Château de Saché

In this home of his friend, Honoré de Balzac was inspired to write a number of his celebrated works of literature.  It's a charming site and I too was inspired... to take many photos.

the bridge over the pond

free ranging

market day sunrise surprise

Last Sunday, the just rising sun bathed the plane trees in this wonderful pinkish-red glow.  The tops of the market's stalls can be seen behind the levee.

the golden ginkgo

golden triangle

It's the peak of the autumn seasonal colors this week.  By next week, it'll be streets of gold.

RG but missing the B

Red leaves.  Green Moss.  If only there could have been a blue sky.  Ah well, it is November after all.

100 years after the Armistice

Under a vaulted cathedral of plane trees, Amboise remembered the end of World War I with a moving ceremony.

waiting for the next show

river of youth ?

Bathing just under the surface of the shallows of the Loire, this fall leaf appears to be trying to regain it's youth of green.

subtle colors of Fall

Fall fishin'

sunset on Tour Féalain

is it too early

...to think about fall when the temperatures are hovering around 90 F / 30 C ?  Not for me.  I can't wait.

keeping the peace

And they're keeping it inside the police car just to be sure.

hangin' out on the levee

It's August.  It's hot.  What better to do than to sit in the shade and try to catch a little breeze off of the Loire on top of the levee.  Then add in some tunes.

les Deux-Moiselles de B

These two young women put on a spectacular show one evening this week on the main town plaza, Place Debré.  The name of the act appears to be a French play on words. The word demoiselle is a young woman and thus two (French word deux) of them make deux-moiselles.  (After a bit of internet searching, I think the B was shortened from Blanqui, the neighborhood where they live in nearby Tours.)  Anyway, they put on a very lively and amusing cabaret-type show to entertain the summer crowd in Amboise.

no kidding

The other day in Amboise there was a solo modern dance on BMX accompanied by cello !  Both, I would say, were virtuoso performances.  I kid you not.  To me the dance felt akin to an ice dance as he was able to glide so smoothly while performing his acrobatic moves.  The musician played classical pieces and at times acted as a foil for the dancer.  You would have to have seen it to believe it.  The audience loved it, as I did.

it was neck and neck

But what a race.  This is another in the series of sculptures that are on display in Amboise during this tourist season.  This one is really an unexpected pleasure on the levee as we don't see too many giraffes on the streets here.

quince-essential

The land-owner told me that this is a quince that's sharing its space with other fruit trees along the border of a vineyard.

in process

We're a ways out from harvest time, but these guys are well on their way.

CDP Theme Day music - down in the tunnel

Trying to make it pay.  This young performer was making beautiful classical music in the tunnel underneath the famous bell tower of Amboise.

To see how the others interpreted the theme:
 https://cdpbthemeday.blogspot.com/2018/07/august-gallery-music.html

back in Amboise and having a field day

Air France

Air France has taken me off onto another adventure so I'll be taking an even longer break from posting.  But as it has been said (in a deep voice), I'll be back.

Saturday sunset fever

jazz man

I recently posted a photo of a sculpture of a horse near our home.  The same sculptor has several other works placed around town as a special exhibition.  It's probably not a complete coincidence that Amboise has both an equestrian school and a music school.

a last look

The poppies are on the wane now but it has been a great season for them.  So here is one last look.

in between notes there are rests

At the end of an exhausting day at the Brass Band Festival.

Goldfinger's Vespa

If the famous James Bond villain ever had a Vespa, this would be it.  With a side-car no less for one of the golden girls.

tunnel vision

This tunnel provides an overflow relief valve from the small river the Amasse to go directly to the much larger Loire river.  This has prevented for over a hundred years the flooding of Amboise by the Amasse.  I would say these wild flowers appropriately celebrate that.

the storm is over

Yesterday, late afternoon.  I looked out the window and saw that while it was still raining from the passing storm, the sun was out.  I grabbed my camera and ran out, knowing exactly what I would find.

prancing in the park

This amazing sculpture has been installed near the levee where it will be seen by the many visitors to the Friday and Sunday markets as well as by tourists passing from the main parking lot to the center of town.  The work is comprised of three separate pieces to create the entire horse, but I decided to "focus" on just the front so as to better see the details.

seen on the street

Brass Band Festival 2018

The past weekend Amboise hosted its annual Brass Band Festival with competing bands from all over Europe.  And to the great pleasure of the locals and tourists, the bands strolled the streets and plazas playing classic tunes with great enthusiasm.

Memorial Day 2018

Good Day Sunshine

I need to laugh / and when the sun is out / I've got something to laugh about

portrait in yellow

gold posts

It's more likely here that you'll see fences made out of concrete rather than wood.  The latter is pretty expensive and doesn't last as long.  And to me, the stone ones just get more interesting as they get older.  I'd like to think the same is true for us.

details

contrasts

hats off to the Loire

The Friday and Sunday market space is right on the left bank of the Loire.  It's a great opportunity to get both in the same shot.

bienvenue à la Touraine

On a bike ride a few days ago, I discovered a little welcoming place along the bike route for cycle tourists to our region.  That region is the Touraine which is the area around the city of Tours (including Amboise).  It's famous for its wine, goat cheese, and now its cycling network.  This particular welcome was created voluntarily by one of the local residents just for the pleasure of those tourists passing by this tiny, yet charming village.  It offers them a place to take a breather, relax in the shade, and appreciate the display of the simple life of times gone by.  Of course what caught my eye was the old photographic portrait.

let the games begin

I'm throwing out the first poppy (coqueclicot) of the season.

good morning

they're back

White asparagus is a local specialty here and they were everywhere in last Sunday's market.

not your typical food truck

No, here is a wine truck, a vintage (shall we say) Citroën.  This one specializes in wines of the region around the city of Tours known as Touraine (which includes Amboise).  On this day it was cleverly parked at the main entrance to the huge Sunday market in Amboise.

on the road again

Well, make that, on the path again.  As spring is unfolding here, cycle tourists have begun to arrive in their usual large numbers.  This section of the area's cycling super highway (Loire à Velo) runs right through central Amboise.  Normally, the path is asphalt but along this short section it is a stone extension of the levee seen in the lower left.  The Loire river is off to the right.  So come join the crowds "that are goin' places they've never been, seein' things they may never see again".  (Tip of the hat to Willie.)

celebrating traditions on the banks of the Loire

50th anniversary of the Méhari

This past long weekend, Amboise hosted the Méhari car clubs of France to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of this "unusual" vehicle.  They were manufactured by Citröen in the same genre as the Mini-Moke (BMC) and "The Thing" (VW).  The Méhari chassis is based on the classic 2CV but with a plastic, open-sided body.  It weighs around 1200 pounds (540 KG).  Between 1968 and 1988, fewer than 150,000 units were produced.  It was a major precursor to the world-wide off-road SUV phenomenon.

At least 300 of these impeccably maintained machines descended from all over France.  The owner's had a wonderful time showing them off and taking driving tours around the area.