theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Lift your eyes towards the heavens
Posted on August 17, 2019
The eye-level architecture was impressive enough, but where could it be more appropriate and rewarding to look up than in a church like this one in Azay-le-Ferron?
The two arches
Posted on June 19, 2019
Cee’s fun Foto Challenge theme has moved onto ‘two’ this week.
This pair of arches are part of the church in the nearby village of Lesterps. Nothing to do with McDonalds
Scenes from the crypt
Posted on March 8, 2019
For this week’s theme of ‘Murals’, some very old artwork on the walls of the crypt of the church in the village of Gargilesse, in central France.
Thursday Doors: Blond
Posted on December 13, 2018
Blond is another one of those picturesque villages within a half-hour’s drive from here at Tranquility Base. It’s big USP is the annual Capon Fair, which took place last Sunday. The weather wasn’t great, so there were by no means as many stalls as in previous years. On the positive side, that left more gaps through which to spot some interesting doors.
The church, which is fortified, is always visible, however:
…although this side door wouldn’t stand up to much of a battering:
Just behind the church is this little stone edifice, which seems to be standing guard over a stream that’s only about a foot wide:
This is one of the doors usually obscured by market stalls:
The garage looks bigger than the rest of the house:
Artistically, this decrepit little door juxtaposes well with the stagnant green pool in front of it:
Thursday Doors 13 December 2018
Thursday Doors: Nouic
Posted on June 14, 2018
(We had no internet connection for five days last week, so I’m afraid you’ve had to wait a bit longer for your next dose of doors from the depths of the French countryside.)
The village – and commune – of Nouic could be described as ‘the next one along’ from our home base of Mézières-sur-Issoire, about a ten-minute drive in a generally southerly direction.
Even its greatest proponents would be hard-pressed to argue that, architecturally, there’s anything special about it (you could say the same for Mézières, in all honesty), but over the next couple of weeks or so, I can at least demonstrate that it’s got some interesting doors.
I read somewhere that the official distinction between a village and a hamlet is that the former has a church – which Nouic indeed does:
More informally, any self-respecting French village also has to have a hairdressers’, so that ticks another box. (Mézières has two. Just sayin’.)
In my personal opinion, however, this is the most striking building in Nouic:
Although most are much more prosaic, even if you can get two for the price of one in some cases:
More from Nouic next week.
Thursday Doors 14 June 2018
Thursday Doors: Eglise de St Pierre, Limoges
Posted on May 17, 2018
Now, I know you’re all desperate for another set of doors from Cahors – and you will get them soon. However, if only to heighten that delicious sense of anticipation, this week a one-off set of images from the church of St Pierre in the city of Limoges.
I came across this serendipitously, on our way to a quilting and photography exhibition in a building on the opposite side of the eponymous Place, but I thought it was worth pulling out my old iPhone and capturing this set of freshly-painted church doors:
Back to Cahors next week. Maybe.
Thursday Doors 17 May 2018
Weekly Photo Challenge: Out of this world
Posted on March 1, 2018
In modern times, the power of religion is much diluted. However, it is important to remember that at one time the grandeur of great cathedrals – now often faded – was designed to impress a superstitious and almost certainly illiterate populace.
Both the architecture and the decor were intended to provide an idea of the glories of the life hereafter: literally out of this world.
Even now, the twin domes of the cathedral of Cahors can still impress even the most determinedly secular of observers.
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