Posted on November 19, 2015
My first contribution to the Thursday Doors challenge hosted by Norm 2.0.
This matching door and shutters can be found in the hamlet of Navaleuil, about two kilometres from home here at Tranquility Base. Compared to the smaller doors on the left, it also shows what a difference a lick of paint can make.

Thursday Doors November 19th 2015
Category: Doors Tagged: Doors, France, Haute Vienne, Rural, Thursday Doors
Posted on November 14, 2015
First past the post at the La Sagne hippodrome, near Le Dorat

Weekly Photo Challenge: Victory
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: France, Haute Vienne, Horse, Horseracing, Le Dorat, Victory, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge
Posted on October 31, 2015
I’m a lucky man in so many ways that every day is a treat – especially when a new dawn comes over the fields like this.
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: Dawn, France, Retirement, Rural, Sunlight, Treat, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge
Posted on October 9, 2015
We’ve just spent a few days in and around the – very picturesque – medieval town of Sarlat, in the Dordogne.
This photograph was taken from the ascenseur panoramique – a glass-walled lift (elevator, if you insist) that climbs 100 feet inside the bell-tower of a church. From the top you get excellent – nay, panoramique – views of the rooftops of old Sarlat and the surrounding countryside…
…as well as these happy snappers reviewing their images of the bronze geese in the Place du Marché aux Oies – the Goose Market.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Any Kind of Camera or Photos of Photographers
Category: Black & White Tagged: Black & White, Cameras, Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge, Dordogne, France, Photographers, Sarlat
Posted on October 3, 2015
A stream and a line of well-cultivated trees provides an effective boundary at Chateau du Fraisse, just outside Nouic in the Haute-Vienne.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Boundaries.
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: Boundaries, Chateau du Fraisse, France, Haute Vienne, Topiary, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge
Posted on August 6, 2015
Until well into the last century, the ‘ default’ footwear in rural France was wooden clogs, made by the local ‘sabotier’ (the French word for clog is ‘sabot’ – from which the word ‘saboteur’ is also derived). Indeed, part of our house was once the local sabotier’s workshop, as shown in the second image at the bottom of this post.
Nowadays, clogs are mainly used for decorative purposes (we have a couple of old pairs ourselves), but they are still used by a local traditional dance troupe, as shown in this image.
(On this occasion I decided to use a sepia tone as it seems more in keeping with the ‘retro’ subject)
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Hands, Feet or Paws
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This room is now our entrance hall. It’s been done up a bit since this was taken.
Category: Autrefois, Black & White Tagged: Black & White, Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge, clogs, Folk-dancing, France, Lesterps, Rural
Posted on July 18, 2015
Against the background of a clear blue sky, rows of vines run up to the horizon near the village of Äy, in the Champagne region of France.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Half and Half
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: Ay, Champagne, France, Half and Half, Vines, Vineyard, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge, Wine, Wine-making
Posted on July 10, 2015
Next Tuesday, July 14th, is France’s Fête Nationale – National Day, or Bastille Day – so it seems appropriate for this week’s ‘Symbol’ challenge to show an image that symbolises our adopted country.
Accordingly, here is a detail of the Mairie (town hall) of the commune in which we live. It’s worth pointing out that administrative power in France is heavily devolved down to the local level, and pretty much anything you want to get done – from getting married to having a new garage built – needs to be approved by, and go through, your local Mairie.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Symbol.
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: France, Mairie, Symbol, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge
Posted on June 26, 2015
A view of the nearby village of Lesterps on a suitably overcast, monochrome kind of day.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Houses.
Category: Black & White Tagged: Black & White, Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge, France, Houses, Lesterps, Rooves, Rural
Posted on May 31, 2015
On a snowy day last year on one of our local walks we came across a group of Shetland ponies in a field. This one was particularly curious.
Weekly Photo Challenge: On The Way
Category: Weekly Photo Challenge Tagged: France, On The Way, Rural, Shetland Pony, Snow, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge, Winter
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