theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Self-catering
Posted on November 19, 2021
A century and more ago, there were no school canteens – at least not in little village schools like this one in Montrol-Sénard. Pupils brought their hot lunches from home and kept them warm on the stove in the middle of the classroom.
‘This Is The Place’
Posted on November 11, 2021
The Fun Foto theme for this week is a particularly interesting one: ‘future nostalgic’. For this, we are invited to select an image from our archives that we knew when we captured it we would enjoy looking at again in the future.
So here is the very first time we laid eyes on the house where we have now lived for over nine years. This was back in October 2004. We followed the agent (pictured on the right) in our own car and turned the little corner off the ‘main’ road through the hamlet that we call Tranquility Base.
Madame ‘got it’ straight away. I just saw a tumbledown money pit. It turned out we were both right, but now neither of us would want to live anywhere else.
Shooting A drive-By
Posted on September 29, 2021
Even in the depths of the countryside (i.e just up the road in Asnieres-sur-Blour), where few tourists ever venture, the locals sometimes can’t resist dressing up in ‘archetypal’ clothes – beret and red neckerchief – and parading up and down the street in their lovingly cared-for old tractors.
Shepherds’ Delight
Posted on August 25, 2021
Last week for the Fun Foto Challenge we had the theme of ‘Here Comes The Sun’. This prompted me to post an image of dawn breaking in our little part of the world.
This week, the topic is ‘Tomorrow’, which gave me the idea of posting an image of a sunset holding out the promise of a pleasant day to come. As the old saw has it: ‘red sky at night, shepherds’ delight’.
This photo was also taken outside the back of our house, although obviously this time facing west rather than east.
(And before you say it, I am fully aware of the fundamental futility of having a gate that you can just walk around. But it does add interest to the image.)
Daybreak On The Land
Posted on August 18, 2021
A dramatic sunrise on a misty November morning in the French countryside.
Wherever the road leads
Posted on July 16, 2021
Wherever The Road Leads
Posted on May 21, 2021
Cee’s Black & White Challenge for this week is to show places to walk or hike. Out here in the French countryside the ‘proper’ roads are few and far between, but there are many mysterious-looking tracks, used only for farmers’ access, that are well worth exploring on a country walk.
In this case, I particularly liked the strong shadows of the trees across the path, which look almost like railway sleepers as they recede into the distance .
Rural Toys
Posted on April 24, 2021
If you grow up in the countryside, chances are that you’ll be playing with country toys….
….and when you don’t play with them any more, you collect them..
Low Tech
Posted on February 19, 2021
Even with all the latest technology and machinery available to them, farmers’ work is hard. It’s difficult to imagine how tough it must have been when everything had to be done by hand with simple toools like these.
Stacked
Posted on February 16, 2021
Out here, wood-fired heating is still the norm, so there’s a lot of bois de chauffage to be seen in the nearby fields. This particular stack of logs, just down the road from us, would be enough to keep a home fire burning for years.
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