New Year's eve of 2017

We're back in Amboise and awaiting the new year.  In this shot you can see the château decked out in its holiday lights.  Have a joyful and safe New Year's eve !

Christmas 2016

Christmas at Château Chenonceau.

Christmas Eve 2016

I'm still in the States celebrating with family but here is a recent shot of the belfry over rue Nationale in Amboise.  Merry Christmas everyone!

what in the world

Another parting shot as we are off to the States for Christmas, so there won't be a post every day but I'll do what I can.  For my parting shot, though, I am leaving you with a little mystery.  I dashed over to château Chenonceau to get photos of their holiday decorations but I snapped this shot out the window as the sun was setting from one of the galleries that span the river Cher.  The question is, what in the world are those floating triangles?

showing their colors

The Chapelle Saint-Hubert completes this nice trio of blue, white, and red.

shadowgate

No, not a scandal, but a fortunate projection of one of our neighbor's gate onto the wall of another neighbor's home.

wine delivery American style

This old Chevrolet delivery truck has been perfectly restored (or perfectly maintained for all I know).  While it no longer makes deliveries, it serves as a great advertisement for a local seller of whiskeys and wines.  Here it was on display on Place Debré during the festival celebrating the arrival of the first bottles of wine from the 2016 harvest (known as Touraine primeur).

City Daily Photo Theme Day - "transitions"

The first of every month is Theme Day for the worldwide bloggers of City Daily Photo.  You can see how the other bloggers interpreted the theme here.  For my post, I chose this old windmill that to me has a very Jules Verne style to it.  I understand there are a number of them in this area; here is another one I snapped earlier this year.  I was greatly surprised and pleased to recently find this one in my own "backyard" in Amboise.  It's located at the high school that teaches wine production.

Of course, these old style windmills marked a transition to a new type of energy source in their day.  I'm hoping their modern "offspring" will mark an energy transition for us as well.

the spray

This tortoise sprays water into the air in the fountain designed by Max Ernst, much to the amusement of the kids who stop by after a long day of touring the château and Clos Lucé.

a beautiful day

It was another beautiful autumn day when I grabbed this shot of the levee and the château... and of course the golden leaves.

vaulted road

While most of the leaves are gone now, I still have some nice views from this wonderful autumn in Amboise.

unusual window

This window on a busy street would seem to provide some protection while remaining an interesting design.

la place du marché en automne

Here's the same market place as Tuesday's post, but without all those merchants and shoppers and fog, on a beautiful fall day.  Happy Thanksgiving to all.

impressionistic

I can't help but think I've seen this landscape hanging in a museum somewhere.

neither snow nor fog...

Here, a little fog doesn't slow down the customers from making their appointed rounds at the marché.

la commanderie des Grands Vins à Amboise

This past weekend another edition of the local wine festival, Fête du Touraine Primeur, was conducted to celebrate the arrival of the first bottles of wine from this year's harvest.  It's in the same tradition as the Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations that you may already know.  The commanderie was created to promote the local wines throughout the world.  Their costumes are inspired by the times of King Francis I, roi François Premier, of the 16th century.  The photo was taken during the evening procession from the church Saint-Denis to Place Debré where activities and ceremonies were conducted... including the all-important tasting of the new harvest.

Here's a shot from last year's procession.

the pearly gate

Yesterday, I had the rare opportunity to enter the grounds of château Gaillard which is generally closed to the public outside of summer tourist season. The weather was perfect and while the leaves had mostly all fallen, there remained this wonderful autumn carpet.  Heavenly.

out of the mist

On a recent foggy morning, this young tree burst onto the scene, fully ablaze in its autumn colors.

iconic twins

I've always tried to embellish my shots around town with street lamps because I really like their simple yet elegant design.  Today I decided to put them center stage.

dawn on the levee

The good thing about the shorter days now is that I can easily get photos at dawn.  Today sunrise was at 8:03 am (Central European Time).

sawtooth roof

This is part of an old abandoned factory.  I find these roofs really interesting... and practical.

reflections on the Cher

The Cher is famously known as the river over which Château Chenonceau is built.  The stone structure marks the corner of the estate's property.  I took this shot from a wonderful path the runs alongside the river and behind the château.

sunset Sunday

Here's a departure from my normal sunset Saturday post.

Place Richelieu in autumn

It's been (and is) a really beautiful autumn here.  Lots of golds and even reds and sunshine.

take me to the river

All roads lead to the Loire.

pressing matters

I just recently discovered this 1875 grape press on display next to the vineyards at the local viticulture high school.  You can judge by the size of the beam how much pressure this press was able to apply.  This post is for all my friends in the States who have pressing matters to attend to today, election day.

the fly by

I had to scramble to grab my camera as this guy suddenly sailed by at low altitude over our home.  While it may appear that he is spewing white smoke behind, fortunately, they're just clouds.

Foulées Amboisiennes 2016

Recently the annual footrace in Amboise was conducted on a glorious, warm Sunday afternoon.  The start and finish is just in front of the château.  Alas, I wasn't able to participate this year but wait'll next year!  as they say.

foggy morning

We've had our share of them here lately.  The days are getting noticeably shorter and made even more evident as France "fell back" an hour last Sunday.  Sunset is now around 5:30 pm.

