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.

life is good, and so are the tarts

Nothing like a homemade tomato and goat cheese tart especially when the tomatoes come from our neighbor's garden, the basil and rosemary from our terrace garden, and the goat cheese from a local supplier.  Throw in a nice glass of Loire Valley Sancerre, and it's what's for dinner*.  Tip of the hat to my wife for putting this all together.

*but no beef for those of you who remember those ads

July postcard

This is probably one of the most photographed views of the Hôtel de Ville and Château by visiting tourists*.  I had to take one yesterday myself as it's just too cool to pass up on such a perfect day.

*And I just read that tourism in Amboise and the entire area around Tours is way up this year.  That's a good thing for our community that is pretty much based on tourism.  So come on down.

oh come down from your ivy tower

...and get to work in the garden.  This wonderful ivy-covered tower is next to the gardens at Château de la Bourdaisière (remember it from a few days ago?).  The gardens are just stunning and meticulously manicured.  I'm wondering how I can get up that thing and get some shots.

colors galore

There are so many interesting colors in this scene that it just grabbed me as I walked through the gardens at Villandry.

from the gardens of Villandry

These brilliant colors are not because of PhotoShop but are thanks to the gardens and gardeners at Château Villandry.  They were helped by a September full sun that almost overwhelmed my little camera's digital sensor.

mon péché est de manger trop de pêches

I caught this beauty while tending the garden of our neighbor a few weeks ago.   This has been a good year for peaches and I love them... maybe too much.  Thus today's title which also points out the importance of accent marks in French.  "Mon péché est de manger trop de pêches."    "My sin is eating too many peaches."  Given this and the story of Adam and Eve, it seems to me the forbidden fruit should have been a peach.  (On the other hand, in my wife's view, punning is the bigger sin.)

les jardins au bord de la Loire

It's not permitted to build in the area between the levee and the river Loire, so much of this space is devoted to gardens (I took this shot from the top of the levee).  This panorama shows a typical layout of garden plots where the owners grow vegetables and sometimes flowers and fruit trees.  It's a lot of work to keep these tended and watered as we learned while minding a neighbor's garden in July.  But the results are absolutely worth it.