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
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Memories
Posted on March 27, 2018
This week, Frank asked us to share a photo that encapsulates special memories.
Memories of family are always important, of course but we will also always treasure the ten years we spent living in Abu Dhabi.
This image encapsulates both. Taken in the Corniche Park, here with Madame is our darling daughter and our twin grandsons, on their first visit to Abu Dhabi back in 2008.