le marronnier - the chestnut tree

The chestnut trees are in full bloom in Amboise now.  And with the nice sun yesterday it was the perfect day to capture them.

la faïence au château d'Amboise

2015 is the 500th anniversary of François I becoming the king of France.  Francis I, as he is called in English, is largely credited with bringing the Renaissance to France.  This included convincing Leonardo da Vinci to spend his last years in Amboise at Clos Lucé.   Francis led a fascinating and influential life and you can read a summary of it here.

In honor of Francis and the Renaissance, a fascinating collection of ceramics is on display until November at the château.  Pictured here is one of my favorites which depicts the emblem of Francis I (which is explained in the link above).  The ceramics (faïence in French) are provided by famous French manufacturer Gien (here is a link to a video about Gien).

les voûtes de la tour Heurtault

These vaults line a spiral ramp of the tour Heurtault of the château at Amboise.  The ramp allowed horse-drawn carriages to climb from street level up to the level of the grounds of the château.  After some recent renovations, tourists now exit the château via this tower so this was the first time I have seen it.  Here it is as seen from the outside.

on the right track

While waiting at the Amboise train station, I noticed these nice lines and subtle colors.

Spring arrives at Saint Denis

Bon dimanche!

le coeur de la ville est par là

"The heart of town is this way."  If you click on this image to enlarge it, you can see that that is what the sign indicates.  Normally, I would find an angle to avoid street signs but this was too good of a coincidence to pass up for this week's version of "Saturday sunset".

a floral Friday

Flowers at the château Amboise.  Bon weekend à tout le monde !

la passerelle - the pedestrian bridge

This is the pedestrian bridge leading to the keep at Chinon.  Of course, to me, it's another abstraction opportunity.

All right, Mr DeVilleD'Amboise, I'm ready for my close-up

spring on Place Debré

These folks ascending the ramp are likely headed to the entrance of the château on this beautiful spring day.  It was quite the different scene when I took this shot from the same location several winters ago.

the tulip parade - le défilé des tulipes

It was a gorgeous day in Amboise yesterday.  And these tulips on top of the levee were happily catching some rays.

the wisteria is back - la glycine est de retour !

I went to visit the château in Amboise yesterday.  It was a glorious spring day and I was pleased to see this wisteria in bloom.  Expect to see more as I'm seeing it everywhere now.  Bon dimanche!

live from Amboise, it's Saturday night

The fair has come to town and it has all the rides and games and junk food you'd expect to find at a fair in the US.  I glad I was not on this incredibly fast ride when I captured it in a very short time lapse (0.8 second) last night.

through a glass darkly

Well maybe not all that darkly but this window does have an interesting view from the château at Chinon.  Bon weekend!

a peeling door

Well you may not find this so appealing but I thought this door makes for an interesting abstraction.  Maybe it conjures up some images for you as it does me.

a spring bouquet

I've posted this vase before but it changes every time I visit Chenonceau.  I think almost always the flowers come fresh from the gardens there.

Tuesday morning mist

On this Tuesday morning in March, the mist was very heavy but at the same time a bright full sun was quickly emerging.  The resulting image of these buildings and their reflections on the Loire had not the usual foggy grey but instead a somewhat brighter, gauzy look.

Monday - time to get in gear

These are some of the gears that operate the clock and its bell in the keep (tower) at Chinon.

the Cathedral at Orléans in spring

The cathedral was in full bloom last week when I went there with our family visiting from the States.  They have gone home now and we are missing them.

cruising up the Vienne

The Vienne flows into the Loire not too far from Amboise.  I presume this is a boat for tourism as it was filled with people.  It was a beautiful day for a cruise.

reflecting on spring

The trees still appear to be stuck in winter, but that should change soon.

l'hôtel

This charming hotel's web site says it dates to the sixteenth century.  The exterior is certainly in wonderful condition.  And the design is classic.

the fire escape

It was a gloriously sunny day yesterday at Clos Lucé where I snapped this steel and stone abstract.

l'asperge - asparagus

The white asparagus is a specialty of this area and they are in full swing now.  These are from the Sunday market in Amboise.  Miam!

l'oie à tête barée - the bar-headed goose

It's a holiday in France today (the day after Easter), but the geese are still on duty at château Chenonceau.

Pâques

Here was the scene at the Easter service last night at St Denis.  Joyeuses Pâques!

embellishments

Even the stairwells at château Chenonceau are embellished with finely carved stone.

the Chancellery gets a haircut

Our family is visiting from the States this week, so in spite of the threatening rain we visited the château at Chenonceau.  It was interesting to see the Chancellery in the garden of Diane de Poitiers where the wisteria had been trimmed significantly.  Of course it is quite bare in winter anyway, but compare with this photo from June.

the cedar of Lebanon

This majestic tree presides over the grounds of the Amboise train station.

CDP Theme Day - "My camera shy self-portrait"

The first of every month is Theme Day for the bloggers of City Daily Photo.  Click here to see how the others interpreted today's theme.

I took this selfie on Place Debré in front of a store display of Easter candy.  Peep peep.