A Week in the Country: Loire Valley, France

Another random catch-up from our 2012 holiday.

This post is made up solely of images taken on the property we rented.
So beautiful, I could have spent our whole week here and venturing nowhere but our own backyard.

You can find our more about renting Les Averries here ←










The afternoons were so lovely we planned every day to be home by 5pm for a swim.
Our days spent out & about, it was hard to come home to this :)







We stayed in a township by the name of Bougueil, and it was beautiful and perfect.

The Café de la Promenade was just down the road, and there were markets to explore,
Troglodite caves, castles, wineries and beautiful countryside to drive through. 

Heaven.
















While the kids swam, I explored the amazing garden:


























Being inside was just as divine.  I was a bit sad the weather was so awesome and I couldn't
light that amazing fireplace .. maybe i'll have to come back for a winter visit too ...

















I would totally recommend visiting Bourgueil if you are visiting France. 
Our host, Michel has an office on site ( in the converted barn ) but is very
respectful of privacy.  He was actually away in Paris on business for most of our visit,
but was only a phone call away if needed.

Inside, there is a bureau of maps and pamphlets of things to do and a handwritten
note from Michel regarding when the markets are on, and which restaurants are good,
and how to get to the Hyper-U ( a huge shopping centre ) or the pharmacie.

The rental boasts everything you could possibly need ( details here ) and comfortably sleeps 6.
It was simply, gorgeous.
















The most perfect holiday ever.
Now you can probably understand why Amsterdam was a bit underwhelming for me?











It was hard to leave .. in fact, while the boys swam, AB and I sat under the willows and
breathed in the air ( and the wine ) and planned how we could possibly stay forever.







Alas, it was not to be..

Amsterdam

I haven't printed a personal photograph for about 5years .. my albums dried up while I filled those of others,
my hard drives creak with the weight of unsorted images of my own, while my clients likenesses are backed up
offsite in triplicate.

Part of my sabbatical while renovating was to fix all this .. fix my broken website .. clear my archives
 ..do a lot of things.. but I was tired, so very tired.  Burned out.

So I simply took time out.  I watched tv instead of editing all night .. I read some books, went to bed early,
hung out with my family.  It was lovely and i'm hoping to gain more life/work balance this year.

Thus it was, I was thrilled to find myself finally looking at some of my holiday pics from last year last night,
and being inspired to *edit* them .. to cull the flowers from the weeds and find a spark renewed.

And so I give you  .. Amsterdam ..









You know, it's funny, but looking at these images, you might be surprised to find I did not like Amsterdam much,
and wondered why others seem so engaged by this city.








It's true though this was a stopover on our way out - we'd spend a week in Paris, and another in
the French Countryside.  I guess it's quite unfair to judge a new city after that.

Plus, Amsterdam was being renovated:





So we walking past barriers and the ratta-tat-tat of construction drills, and under a skyline of cranes.





And we only had a night here and two days .. so you know, we didn't explore .. we just skimmed the surface.
So I kinda feel bad for not loving Amsterdam.  It reminds me of the time long ago when a trip to New York
( zomg, love! ) was followed by a visit to Chicago .. I felt exactly the same .. both seem such SMALL cities,
seen in a day, compared to the wonders of the magical cities we'd left behind to visit them.





But the canal ride by night was gorgeous.






While we waited for our ride, we amused ourselves by watching rats run in and off the docks and into basement
cellars. The kids thought they were cute.  I felt rather Dickensian and wished for period costume and a thick fog
to descend to complete the picture. 


I think it's easier to enjoy the quaintness of rats when you're on holidays.





You can see other images from our holiday here:
i-phone montage
The Arts et Métiers Train Station
Les Marchés de la France
The Cafe de la Prominade

Les Marchés de la France :: Melbourne Travel Photographer

As you can see by that last frame, not everybody loves a market!

These images are a mixture from two markets we visited while away.

Firstly, the oldest food market in Paris, built in 1615 under the rule of King Louis XIII; the Le Marche des Enfants Rouges. The name, which literally means the Market of the Red Children, refers to the red uniform worn by the children of the orphanage that was located nearby.

