A meander

Today is, traditionally, the last day that you can hand in your tax forms here in France. The deadline is midnight 31st May [unless you submit online then you have a while longer].

The Centre des Finances Publiques in Loches has been a hive of activity recently. There were plenty of people bustling in and out when we arrived bright and early one morning several days ago. Those who are filing tax returns for the first time, as we are, are not able to submit online so we had to submit them in person. Just to make sure we'd done everything correctly we had a brief meeting with the officer who deals with those who are 'des etrangers' like us before handing our forms in. After his nod of approval that all was correct --this took all of 10 mins-- we felt we deserved some time off for good behaviour. After all, we handed everything in with days to spare!

Looking across the Cher at Savonnieres

With the sun shining we decided to follow the river Indre downstream from Loches to Artannes-sur-Indre where we cut north to Villandry. From Villandry we drove to Savonnieres and then crossed the Cher to Berthenay a sleepy little village huddled right up against the dike which protects it from the Loire. Here we turned eastwards following the D road along the dike until it ended up in the La Riche suburb of Tours.

wier and traditional boat, Savonnieres

Driving into Villandry via the little D road from Artannes-sur-Indre you literally drop down into the village and so we had a good view of the famous parterre gardens before passing the village church and turning right towards Savonnieres. Villandry was already quite busy with a fair few foreign and out of departement cars. We've visited Villandry only the once, [way back in the early 1990's] but we didn't stop for a repeat visit as it is likely to be 'on the menu' when friends come to stay over the summer.

heron peacefully fishing

Just opposite Savonnieres we stopped to have a look at the Cher and saw a lovely blue heron fishing. While we watched, a much smaller white egret swooped over him and he, ruffled, decamped with the egret chasing. The white egret then did a victory circle before settling down in exactly the same spot!

look hard and you'll see the egret coming in to land

All along the dike from Berthenay on the landward side we saw evidence of market gardens. Polly tunnels abounded and we saw asparagus which had been allowed to grow on, as well as salad veggies.

 Le prieuré Saint-Cosme

Not far from La Riche we spotted a sign to Le prieuré de Saint-Cosme. Run by Augustinian canons, it was a stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago di Compostela. It also has a great literary connection as the French Renaissance poet, Pierre de Ronsard was Prior here [1565 - 85].

guided tour in action

There was a guided tour in full swing and we aren't that keen on these. Nor did we have much time left so we made a note to come back soon. With things to do, our time off for good behaviour was over and we turned for home.

We look forward to visiting the Le prieuré de Saint-Cosme properly!

View from the hammock chair

Since last Wednesday we've been having a spell of lovely summer weather. This, combined with all the rain we had previously, means that things are growing like, well, the proverbial weeds.

view from the hammock chair looking NE/E

As a result, when not working we've been busy outside. With just under a hectare, which is grass with numerous trees, the ride on mower has seen very active service. It can indeed feel a little endless; like painting the Forth Rail Bridge [any Scot will know what we mean]!

The nasturtium and sunflower seeds we planted have sprouted and need thinning and in the shady corners our lizard orchids are coming along nicely.

 hammock chair in use!

The hammock chair, purchased during the optimistic warm spell in March, has now been hung on the restored swing frame left by the previous owners. Last autumn Niall cleaned and prepped it before giving it a good going over with hammerite paint in British Racing Green. It's a great place to relax with an ipod, a book and/or the 2nd England - West Indies Test Match on BBC Radio4 LW.
Perhaps that last bit of grass can wait.... after all the daisies do look nice!

We also would like to say a big thank you to Martine at Wishing I were in France and Lady Justine; two fellow bloggers who read Chez Charnizay. Recently each very kindly passed on an award. We're really pleased to have been nominated but have decided to simply suggest some blogs that we have started reading more recently which you might enjoy too:

Snippets from Labartere
Melbourne -Our Home on the Bay
Morning AJ
Zut Alors!
Loire Valley Experiences

Raggle taggle

On Monday we had incessant rain and everything was awash. It has now drained away even on our claggy soil though it remains a bit squelchy underfoot here and there. Yesterday the sun appeared sort of... it was still a bit hazy and there were plenty of clouds about but it was a start.

colour co-ordination

The butterflies, other insects and beasties are starting to respond to this better weather and we saw some scarce swallowtails fluttering about their favourite bush. We have no idea of the name of this flowering bush but the butterflies, especially the scarce swallowtails, love it. Last year the bush seemed alive as the scarce swallowtail is almost the same colour as the flowers and there were loads of them feeding away.

raggedy swallowtail

Yesterday we saw 3 or 4 and they were a bit bedraggled with their 'swallowtails' being more than a bit shredded; we assume due to the recent poor weather conditions, but they made a nice show.

bees are out too

If anyone knows what the name of the bush is please let us know.

