The castle at Saint-Aignan rises above the houses along the riverfront.
After lunch I fired up the mower and did about a third of the yard, including the strip along the road outside the hedge. Some of that grass was a foot tall, having grown quickly just as the weather warmed up. Such a sense of accomplishment. Today and maybe tomorrow I'll finish up.
Everything is just going to explode into growth now, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean... GOING TO?
DeleteHave you seen your verger?
I mowed paths out back... you can only just make them out now.
What Susan said :)
ReplyDeleteThe castle has a lot of variety to it. I like the checker board part best.
ReplyDeleteWe had a few small rain showers here and already the grass (and weeds) have made a growth spurt. So I'm with you.
ReplyDeleteI like the architectual contrast
ReplyDeleteThat red and white checkerboard part, what's it called architecturally? I think of it as uniquely French, but I don't know why because I rarely come across it on our travels. We've seen a bit at Bagnoles de l'Orne and near Honfleur. and now here. So it's not regional. Does it date from a certain era?
ReplyDeleteWhen I quickly glanced over your photo, my eyes told me a "polka-dot" building before I examined it more closely! It definitely caught my eye!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the oldest part is the Reaissance wing on the extreme right. Then, as the owner came up with some money, he had an addition built, but had to stop as he ran short of dough. Then, again, he won at the lotery and started another addition with a different architect who didn't especially like what his predecessor has done and had his own way. For some reason the work stopped again, so on and so forth until the château was finished! All this, however, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Wow!
ReplyDeletelovely photos as always!
ReplyDeleteSearching for "damier de briques et de pierres" (alternating squares of red brick and white stone in a check pattern), one finds many examples of this style of French architecture. Combinations of brick and stone are often associated with Louis XIII.
ReplyDeleteLe château des Réaux (70 miles from Saint Aignan) is a good example of this checkerboard style.
Le Château des Reaux
Thank you, Dean France. I've just had an enjoyable half hour looking up the chateau des Reaux and other places on Google Images using your terminology.
ReplyDeleteWe saw an example in the market square at Touques, but the building seemed too regular to be from the 17c. I'm guessing it comes back into style every now and then.