a mere tributary of the larger Loire - although there are those who claim it a more beautiful river. I have no photo of le Loir and the picture above is of La Loire at Champtoceaux, just a few miles upstream from Nantes, near the Atlantic.

A la memoire

At the side of the road from Blesle to Lautrec. The inscription reads:

To our cousin. In memory of Alphonse Florin of the French Forces of the Interior. Assassinated by the Boches 7 August 1944 aged 24.

Invasion

The wisteria was nearly into the upstairs bedroom.

Passiflora

The passion flower had sprawled right across the door to the shed where the gardening tools are kept.

The Last Rose of Summer

I wanted to prune the roses and it seemed a shame just to consign this bloom to the tip with the cuttings so I brought it indoors and it filled the living room with a beautiful perfume. Until then we hadn't realised that this rose is fragrant! The buds never came to anythings.

This wasn't really the last rose. We have a couple of low, ground-cover rose bushes that were still in bloom when we left just over a week ago.