carpet vineyards

The landscape of Touraine is carpeted with mile after mile of vineyards.  The name Touraine refers to the area around the nearby city of Tours.  As usual, I snapped this panorama from one of the bike paths that splits this gigantic plot of vines.

To see this skinny photo enlarged, maximize your browser and then click on the image.

American Days 2015

I'm not around to capture the American Days celebration for 2015 this weekend, so I'm showing you a vintage shot from last year's.  This '58 Chevy brings back a lot of fond memories of my youth.  The cars of this era had bench seats.  I'm guessing not everyone knows what those are.

By the way, the festival consists mainly of showing off restored American cars and motorcycles.  But there's also authentic country line dancing (with lessons).

afternoon liftoff over the Loire

This shot is the bookend to my post earlier this week of the them launching in early morning.  Here, two are just beginning their ascents while a third is still inflating on the beach.

the eve of the weekend

Bon weekend.

abstract Thursday

There's something missing from the Amboise train station but I can't tell you what it was.  In any case, what remains is this little abstract.

the levee as shady lane

This nice row of trees provides some welcome shade to the path along the top of the levee.  And this path is well used as it leads to the Friday and Sunday markets.

safe behind the walls

While exploring a new bike route this week, I discovered this rather large vineyard totally surrounded by these imposing walls.  There must be an interesting story behind them (in addition to the vineyard).

early morning liftoff over the château

There have been lots of hot air balloons over Amboise in recent weeks.  I can hear their roars as they fire up the burners in the quiet of early morning.  That's my "wakeup call" to go running with camera in hand down to the river to catch sights like this.

the Royal Ukulele Touraine Orchestra

What a surprise to find at dusk on a Thursday night, a ukulele concert on Place Debré.  And it was a real treat.  And, yes, the title is their real name.

a family sunset

This sunset didn't last long but it was long enough to catch this family on the "beach" of the tip of the Ile d'Or.

On a side note, I am about to start the first of a series of "road trips" all the way to October.  I've got many (but not all) of my posts queued up for Blogger to post automatically for me in my absence.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get the rest completed.  So I want to apologize in advance for not responding to comments on a regular basis.  Likewise, to my fellow bloggers, I apologize for not posting my comments on your sites.  A bientôt.

le tournesol

I found unexpectedly this nice field of sunflowers on a back road where I have not seen them before.  This collection was at its photographic peak on this day in July.  If only the bee had stopped working for a moment and posed for me.

pique-nique sur Loire

This summer has been no picnic with all of the dryness and heat.  But it feels like it's winding down now, and soon the kids will be back in school... la rentrée as it's called in France.

taters and maters

Well that's not what they're called here but that's what we would call them in the southeast US.  These are more wonderful gifts from our neighbor's gardens.

August status report

In spite of this hot and dry summer, I think these grapes are looking pretty good.

mon péché est de manger trop de pêches

I caught this beauty while tending the garden of our neighbor a few weeks ago.   This has been a good year for peaches and I love them... maybe too much.  Thus today's title which also points out the importance of accent marks in French.  "Mon péché est de manger trop de pêches."    "My sin is eating too many peaches."  Given this and the story of Adam and Eve, it seems to me the forbidden fruit should have been a peach.  (On the other hand, in my wife's view, punning is the bigger sin.)

brocante August 2015

This annual brocante in nearby Moulineuf is always fun to visit whether you buy anything or not.  It's difficult not to buy something though.  I mean, where else can you shop for cannons and dolls in the same place?

it's Saturday, it's another sunset

Friday I got travelin' on my mind

I have a lot of travelling coming up in the next two months so it is very much on my mind as I'm getting ready to be away for awhile.  (Today's title is a "bookend" to Monday's post.)  Bon weekend.

what to do on the Loire in August

le martinet - the swift

This is not a great photo but it's the best I have gotten with the elusive swift.   I tried "panning" (following a bird in flight by moving the camera) but quickly found it to be impossible as they fly way too fast.  In fact, to get this shot I simply made many, many random shots into the sky at a very fast shutter speed in the hopes of catching one.  And this blurry image is the best so far.

Anyway, we love the swifts and swallows (hirondelles in French) around our house, as they eat prodigious amounts of insects.  And, to us, they make an interesting chirping sound as they swoop around scarfing up dinner.  Some of our neighbors, however, are probably not pleased with their nests that the birds build underneath the eaves of the houses.  (We don't have eaves, so no problem for us.)

I never tire of tile

As you well know by now, there are many homes in this area with tile and slate roofs (and also timber-framing).  And you also know how much I continue to love to capture them.  This one is on the Ile d'Or across from the château.

Monday morning you sure look fine

With apologies to Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham) for borrowing the lyrics.  Now I'm going to be hearing them all day.

into the woods

This path encircles the Ile d'Or and it's part of my usual running route.  It's great in the summer to have a long stretch of path in the shade.  That little mound is there for the off road bikes to ride over.

the canal project

I happened upon this project on a little "island" in the Loire that has been exposed by the dry weather this summer.  I'm envisioning a budding young civil engineer spending his or her afternoon digging this rather complicated series of canals and ponds.  And I'm wondering if this youngster is from the middle east as, to me, the central design resembles a recumbent camel.  Bon weekend, tout le monde.

les jardins au bord de la Loire

It's not permitted to build in the area between the levee and the river Loire, so much of this space is devoted to gardens (I took this shot from the top of the levee).  This panorama shows a typical layout of garden plots where the owners grow vegetables and sometimes flowers and fruit trees.  It's a lot of work to keep these tended and watered as we learned while minding a neighbor's garden in July.  But the results are absolutely worth it.

la bouche d'égout - the manhole

I have an ongoing fascination for manhole covers (plaques d'égout) like this.  Even when we go on vacation, I am always on the lookout for interesting ones.  This one nearby my house was manufactured at a foundry in the town of Point-à-Mousson which is on the Moselle river in northeast France.

a summer's day

It was one of those hot days during the last heat wave and I was out collecting photos for ADP.  Then down by the Loire I encountered this father and daughter making the best of it by doing a little fishing.

you name it

This mangled tree branch has been submerged under the Loire for a long time but is now visible thanks to the ongoing drought.  I'll let you decide what this looks like, if anything, to you.

le site des fouilles archéologiques - the archaeological dig site

This dig in an area known as the plateau des Châtelliers took place this July right next to la Butte de César (click on this link to see the butte itself).  The purpose of the dig is to try to learn the origin and purpose of the butte.  I have yet to see any published results or conclusions, but I'll be keeping my ear to the ground, so to speak.

a pensive moment

CDP Theme Day for August - "bicycle"

The first of every month is theme day for the bloggers of City Daily Photo, so click here to see how the other bloggers interpreted this theme.  For my shot I choose this photo of my bike taken near the end of a week long bike trip down the Loire from Amboise awhile back.