It was an amazing market, and the food we bought and dined on from here curled your toes it was that darn good.
Unfortunately, I visited on the Saturday I arrived, and before I had unpacked.
The last thing I wanted to do was take pictures .. until of course I got there.
Um, wow. Spectacular, people, tables, laughter, food, children, colour, light .. a visual feast.

We left before the following Saturday, and I never did capture it how it lived & breathed.
Other days were more low key, and, as I try to immerse in the culture on holidays ( rather than be a tourist ), I felt I should be more reverent as I wandered around, and less happy-snappy.

Yes, I can be a bit weird about such things :)


 

Marché des Enfants Rouges | 39 rue de Bretagne | Marais District





The other market/s we attended were in the 2nd half of our trip, which we spent in the Loire Valley.

We stayed in a pretty little village called Bourgueil, and despite the huge Hyper-U supermarket down the road, and another smaller supermarket in the village, it seems everyone just shops at the local markets every Tuesday and Saturday.
After our lovely host ( and i'll elaborate on our delightful accomodations in another future post - it deserves a specialty highlight ) told us we should NOT miss the Saturday market, we were amused to find lots of ricketty tables full of junk, racks of preloved and handmade clothes, what i'm pretty sure were 'copycat' Laguiole knives at the price point they were being sold at, and bins of LP records etc.

Fabulous for old people and hipsters, but there's no lingering and browsing/digging for marketgold with kids and an easily bored husband. It was HUGE, there were people everywhere and there were rides for the kids. Surely they can't do this every Saturday?

No-one appeared to be making any incredible fortune, but it's obviously a big local drawcard.





Our "landlord" also advised we go to the Tuesday market, with more of an emphasis on food.
Since we were renting a self-contained cottage, I was still cooking every night ( if we ate out, we did this during the day - long days out and about left everyone pretty much exhausted by even'time.. plus .. the weather was divine and our cottage had a pool. The kids could.not.wait to get home every evening and swim,swim,swim ) so a fresh 'local' shop made us feel like locals :)

So imagine our surprise when we went back into town on the Tuesday, to find a lot of the same stalls from Saturday, just as many people ( i'm telling you, the roads are closed, you park MILES away, and the crush of people is like Melbourne peak hour ).

OMG, we were overwhelmed .. people lined up for their favourite butcher and happily chatted and waited. The one thing I did notice ( and appreciate ) was the slower pace. As I mentioned earlier, the lure of the Euro did not seem to be a big factor for many stalls.. although i'm sure all the regular food traders do well.

Also, if you find yourself without baguette and cheese on a Sunday, you'd better have a back-up plan.
Unlike in Australia where a day of rest is non-existant, even the Hyper-U was shut.
And the pharmacie.
Probably the police station too.

Not.such.a.bad.thing.





Does that House Specialty look a bit boring to you?

Because OMG, we devoured it. Foodies, I can't even remember how to describe it.. like a huge glazed pastry thing with lashings of vanilla custard-cream in the middle and rock sugar on the outer? All I know is it was so fresh, it seemed a sin to let it sit and perhaps curdle.. you know, and so, we didn't want to sin..





( This is not a trash can or an ashtray, thankyou )

Goodness, it's nice to have some time off and be a little bit more personal on here.
I hope you're also enjoying a little change from the usual too.


xx Lea

Jiggedy-Jig :: i-Phone Travel Photography

Home!

Arrived last night.
2 weeks in Paris & the Loire valley, and a day in Amsterdam on the way home.

Jam.Packed.
( and utterly gorgeous ).

Plenty to share, but for now, here's a selection of i-phone images I was posting from my phone to my personal facebook account while I was away. 





Now if you'll excuse me, I need to follow up with my telecommunications supplier as to why I can't access the phone and text messages I received while away... hmm ..


x
Leanne

Annual Leave!

I am taking some time out with family to unwind and relax ♥
Back on the 17th August - see you then!

xx
Leanne

Wangaratta: School Holidays Photographer

A personal pic today - my two boys flying through the bush.
We went to the country on the weekend to visit family & celebrate my Grandma's Birthday - it was a lovely finish to the 2week school break.

What did you get up to ?

x