Chinon Tourist Office

On a trip into Chinon earlier this week, for Elizabeth's daughter Jane's birthday, we noticed that the tourist office has moved.

It is now in the much better position just off the main square in what was the old parapharmacie.

Interestingly they have preserved the old pharmacy shelving to display their brochures.

The staff said they liked the new position but it did not have as much counter space to welcome visitors as the old one.

We feel it is much more accessible and therefore will get more custom.

PS. Elizabeth's birthday yesterday was a hot one! We caught the thermometer just before it peaked at 39.8C in the afternoon!!

Fireworks at Chinon

Last night we went up to Chinon to watch their Bastille Day Fireworks...  It was standing room only by the time it had gone dark.

What a show it was, with the fortress as a backdrop and a launch site and a stunning display of lighting and pyrotechnics from both sides of the river.

It was the first time I have managed to take photographs of fireworks, using the small Canon SX500IS on firework setting... They do however not do the display justice...

Well worth a visit next year...

Birthday update... Elizabeth and Jane have spent today (Jane's Birthday) at the Naturaspa in La RochePosay. (I am sure it will feature here in due course.)  They both had a very enjoyable day being body wrapped... whatever that is!!!

Tomorrow is the BIG one 60 60 60 oh la la...

Tim, what does your rain gauge say?

The Vienne at Chinon this morning gave us quite a surprise.

It was unexpectedly high...

Almost to the top of the bridge pillars

 and beyond!

The Vienne says we have had more rain than we thought...

Well, Tim, how much!!!

Wear and tear...

Walking down to the town in Chinon the other day we spotted a fine piece of erosion on the stonework of one particular house..

The house is in an exposed spot, overlooking the town, but we wondered why this particular section of stone should suffer so badly whilst the rest is relatively clear.

The stone in question is tuffeau, a marine sedimentary rock found throughout the Loire Valley. It has a very low density compared with other rocks; it is half as dense as granite and an amazingly high porosity - up to 50% compared to 1% for granite.

So possibly the section of stone beneath the window was more prone to seepage which in turn caused the damage we see on the above photo.

Despite all this, however, many old buildings built from tuffeau are still standing. The Chateau at Ussé is a wonderful example and at the other end of the scale are the many longères still to be seen in the region.

It defines the regions buildings and lends a subtle mellowness to our towns and country dwellings alike.

All those engaged in renovation work based on removing concrete rendering and revealing the original stonework are to be applauded!

Circus in the snow

The circus is coming to town....

It was at Chatellerault from 1st-5th February and is in Chinon, from today (8th) until 12th February.

We spotted the convoy of trailers travelling from Chatellerault to Chinon yesterday afternoon and today we passed the site of the circus - at La zone commerciale du Blanc Carroi, just off the Chinon to Tours road (D751).

What a strange site it was, the brilliant white snow setting off the red of the circus tents.

Back in October Jim and Pauline posted a blog about a different circus troupe, commenting that with apparently low takings (Jim estimated around 300 euros) they could not have making much of a living.

It's hard to imagine many people turning out in this weather for the shows at Chinon tonight and over the next few days, so takings will probably be on the low side again.

Incidentally, some of the posters boasted the appearance "UNIQUE EN FRANCE,  'BRYAN' UN LION BLANC".... We can only hope it doesn't escape against this backdrop..

We'll be on the lookout for unusual footprints if it does....!

Christmas decorations...

It is quite common in France to see Christmas decorations, especially hanging Father Christmas's, well into the year. Today on our weekly trip up to Chinon we observed several house owners dismantling their decorations. The local mairie also chose today to dismantle the main street decorations in Chinon.

Its a good job that they know what they are doing, that's all I can say . Elizabeth took this photo whilst we were waiting for oncoming traffic. I was a little apprehensive driving underneath but all was well.

Not sure what the chap on the grounds job was, certainly wasn't directing the traffic...  Maybe he would pick up the pieces if it dropped off!!

Tales from the River Bank....

Visiting L'Île Bouchard and Chinon today for the first time since before Christmas, we were amazed to see evidence of how high the river had been when in full spate.

The first photo shows the Vienne at L'Île Bouchard. The hedge in the foreground is strewn with debris left when the water subsided. You can see it also on the trees to the left of the photo.

At Chinon it was a similar picture....

 

Comparing these with photos of the bridge in Chinon taken in the October 2011, the difference in water level is quite startling.

When you consider that in the top two photos the river has already subsided by (at a guess) ten feet, I don't think I'd have cared to have been crossing the bridge when it was in full flood!!

Chamber pot street...

This has to be one of our favourite Chinon street names...

The street is in the medieval quarter of Saint-Etienne but the street name is not in fact that old, dating from the end of the nineteenth century. Prior to this it was known as "passage du jeu de paume" or in English the rather less romantically sounding "passage from the tennis court".

Legend has it that following a wedding the young men brought a chamber pot of onion soup for the newly weds. So as not to waken them they climbed a wall into the garden and in so doing they broke the chamber pot. The newly weds therefore never got the soup, but the name of the street was changed: the chamber pot was broken but not forgotten!

Chinon on the 11-11-11

Today is a bank holiday in France to remember those who died in conflicts throughout the world with acts of remembrance taking place this morning in virtually every community.

This afternoon can only be described as a warm sunny one, in many respects as a Northern England  summer day. The car was recording 18°C and with the sunshine it was very pleasant.  We had a need to go up to Chinon and Elizabeth took the opportunity to photograph the afternoon...

 

 

 

 

What a great day to be free!

Marché Médiéval; Chinon

As a setting for a Marché Médiéval you can't get much better than Chinon. And yesterday the town hosted just such an event.

We went along in the afternoon and immediately realised it was very popular indeed - so popular that parking was well nigh impossible.

After a trek from the outskirts we came to the town centre where there were stalls featuring traditional trades including a blacksmith, a demonstration of glass-blowing and clog making. There were also period games and  dressing-up Medieval style for the children. (I'm not clear where the face painting features in Medieval life but it was well supported nevertheless!)

 

 

Old rubbed shoulders with new and even the narrowest of streets were full of stalls.....

 

It seemed everyone had made an effort: even many of the visitors to the Marché had entered into the spirit of things...

Chinon was transformed for the day into a bustling Medieval town. It was a colourful, vibrant and a wonderful afternoon out for us.

Pont de Chinon

We have noticed on several occasions when we have visited Chinon that some major works where taking place on the beach adjacent to the bridge. It turns out the bridge is in danger of collapse if work is not carried out to underpin some of the arches nearest to the town.

The works are to provide a temporary bridge to supply materials to the site in order to keep the main bridge open to traffic during the repair work.

 

Today we were on the bridge when the first section was lifted into place... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it does fit then!!!!!

My compliments go to this man, the crane driver, he certainly could handle that crane....

The original bridge probably built in the 12 ^th century under Henry II has under gone many restorations over time. For more details see here.