an unusual view of the church of Notre-Dame

The view is unusual because the water level of the Loire is low enough that I could take if from a pier of the bridge Leclerc... without getting my feet wet.  Usually, the river flows between this pier and the river bank so that you'd have to wade or swim to get to this spot (unless it's underwater as it was in the spring). The green growth and the little yellow flowers belie the fact that it has been extremely dry here this summer.

église Notre Dame and the Loire

Here is the little church as seen from the Ile d'Or, the island in the Loire at Amboise.

église Notre Dame revisited

This side of the church was nicely renovated this year.  I was struck by the red of the door and the blue and white of the sky on this beautiful afternoon this week.  An earlier post showed a close up of the high water marks of historic Amboise floods (just to the left of the door which is now much redder); take a look here.

Eglise Notre-Dame

Eglise Notre-Dame-du-bout-des-ponts sits cuddled up next to the levee on the right bank of the Loire.  Note the "11 D" marking on the opening... that indicates stairway number "11 droite" ("right" in French).  The stairways allow you to walk down to the base of the levee on the river side.  Here is the church from another angle.

the floods

With all the flooding in France right now, this post seemed appropriate.  These high water marks ("crue" means rise in water level) are next to the front door of the church in yesterday's post.  We have been told our home in Amboise was built in 1850, so we assume it was flooded along with the rest of the town in 1856, and maybe also  in 1866.   As I have said before that with all of the many flood prevention measures taken since then, the likelihood of another flood of the town is quite low.  That's a good thing.

Eglise Notre-Dame-du-bout-des-ponts

Litterally, the church of Notre Dame at the end of the bridge(s), which pretty much describes where to find it.  (I'm not sure why "bridges" is plural except that the bridge is in two segments which connect the left and right banks with an island in the middle.)  This little church (which is no longer active) dates back to the 15th century.  In the foreground is the levee on the right bank of the Loire.  Later, I will post a photo that shows why the levee exists today.