Update 24.05.2012: The bush, we've been informed, is a philladelphus, commonly known as Mock Orange. Thanks to all the experts who helped us out! 

Waiting on the sun

We thought the terrace tiles would have been laid by now. The original plan was that it would be done while we were visiting family in Edinburgh. However, the weather gods had other ideas, and the tiles remain under wraps. The weather has just been too erratic and we need to wait until we are guaranteed a goodly run of rain-free days as otherwise the tiles won't set properly.

... bulbs we planted last October

brilliant blue iris ...

This isn't to say that we haven't had good days here and there; at last Sunday's plant fair it was super. However, we've had far more days like today: this morning it was cloudly but breaking into some sunny spells and the temperature was a perfectly reasonable 18C. After lunch the clouds began to turn the ominous purple which preceeds a downpour and yes .... down came the rain. In fact, météo has forecast thunderstorms with hail for later this afternoon/evening.

byzantine purple bearded iris

Mind you Niall won't mind as he will be watching the Scottish Cup final live on TV. For the first time since 1896 it is an all Edinburgh derby: Heart of Midlothian versus Hibernian. Niall has always been a Hearts supporter; so it will be a case of "come on you Jambos!"

super camouflage!

In the meantime here are a few photos of our different irises taken during a sunny spell. As well as a brilliantly camouflaged green spider who crept into a frame!


Update at 17:45: Niall very pleased as Hearts won 5 -1.

Fêtes des plantes

Last Sunday we went to the plant fair at Verneuil-sur-Indre, a small village between us and Loches.  We've been having quite chilly and changeable weather lately but on Sunday, although it was a bit breezy, the sun blazed forth.

specialist growers along the drive

Every year the plant fair is held the Agricultural College [high school] which is based in a lovely 15th/18th century Chateau. The boarding college is part of a charitable foundation which seeks to give disadvantaged kids life skills. At Verneuil-sur-Indre they teach and train these youngsters so they can go on to jobs in the care/retirement,  the buildings maintenance or the horticultural sectors.

All the plants in the glasshouse had been grown by the students and wearing red t-shirts they were helping out on the day. Lining the drive we found commercial stands of specialists such as rose and lavender growers as well as a stall all about beekeeping. As we both adore lavender we succumbed to buying 3 pots of 'lavendula officinalis'. 'Original' lavender if you like, which can be used in cooking. We also ran into friends Susan & Simon who were shopping for plants for their potager and garden.

lots of lavenders!

Very little information about the Chateau at Verneuil-sur-Indre exists.  Somwhere around the middle of the 15th century the tower house [grosse tour] was built probably by the d'Orion family. By the late middle ages the tower house had replaced the donjon.

the 15thC tower house

There is a question mark as to when the new house was actually built but the most popular theory suggests it was around 1760 when the Chaspoux family, who by then held Verneuil-sur-Indre, were elevated to a marquisate. It is in the Louis XIV style [originally mid 1600's] which had a revival in the 1760's.

new and old side by side

The chateau itself is an interesting combination. It is made up of two separate  buildings. Mostly when a new owner was seeking to modernise or 'keep up with the Jones' they either pulled the old building down or incorporated the old into the new as a message of continuity. At Verneuil for example one could have expected that the builders of the new house to incorporate the 15th century tower house in a corner of the new house; but they didn't. There was, at one time, some kind of covered walkway linking the two but it was removed during renovations to both buildings at the end of the 19th century. Now the 15th century castle stands separately, only a small stone's throw away from the 18th century house.

We really enjoyed the opportunity to see the chateau as well as have a look at all the plants on offer.