Photo of the Year to welcome 2014 – Photo de l'année pour accueillir 2014

This is my favourite view of Blois: the Loire from Vienne, with the traditional flat-bottom boats in the foreground, Gabriel Bridge, the Royal Castle of Blois and Saint Nicolas Church in background. Today is theme day in the City Daily Photo community, where City Daily Photo blogs all over the world can post a January …

Painted shutters at Cheverny – Volets peints à Cheverny

These beautiful painted shutters are to be found in the Arms Room in Château de Cheverny. Just 20 km south-east of Blois, the domain has been in the same family for six centuries and open to the public since 1922. The château as it stands today was built between 1624 and 1640 by Count Henri …

Molière in Chambord – Molière à Chambord

I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Molière in Chambord because he was a favourite of Louis XIV. In 1670, the Sun King invited France’s most popular playright of all times to stay in Chambord with his troup where he wrote the ballet comedy, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme known in English as The Bourgeois Gentleman). Je n’aurais pas …

Our holly – Notre houx

When I was a child growing up in tropical North Queensland in Australia, we used to buy small branches of holly in David Jones department store at Christmas. I never imagined that one day I’d have my own bush! J’ai grandi dans le climat tropical du nord du Queensland en Australie. A noël nous achetions …

Christmas Market – Marché de noël

I’m not convinced about all the Christmas markets that have sprung up all over France in recent years. Usually, there are no handcrafted goods and it’s mainly about eating and drinking. This one, on Place Louis XII, was practically deserted on a Friday evening just before Christmas. Je ne suis pas convaincue par tous les …