theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Thursday Doors: St Junien – Open to the public
Posted on February 16, 2017
For this third instalment of the doors of St Junien, as a change from the doors of private residences I’ve confined myself to some of the public buildings of the town.
To begin with, the old municipal offices which still stand opposite the new Mairie and admin block:
The main church of St Junien is a Collègiale. To be honest, the interior isn’t particularly impressive in my opinion, although the main doors are worth a look. As it’s now surrounded by newer buildings, it’s difficult to get a complete view in one shot (well, it is with the lenses I’ve got), but this close-up gives you the general idea:
To the left of the main entrance of the Collègiale is this unloved gate:
This is the Salle des Fêtes; in the UK it would probably be called the Assembly Rooms or something similar. The large ‘cartouche’ above the windows tells us that it was built between 1898 and 1900, following a vote of the local council in 1897. There then follows a long list of the members of the municipal council who approved the construction. Fascinating.
And finally, on a much smaller scale, is this unpretentious construct that sits in the middle of a roundabout on the main road through the town. Open to all passing birds, presumably.
Thursday Doors 16 February 2017
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 27 – Architecture
Posted on February 13, 2017
A view of the helicopter pad near the top of the iconic Burj al Arab hotel (seven stars, no less) in Dubai.
To put it into context, here’s a wider shot of the building:
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 27 – Architecture
Thursday Doors: St. Junien (1)
Posted on February 2, 2017
St Junien is one of the major towns of the Haute Vienne département and claims to be (or have been) the glove-making capital of France. Leather gloves, that is; they’re quite particular about that.
As with many other similar conurbations, there is a medieval centre that has become increasingly surrounded by more modern, and largely featureless, developments. Be that as it may, a recent ‘doorscursion’ provided plenty of photographic opportunities that will keep my ‘ Thursday Doors’ contributions well-supplied for the next few weeks, so here is the first instalment.
This ancient wooden door is set into what’s left of the old city walls:
By contrast, this house is obviously occupied and well cared-for:
as is this:
This one is more colourful than the norm:
Although these last two are a little more careworn:
(The white street sign in the last image is in the Occitan language, which was what was spoken round these parts until French became the official language of the whole country after 1789.)
Thursday Doors 2 February 2017
Holding Up
Posted on January 27, 2017
Regular visitors to this blog may already know that our house was a major renovation project – which is why its working title is ‘Brokedown Palace’.
The first job our builders had to do was to stop the front wall from falling off. Eventually they worked their way round to the back, where they just had to stop it falling down.
Fortunately, they managed that too:
Tuesdays of Texture: Look Up
Posted on January 24, 2017
Take a moment to look up as you enter St Mary’s church in Beverley and you’ll see some intricate carving – as well as some pretty scary faces.
Tuesdays of Texture
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 24 – Light
Posted on January 24, 2017
This week the challenge is to provide an image using light (wouldn’t be much of an image without it, I have to say) but not sunlight.
This photograph was taken from a boat making an evening cruise along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, just before we left there and moved to France. It was well after sunset, so all the light is man-made.
I used to work on the 23rd Floor of the left hand tower of the featured building. My office had a glass exterior wall, so the view was quite spectacular.
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 24 – Light
Weekly Photo Challenge: Graceful
Posted on January 21, 2017
The symmetrical curves of the arches in this cloister of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi are the epitome of ‘graceful’.
Thursday Doors: More from Mezieres
Posted on January 12, 2017
Back in November I posted images of some of the doors and gates to be found in our local village of Mézières-sur-Issoire. Those two posts by no means exhausted the local possibilities, however, so here are some more from Mézières.
The local economy is still predominantly agriculture-based and the largest open space within the village is not the statutory place de la Republique, but the Marché des Ovins – the sheep market. These first three doors are to be found there:
This barn is just down the road from the church; you can’t beat a door within a door:
Although this one is obviously no longer still in use:
And finally – just to prove that the village does still have such things – an occupied private house:
Thursday Doors 12 January 2017
The Restoration Project
Posted on December 30, 2016
This huge house is located right in the centre of the village of Mézierès-sur-Issoire. It has lain empty and neglected for as long as anyone can remember, or so it seems. However, when it came on the market a few months ago it was snapped up very quickly. Admittedly it was on offer at a knockdown price, but by all accounts there is a huge amount of restoration to be done. It certainly looks like it, especially in this sepia-tinted image.
Mundane? Bus Stop
Posted on December 12, 2016
This bus stop was actually adjacent to the watchman’s hut that I featured last week. It’s ‘just’ a bus stop, but I liked the symmetry, the angularity of the shadows and the warm glow of the morning sun through the plastic walls.
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