Chateau Villandry Part 1

If you think only royalty lived in places like Chateau Villandry, it's worth noting that one of the original owners was an American, Anne Coleman!

The entrance is actually via the back of the gardens

and of course there is a moat to cross

which also provides a scenic division between sections of the garden.

Inside the chateau even the ceilings are beautiful

like this splendid Mudejar ceiling in one of the drawing rooms,

not to mention the staircases.

Portraits of some of the ancestors hang on the restored rooms along with fresh flowers from the garden.

The nursery 

had an adjoining play area, complete with a miniature puppet stage.

These flowers looked so perfect that we thought they were fake, but they were grown on the estate!

Next post will be on the grounds where these flowers were grown:)

Loire Valley

The Loire Valley is dotted with picturesque towns, so today's post is a photo mélange of the villages around Tours:)

Morning at Chateau Azay-le-Rideau

Coming from Los Angeles, I have lived in smog, but it was so thick here that it was equal to Bejing, i.e., dangerous. I've had a headache and people have been coughing all week:( The air pollution in Paris was so bad over the week-end that all public transportation was free, including rentals of all Velib bikes and Autolib electric cars from Friday until midnight tonight.

Thanks to good timing, my friends and I planned to leave for Chateau country on Friday to visit friends near Tours, so even though the air was not clear three hours away, it was still better than it was in Paris. It was safe enough in the countryside to actually be outside, so we went on a tour of Chateau Azay-le-Rideau (8.50 € or about $12 per adult).

This chateau is on an island which made a natural moat of protection around it.

The entries and stairs were all sculpted out of marble

including the handrails.

One of the bedrooms, but

of course there was more than one bedroom.

Since the only heat was with fireplaces, every room had one.

One of their lounging areas for card games or conversation.

These are the windows in the previous shot that the sun was shining through.

Their billard table for times when the weather made staying indoors more fun.

This is the attic where they kept the grain; it takes a huge amount of food to feed a chateau full of people!

There was a place to pray in between rooms (maybe for luck before playing cards).

This is one of the smallest chateau, but it is so picturesque and well maintained that you can almost imagine living here:)

New Camera:)

Just as small signs of Spring began to appear with slightly warmer temperatures, clearing skies, and budding blossoms, ever generous @John8600 sent me a memory card, a camera case, and a new WiFi 8x zoom 16 megapixel camera, so today's photos were all taken with the new camera. As the note with my new camera quoted, "Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second." Marc Riboud. Here are a few hundredths of a second of my savored life in France:)

Even though the trees were still bare, the grass has come to life after the rain.

Of course some patches of grass were lush and beautiful because no one is allowed on them except the gardeners!

The blossoms are appearing everywhere.

People are also starting to come back to the outdoor terraces.

Even a few animals ventured out of their shelters to enjoy the blue skies.

Although there aren't many flowers adorning windows yet, one resident planted an evergreen view on their balcony.

The government has even started planting flowers around the city (in France, government spending on flowers is considered a necessary part of the budget, along with healthcare).

If you don't have a green thumb or simply want to add a reason to smile in your home, you can always pick up some cut flowers.

Merci John:)

Walking Around the Seine

Winter in Paris has been gray, cold, rainy, and (yes I admit it) depressing. The glimpses of blue skies have been far too few and my first cold season after decades in Los Angeles has been challenging. Spring is coming, and like all those living in climates with freezing snow and ice, I am hopeful that one day this season will be a distant memory.

With no rain forecast for the next few days, I ventured out today and took some pictures because I could :) I also acted like a photo obsessed tourist because ever generous @John8600 sent me a 16 GB memory card and I wanted to use it!

A day to celebrate is a day with blue skies:)

Have I already mentioned that I live near a chateau?

The chateau is now a museum, but the old vestiges of having once housed royalty remain, like a moat!

Of course no chateau would ever be built where there isn't a view of the Seine. Some houses have the same view complete with huge lawns dotted with sculptures (yes, this is a private home).

Not all homes have sculptures, but a nice garden on the edge of the Seine is nice too (another private residence).

Their view probably looks like this.

 Modern day bridges and cars now make access much easier.

 Old fashioned walkways and bike paths still line the river.

The small uninhabited islands in the middle of the river give an idea of what it was like before auto routes and trains connected neighborhoods.

Although the paint color of choice is usually blue (because of preservation ordinances), a few places are painted other colors.

Instead of the "Braille" freeway markers, there are metal bittes (yes they really are called that and yes, they mean what the definition says) to keep drivers from swerving onto the sidewalk (yes, that narrow space between the building and the road is a sidewalk).

 There is no need for me to use a gym here since walking around means climbing stairs

 and more stairs

 and streets which incline.

 At the top of the street there was this cross, or maybe it was a compass, either way, it was pretty.

 Even prettier were the buds on the trees

 and the small sprouting gardens.

The whole point of my outing was to get some groceries, so time for lunch with champignons de Paris sautéed with shallots and garlic :)