Perspectives on the Pont Valentre
Posted on April 13, 2018
The Pont Valentré, which bridges the river Lot in Cahors, dates from the fourteenth century, so certainly qualifies for Cee’s category this week of anything over 50 years old.
Then again, so do I….
The bridge’s four towers makes it visually appealing not only from a distance but also – unlike some – when you’re actually standing on it.
Thursday Doors: Encore Cahors
Posted on April 12, 2018
After our little diversion to Rancon over the past two weeks, it’s time to dip back into the cornucopia of interesting doors from Cahors.
Last time we featured some of the doors from the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne, one of two principal landmarks of the town. The other is the Pont Valentré:
There must be literally hundreds of doors in the narrow streets of the medieval quarter, although they aren’t all original or neglected:
Finally for this week, and just for a change, how about an artfully rusted gate?
Thursday Doors 12 April 2018
Weekly Photo Challenge: Awakening
Posted on April 12, 2018
There’s a bit of a story behind this particular image, posted in response to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge ‘Awakening’.
In October 2004 we came to France with the express purpose of finding a house to buy. We stayed in a gîte – I can’t remember the exact location, but it was somewhere in the Vienne département – and I brought with me my first digital camera, a 3MP Olympus compact (really good lens, by the way).
One morning – upon awakening, you could say – I looked out of the bedroom window and saw the dawn mist in the shallow dip between the hamlet where we were staying and the local village.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Breathe
Posted on April 10, 2018
This week, Frank has gone with the theme of ‘Breathe’ for his Tuesday Photo Challenge at Dutch Goes The Photo!
That’s not as straightforward as it might seem at first – or at least I didn’t find it so easy. I have plenty of images that portray something or somebody in the act of breathing, but it tends to be a background activity; breathing itself is very rarely the point of the picture.
However, applying a bit of lateral thinking….this is what happens when you (or, in this case, a grandson) breathes on a thin membrane of soap stretched on a hoop.
And since Frank was inspired to produce this prompt by a Pink Floyd song, doesn’t that bubble remind you a little of an early Floyd lightshow? (A: Yes.)
Reflections in a Volvo
Posted on April 6, 2018
Going back a few years, while we were still living in Abu Dhabi and our house here was being renovated, we would spend some of our summer holidays locally. We stayed in a Chambre d’Hôtes opposite the massive Collégiale church in Le Dorat.
Looking out of our window one afternoon, I saw this reflection in the roof of a car parked just below.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
Thursday Doors: Rancon revisited (2)
Posted on April 5, 2018
This week a second set of doors from a recent return visit to the village of Rancon.
Every village in France has to have at least one hairdressers (‘Coiffure’). It’s the law, or seems to be, and Rancon is no exception. I’d have to say, though, that the adjacent blue doors and shutters are rather more interesting…
…and continue round the corner:
But what we really want is some properly tatty doors:
This last one’s a bit of a mongrel:
Thursday Doors 5 April 2018
Weekly Photo Challenge: Smile
Posted on April 4, 2018
Should you ever find yourself in the town of Saint-Junien and need to have a new key cut, this is the place you’re looking for.
Heroic Failure
Posted on March 30, 2018
A noble name for a noble, but ultimately doomed (curry houses tend not to work out too well in France) enterprise in the back streets of Cahors.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Rise/Set
Posted on March 29, 2018
WordPress wants to see some images of sunrises and/or sunsets for their latest Weekly Photo Challenge.
I don’t have many sunrises, probably because that would involve getting up early. However, in the past I have posted a few sunsets (all the decent ones, it seems) under various threads, so here is a little compendium of a few of the better examples, beginning with the same view that I put up in response to last week’s ‘Favourite Place’ challenge:
More exotically, this was taken on a sunset cruise off Muscat, in Oman:
and this one in the game reserve on Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi – the giraffe enclosure, to be exact:
This, though, is probably the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever captured – just outside Beverley, in East Yorkshire:
Thursday Doors: Rancon revisited (1)
Posted on March 29, 2018
As promised, we’re taking a short break from the cornucopia of doors from Cahors in order to revisit another place that’s featured on this blog before.
Almost two years ago, I posted some doors from the nearby (30 minutes by car) village of Rancon. Those images were taken during the annual medieval fair, when the place gets quite busy. However, a recent quiet and sunny Sunday morning proved to be much quieter, and the absence of the stalls of the artisan market opened up some vistas that hadn’t been obvious before.
Perhaps most notably is this doorway (or possibly gateway), which stands on its own around the back of the church. I could find nothing that gave any provenance for it, although it must surely once have been part of a grand edifice.
Speaking of the church, which is fortified and dates from the 17th century:
Rather less grand, but just as interesting, is this door at the side of the church…
…which is next to:
Finally, for this week, a couple of private houses, the first just by the mysterious gateway…
…and the second on the main street, which is where we’ll be concentrating next week.
Thursday Doors 29 March 2018
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