Thursday Doors: Bellac

The pyramid structure of French local government is based, of course, on the commune, while at the apex of each département is what in the US would be the state capital (or, in the UK, the county town). In our case, this ‘capital city’, which is where you find the Prefecture, is Limoges.

However, between the commune and the capital is another layer of administration, as each département is divided into a number of cantons. The principal town of each canton is where you’ll find a sous-prefecture. Our canton is based in the town of Bellac.

There is a very picturesque area in Bellac which, oddly enough, I haven’t yet got around to combing for interesting doors. However, we recently went to the annual vide grenier, which takes place down by the river and, armed only with my smartphone, I spotted a few worthwhile doors, which can act as a taster until I undertake a proper doorscursion.

To begin with, two aspects of the same building:

A little further along this riverside road can be found this door, with matching balcony:

Both of those houses are occupied, but this one certainly isn’t:

This door is adjacent to the old stone bridge that crosses the river:

Finally, there’s this door in what used to be a garden wall:

Thursday Doors 4 October 2018

A bed of roses?

Back in July I visited the village of Doue La Fontaine during its annual rose festival. As well as displaying a huge number of different varieties of rose, there was also an exhibition of sculptures made up of roses, such as this deckchair:

Cee’s Fun ‘Foto’ Challenge: Things People Grow

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Go Big

For Frank’s theme this week of ‘Go Big’, here is a view of part of the exterior of the Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman. It’s pretty big inside, too.

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Go Big

The stairwell

Viewed from the ground floor, this staircase – in an old hotel in Paris – becomes an abstract composition of circles and curves.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Circles and Curves

Thursday Doors: Cahors – The End

And finally my store of doors in the town of Cahors is exhausted.

Another characteristically carved door (with a rather incongruous entryphone):

A typical church door:

A more modern – and more dilapidated – example, formerly a grocery to judge by the faded sign:

Echoing one of last week’s offerings, another door in a repurposed doorway:

The last place we visited in Cahors was the cemetery. It is common for old French cemeteries to feature elaborate family mausolea and here are two prime examples:

Thursday Doors 27 September 2018

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Our World

You may think that in this part of the world – deep in rural France – you’d never see a traffic jam.

Oh, but you do. Just wait until that big tractor pulls out right in front of you on a narrow road and proceeds to dawdle along at 15 miles an hour halfway to the next town.

Somehow, though, when it’s one of the local farmers moving some of his sheep from one field to another, it doesn’t seem so bad. There’s always time in our world.

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Our World

Subliminal Advertising

After last week’s call for vibrant colours, Cee is looking for pastels this time.

This is a very large – and circular – electronic display screen which can be found in Dubai Mall. The colours can and do vary considerably, but I managed to capture this image when it was in a more restful mood.

Cee’s Fun ‘Foto’ Challenge: Pastels

Stillness

Another image – this time in monochrome as a response to Cee’s latest Black & White Photo Challenge on the subject of ‘trees’ – from a preternaturally still and sunny day in the town of Chabanais.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Trees

Thursday Doors: Cahors (almost done)

Remember Cahors? Well there are still a couple of week’s worth of doors to see. The previous Cahors post (way back at the end of May, would you believe?) featured ornately carved doors, so for the sake of continuity, here’s another one:

In similar, if plainer vein:

And a few steps to add a little interest:

Here’s a rectangular door that’s been jemmied into an old arched frame:

Nothing so fancy in this example:

And finally, this is quite possibly one of the best doors in Cahors – and that’s really saying something:

Thursday Doors 20 September 2018

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Light and Dark

Capturing the detail in his old window at the Abbey of Noirlac was quite a challenge, particularly with the strong sunlight shining through the leaded glass into an otherwise very dark room.

Tuesday Photo Challenge 18 September 2018