Monday 25 November 2013

Marché de noël

On our way up to Chinon Forest for our walk yesterday we called in to one of the first Christmas markets.

It was being held in:-

a very small village, about four kilometres from the town of L'Ile Bouchard also on the banks of the Vienne.

It was an excellent market for such a small place, though my photos don't really do it justice.

Of course, this was a popular spot....

There were examples of many different crafts on sale. Made me feel like taking up crafting!

The Salle de Fetes was packed to the rafters with stalls. One in particular which caught our eye was that of Jean-Pierre Michel-Chagnot, an "enlumineur" from Les Trois Moutiers. His display of illuminated texts, using parchment and gold leaf was truly magnificent. What skill and artistry!. The simplest of texts took around eight hours to complete. Interestingly, he told us, his most popular line was a small piece with the word "Welcome" illuminated. We could have watched him all day..

Anyway, it is getting towards that time of year. So...

Well someone had to be the first!!

2 comments:

NickL said...

Interesting! Calligraphy and stuff seems to be popular in France - there's even a group that meets in the village room in LGP every week. Somehow i doubt my scrawl would pass the entrance exam.
Nick

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Nick! nearly didn't recognise you in that hat. Elizabeth is not bad at it but me well when I spent time in a drawing office (before CAD) I was always pulled up on my writing...