Lovely Loire

Our annual visit to the Loire has finally come round. A week spent with friends relaxing in their small house in a tiny village near Candes Saint Martin. When we first started coming here the children were little so we would start the day earlier than we chose and our days were spent moving from one activity to another. Now, the kids are older and we have seen most of the nearby Chateaux, it feels like the daily rhythm has changed to a more leisurely pace. We go for strolls and cycle rides, swimming and accrobranche. We make it up as we go along.

We like to visit old haunts. On our first evening we went on a cycle ride to some nearby caves. 

Last year in the fields on either side of this small track grew sunflowers.

Near the caves are a beautiful collection of quite grand houses. 

I love this grass roofed dovecot.



No shortage of bees here.



Or vineyards.



Big skies.



Good sunsets.

What's not to like?

For more Loire posts from previous year, click here.

Dreaming of Sunflowers

We missed out on seeing sunflowers this year, so I'm dreaming about them instead. Most of these are Loire sunflowers.

After the rain.

The bees like them too.

As far as the eye can see.

They also look wonderful from behind.

Bonne journée to you all.

Magical Monday - Loire Lizard

While we were on holiday in the Loire this lizard soaked up the sun on our window sill every morning. Isn't mother nature incredible?

It even has blue dots on its' belly.


When photographing our lizard friend I had to be quiet...

...and I had to be quick!

Every Monday, Magical Monday, I post a photo that is hopefully puzzling, fantastical or unexpected.

More photos from the Magical Mondays series can be found here.

Holy Hollyhocks

In keeping with tradition we have just spent a week in the Loire with friends who generously invite us to stay with them every year. Last year we went at the beginning of July, poppy season. This year, only a few weeks later the poppies were mostly gone but the hollyhocks were there in abundance. 

One evening as we cycled to the nearest village to buy some groceries we passed a long stretch of hollyhocks bordering the river Vienne. Of course I stopped to admire them and the view.

Beautiful tall and elegant flowers in various shades of pink, white and purple. 

From close up they're lovely too.

Hollyhocks weren't the only flowers though!

The day in the life of a poppy

We've been back in Paris for a while now but I just wanted to share some of the poppy photos I took while we were in the Loire.

Waking up.


Watching breakfast television.

Going to work.

Coming home from work.


Eyeing up an elder.


Caught in a rain storm (once the rain stopped it bounced back to life again).


Dressed up and ready to paint the town red.


The end.

Here is another post I wrote back in May 'Paris Poppies' 

Online Pigeons

We've been watching this pair in the evenings as we eat dinner in the garden. They prance up and down the electricity wire making a hell of a racket. 

Oh, and for the record, don't be fooled by that blue sky. It's not been like that very often. Grey has been the favoured colour of the sky this past week. 50 to the power of 10 blinking shades of it.

Loire Gold

We're in the Loire staying with friends. We've been coming to this gorgeous little village for the past nine years. Every time we visit at a slightly different time of year. Last year we arrived when the sunflowers were nearly over, this year they're just starting to flower. Last year there were giant hay stacks. This year there are huge wheat fields nearly ready for harvesting. Dusky gold wheat fields against the big skies is something you certainly don't see in Paris.

I love the creamy gold of the stone in this region.


Here is an old rusty horse shoe. Also golden.


A troglodyte cave, with mandatory giant spiderweb.


Some extraordinary curled, dried, dusky golden leaves.


Red poppies look lovely against the pale creamy stone.

To be honest they look lovely anywhere.