Circulation Perturbée
Posted on March 6, 2020
Down here in la France profonde, the more common causes of circulation perturbée (traffic problems) – such as roadworks or a jack-knifed lorry – are just as likely to be supplemented by finding yourself on a country road behind a local farmer in the process of moving his flock of sheep from one field to another.
The ubiquitous white van is the modern-day sheepdog.
Glass Masters
Posted on March 4, 2020
In the entrance to a factory on the Venetian island of Murano, rightly famed for the manufacture of glass.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Junk
Posted on March 3, 2020
In the UK, the conventional wisdom is that, if you’re looking to sell your house, you make it clean and tidy; perhaps brew some fresh coffee, even bake some bread, in order to create a cosy, welcoming ambience for the prospective purchaser.
In rural France, however, as we discovered on our own house-hunting trip, it’s common practice just to pile up a load of junk and invite the viewer to use their imagination and see past it.
(We didn’t buy this one – although that isn’t to say that the one we did end up acquiring looked any better on first sight)
Monday Window: Limoges Cathedral
Posted on March 2, 2020
It’s a week for stained glass again on the Monday Window Challenge hosted by Ludwig. This is to be found in the cathedral of Limoges.
#MondayWindow 2 March 2020
52 Week Smartphone Challenge: 9 – Mood
Posted on February 29, 2020
Mood, you ask?
Faintly baffled, as usual.
52WeekSmartphoneChallenge 9
Portents
Posted on February 28, 2020
Well, if it’s not actually raining, it soon will be….
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Clouds
The marketplace at Mortemart
Posted on February 26, 2020
A few years ago, the medieval ‘halle’ (marketplace) in the nearby village of Mortemart was carefully restored, allowing visitors to appreciate the technical complexity of its beamed roof.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Yard
Posted on February 25, 2020
I must admit that Frank’s prompt of ‘Yard’ for this week’s Tuesday Photo Challenge had me stumped for quite a while, until I remembered that when we visited Monet’s Garden at Giverny a few years ago we also took a little tour round the local church and its graveyard.
The obvious neglect is given added poignancy by the carved ‘Famille’ on the gravestone.
Monday Window Tranquility Base (again)
Posted on February 24, 2020
Q: When is a window not a window?
A: When it used to be one.
This outbuilding of one of the usually unoccupied houses here in Tranquility Base has seen a lot of re-purposing over the years. The shuttered window obviously used to be a door and there are the phantom vestiges of two other windows.
52 Week Smartphone Challenge: 8 – Leading Lines
Posted on February 22, 2020
This is week 8 of the Smartphone Challenge being hosted by Khürt at islandinthenet.com, and we are looking for Leading Lines – more specifically, how they can be used to show the concept of infinity.
In the nearby town of Confolens there is a little bridge over a small tributary of the Vienne river. The parapet on the right provides a leading line, while the bridge itself, as well as providing an interesting reflection (itself a nod to the concept of infinity) obscures the course of the river, adding an element of mystery to the image.
Or something like that.
52WeekSmartphoneChallenge: 8 Leading Lines
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