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!