Wednesday, August 31, 2016

piles of tiles


There are many, many tile roofs in Amboise and this one is quite large and quite impressive.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Monday, August 29, 2016

the garden with a view of the château


The space between the levee and the Loire cannot be built upon of course, but it makes for a great space for gardening.  This one across from the château has a nice gate that gave me this photo-op.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Sunday picnic and sunset


August has been a good month for sunsets here. And when you add in a nice picnic on the banks of the Loire, what could be better?

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

concert guinguette


Historically, a guinguette is an open air performance complimented with eating and drinking.  These venues were wildly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries but had mostly disappeared by the end of the 20th.  The 21st century is seeing a bit of a comeback of the idea.  On a recent evening on the Place Debré, there was a little revival of the guinguette with a troop of accordion players entertaining the outdoor diners and onlookers.  It was a lively show and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

a balmy day in Amboise


We've had some wonderful weather here lately (although that's about to change).  High temperatures have been in the 20's C / 70-80's F and nice breezes. Still, since most homes do not have air conditioning, it's a good practice to close the shutters to the afternoon sun.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

les martinets - the martins


These martins often make their mud nests in the protected niche above windows.  In this case, this window belongs to the Amboise city hall (hôtel de ville).  They generally do not make too much of a mess below the nests and so their nesting should not be a problem to home owners.  And the great benefit of having lots of martins in the area is that they consume huge amounts of flying insects.

In this photo there are five martins. If you maximize the photo you may find them (click on the photo and maximize your browser window). The two in the upper left corner are easy to find clinging to their nest.  A third and its shadow can be seen in flight on the lower right.  A fourth is difficult to see in the upper left but look for the little patch of white above and to the right of its shadow.  It's coming in for a landing.  The last one is just a tail sticking out of the entrance to a nest, it's in between the first two and the fourth.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Sunday, August 21, 2016

peace on the levee


A rare moment on the levee without the crowds of tourists and one can look out over the Loire in peace.  Have a peaceful Sunday everyone.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

August sunset


Time for another Saturday sunset.  This fiery one that set the Loire on fire as well is from two weeks ago.

Friday, August 19, 2016

so many directions


With a golden low setting sun, the shadow of the directional road signs caught my eye.  And while waiting for all those usual tourists who like to photo-bomb my shots to get out of the way, I noticed that, hey, their shadows are just as interesting.  So then I started waiting for them.  Here are some more:


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

la rive gauche d'Amboise


While you may be thinking that the only rive gauche (left bank) is in Paris, it turns out there is a left (and right of course) bank on any river in France.  The "left" means with respect to going downstream. Going downstream from Paris on the Seine takes you to the English channel, while going downstream from Amboise on the Loire takes you to the Atlantic.  This will be on the final.


Tuesday, August 16, 2016

the sun-brushed facade


The angle of the setting sun perfectly brushed the front of this restaurant on Place Debré.

Monday, August 15, 2016

August snowflake


Spotted on the levee in Amboise.  If only it would cool things off.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Marché Nocturne d'Amboise


The Tuesday night market is held every year during July and August in front of the church Saint-Denis (which dates from the 12th century).  Of course, the sun sets between 9 and 10 pm at this time of year so there's still plenty of light for shopping the market's vendors and enjoying a nice meal of local food and wine.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

fishing in cool waters


We'll at last I'm back from a little vacation from ADP, and now the vacationing tourists have also returned to Amboise in a big way.  This is a three day weekend in France and folks have come to taste the wine at the wine fair, see the Château and Clos Lucé, canoe and kayak the Loire river, and of course do a little fishin'.  This fisherman has a great view of the interesting sand patterns left by the now long-gone high waters of spring.