Leonardo's studio

It's been 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci left Italy to spend his final years in Amboise. He brought with him three of his masterpieces including the Mona Lisa.  His home here, Clos Lucé is currently commemorating his arrival with various programs and exhibitions.  Shown here is a recreation of the artist's workshop.

RGB

My neighbor's wall has the best red ivy I've seen here this year.  Throw in a beautiful blue sky and some vivid greenery and voilà.

Theme Day - "out of focus"

The first of every month is Theme day for the international bloggers of City Daily Photo, and today the theme is "out of focus".  What a dream for photographers everywhere to show a photo badly out of focus and have it be welcomed (or at least invited).  Click here to see how the other bloggers interpreted today's theme.

For ADP, I decided to go with this fuzzy shot from last November.  It's from the torch-lit parade through the streets of Amboise celebrating the arrival of the first batch of wine from last autumn's regional harvest (l'arrivée du Touraine Primeur).  Back then I didn't post any parade shots because they were all were out of focus!

now that's a costume

This fellow was strolling around the grounds of Clos Lucé when I snapped this shot.  He was quite shy and just didn't seem to want to pose for me.  Maybe he'll open up, so to speak, for Halloween.

the château and the gold

The shot was taken in the (currently golden) vineyards of the local high school for future wine makers.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  This particular school literally sits on high above the Loire river valley and has this commanding view of the château in the distance.

déja vu

No, this is not one of my trip photos from Japan (although I have lots of them).  Amazingly and coincidentally, on the day we returned to Amboise, there was a tea ceremony conducted in the mansion at Clos Lucé.  The visiting Japanese ceramicist agreed to introduce the concept to visitors as part of the regular tour.  She was just as astonished to hear I had just visited her home country as I was to see her here in Amboise.  The old cliché, it's a small world, couldn't be more applicable.

And due to all our travelling, home renovations, and various other projects, today, I am also announcing a bit of a change to ADP.  For the foreseeable future it will be more aptly known AADP, the 2nd "A" being "Almost" as I will not necessarily publish a photo every day.  With all of my "distractions", I find I cannot really produce enough shots of sufficient quality to continue on a daily basis.  However, I will post them as I think they are worth your time to view.

Theme Day - "abandoned"

The first of every month is Theme Day for the worldwide bloggers of City Daily Photo.  October's theme is "abandoned".  You can click here to see how the other bloggers interpreted the theme.  For ADP, I chose this abandoned office building of the enterprise Mabille.  Presses used in wine making as well other agricultural equipment were manufactured here under that name from 1835 to 1965.

Regular viewers of this blog may be interested to know that parts of this building were mysteriously posted recently here and here.  As a reminder, I will be away on travel for awhile but I'll be back.

off on another adventure

A shot from right outside our front door as these hot air balloons start their adventure shortly before sunset.

I know it seems like I just came back from a break from ADP, but here I am taking another one.  This time we're off on our own adventure to Japan.  However, I have queued up tomorrow's photo (CDP Theme day) to be automatically posted while we're in flight. So for now, au revoir.

the garden gate

This elaborate stone entrance is to the garden at Château de la Bourdaisière.  The stone bridge in front crosses the moat around the château.  It's good to own a château.

blazing in the wind

These grasses, backlit by a bright autumn sun, seem to be glowing.

picnic at Château Gaillard

The big finale for the weekend food festival was a Sunday evening picnic on the grounds of Château Gaillard.  There were strolling musicians to entertain us while we dined and afterwards there was a lively dance band.  The weather was perfect and the brightly lit château set the festive mood.

la promenade royale

This last weekend there was first festival gastronomic in Amboise.  Included in the festivities was a parade down "main street" (rue Nationale) by the local volunteers of the Renaissance spectacle.

bathed in the glow

The new lights on the château have been turned on after nine years of darkness.  These new ones (166 LED projectors) are so efficient that together they use about as much energy as a clothes iron.  I think it makes for a magical look.

complicated sunset

Saturday sunset time.  This August one was an intricate mix of high and low clouds.

mellow in yellow

Bon weekend tout le monde.

Autumnal equinox 2016

I actually got up a bit early to dash down to the bridge to grab this snap of the sunrise behind the château.  On this day of the equinox, that was pretty easy as the sun came up here a 7:41 am.

autumn explosion

This is the only type of explosion I want to see anymore.

the windmill like you've never seen

I don't know the purpose of this windmill at Château Bourdaisière, although I could speculate that it drives a water pump for the nearby gardens.  But even if it has no other purpose, it definitely entertains and amazes.  To me it looks like a design out of a Jules Verne novel.

talk about your glass ceilings

Alas, this old office entry belonged to a manufacturer that is no longer in business, but to many this may symbolize the job market these days.

wading in

Here's another shot illustrating how low the Loire has been lately (this shot was taken ten days ago).  Typically, these three little "islands" are underwater, and typically it would be very difficult if not impossible to wade into the river here to do a little fishing.  We've had one rain since then and this area is again all submerged.