theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Lens-Artists Challenge: Ancient
Posted on October 21, 2025
This towering bastion – all the more imposing for surmounting a rocky outcrop – is to be found in the mightily impressive medieval city of Chauvigny, near Poitiers in the Vienne département of France.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Dreamy
Posted on October 14, 2025
It occurred to me that this would be a suitable image for this week’s Lens-Artists challenge of ‘Dreamy’, largely because I have just referred to a post on my other website: theonlydeadheadinthehameau.wordpress.com.
This is not deliberately out of focus, but it was taken – in the medieval French town of Sarlat – through a window containing some extremely old glass. Very obviously the early glaziers hadn’t quite yet mastered the techniques for making clear glass. Still, it let the light in and kept the weather out, so it marked real progress back then.
Cellpic Sunday: The Guédelon workhorse
Posted on June 11, 2024
Last weekend, we went on a day trip (a very long day trip) to a place called Guédelon. Here, since the late nineties, a group of craftsmen have been using traditional materials and traditional methods to construct a medieval (14th century) castle completely from scratch. It’s not a reconstruction or a renovation, it’s a new build and it is absolutely fascinating.
The site is large and widely spread out, and this noble beast spends its day drawing a cart ferrying workers and materials around it.
Geometric symmetry
Posted on December 28, 2023
The geometric forms in this half-timbered house in Chabanais chime well with the image that Cee has chosen for her latest Midweek Challenge.
I wonder if the house number is 29 (XXIX).
The old bridge in Bellac
Posted on September 22, 2023
The medieval bridge in the ‘Quartiers pittoresque’ of the town of Bellac. Taken from a riverside cafe where, unfortunately, the quality of the cuisine falls far short of the quality of the location.
Three Knights
Posted on February 9, 2022
Nothing to see here…
Three knights in armour chatting on a street in the nearby village of Rancon. Couldn’t have anything to do with it being the day of the medieval fair, could it?
Rooftops of Sarlat
Posted on August 20, 2020
Look out from the glass-walled lift that’s installed in the church tower of the medieval town of Sarlat, in the Dordogne, and old buildings is just about all you get.
Monday Window: Sarlat
Posted on April 6, 2020
Above a narrow alleyway in the picturesque town of Sarlat, in the Dordogne, is this old and elaborately decorated window.
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.
Medieval vanishing point
Posted on April 19, 2019
In the medieval streets of the French town of Perigueux, this old-style drainage system disappears up the hill.
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