To Candes Saint Martin!
We'd really like to go there too but Isabelle hasn't finished redoing all the bedrooms in her grandparents' house so we can't go yet. On top of that, it's winter! And Mom said there was only one heater in this very, very old house with meter thick walls so it was pretty cold in the "Alexander Dumas room" where Mom got to sleep. Here's the view from the window:
No, that's not right!
Oups! Looks like Candes Saint-Martin has a run-down, grungy, Detroit kind of look in certain neighborhoods! The ivy sure makes it look better though, doesn't it?
Ah, there we go! That's better!
Even better with the window open! But, as we were saying, it was cold so Mom mostly left it shut.
Or sat in front of the fireplace reading Les Trois Mousquetaires, bien sûr...
...with Isabelle (who doesn't like photos!) in the big room which will some day be la bibliothéque (that's the very cool French word for library of course!)!Despite the cold and the fog, Mom and Isabelle went walking...
Isabelle's coat is almost exactly the same color as that boat in the background. Can you see that? Here, here's another shot of it, on the far left...
...beyond the swans, back there by the castle of Montsoreau (which you can see from closer up, from another angle at a different season if you click on the link)...
The swans didn't mind the cold and the fog and Mom didn't either. She went beach combing and brought back colored rocks and Loire valley slate rubbed smooth by the river. She even saw wild flowers!
These tiny white ones are called perces-neige (poke-thru-snows in a very approximative, abotanical translation!), c'est joli, non?
They look like tiny, white bells. There was a man watching Mom so she didn't dare to get too close-up to the flowers. They are a protected species in France! Must be eidelweiss, non?
She came upon weird, tufted Dr Suess flowers too!
And shaggy, fluorescent yellow Dr Seuss trees...
Actually, they were just weeping willows about to bloom!
She found muddy paths...
...and paved paths...
...and nooks...
...but no crannies...
...and tiny red leaves...
...and even a cat like Jerry!
Ah, the splendor of Candes Saint Martin en hiver, as we say!Have a good week everyone!
Well, it looks as if we weren't the only ones to take a vacation in a fabulously scenic place.
ReplyDeleteI hope it was as relaxing and enjoyable as it looks!
Hey, how nice to see that you were vacationing too. I'm now even more inspired to get more of our tropical island get-away photos into a blog post. John has posted a few already...
ReplyDeleteThat Candes St. Martin really does look lovely. I'm so pleased that you, Michelle, were able to get away and visit with Isabelle a bit. Renovating the old house that she inherited seems to be quite an undertaking... At least it is made of sturdy stuff.
So much to catch up on... I guess I should call.
What a great blog post - and funny, too. Michelle, you are a great writer. Is there anything that you are not good at?
ReplyDeleteSigned, one of your many followers, reading you from the Continental Divide town of Buena Vista, Colorado, in the United States.
Lovely photostory again, Michelle. Arsen and I just stayed at home and enjoyed the world covered over with whipped cream-like snow caps. We would've, of course, enjoyed a beach and palm trees at least as much if not more, but alas...Someone had to provide love and lodging for Katie, the Beagle.
ReplyDelete