Chenonceau castle

As promised, here's the view of Chenonceau that you get while walking along the path on the left bank of the Cher. Not bad, eh?

The freebie view of Chenonceau castle. Click to encastellate.

The river flows lazily under the arches. In summer it's not unusual to see a kayak or two on the water. By the way, the water is nearly crystal clear. The river bottom is visible and fish abound.

A closer look.

The woods at Chenonceau

The famous Château de Chenonceau spans the Cher River not far from where we live. We find ourselves taking guests there frequently. It's probably the castle I've been in the most these past nine-plus years.

A typical scene in the forest at Chenonceau.

But the entry fee is not cheap and, while guests will often pay my way (which is very kind indeed), we sometimes don't really want to go inside and shuffle around with all the other tourists in high season. As an alternative, there is a path on the left bank of the river that takes you right up to the castle. On one side of the path is the river and on the other is part of the castle's forest park. You can walk right up to the building and touch it, but you can't enter. It's great when you just want to see the outside of the castle without the hassle.

The walking path, river on the left, forest on the right.

The castle is not otherwise visible from any road as it sits back in its park and gardens, away from town. It's definitely worth paying the entry fee and seeing it once in your life, but the walk is free and the castle is just as impressive either way.

More trees.

I'll show you the castle itself tomorrow. Of course, you can always click on the "chenonceau" label just below and you'll get all the posts I've done about the castle.

Fall grape leaves

It's that time of year. The harvest is nearly complete. The grape vines are changing color. Soon the leaves will begin dropping and the vineyard will take on its winter browns. Until then, there's this:

I think this varietal is côt (malbec) based on what we've been told by the growers.

The change is accelerating. The red maple trees in our front yard are beginning their turn toward orange, after which their leaves will fall into the driveway. The birch trees all around are getting more and more yellow. And there are accents of brilliant red here and there.

This is probably grolleau (a Loire Valley varietal), again based on what we've been told in the past.

Our fall is not as dramatic as a New England, Northern US, or Canadian autumn; you'll find no "leaf peepers" in our parts. But it's still pretty.

Strolling through Montrésor

From the church up on the heights, you can either walk a little farther up to the château or take the little street that winds back down along the castle's base. We chose the latter on this particular day.

Winding down through town. The bridge above the street leads to the castle.

The old town hugs the base of the château on the right bank of the river. There's a newer section of town along the main road on the other side of the castle. That's where most of the businesses (restaurants, post office, etc.) are located.

Monet I'm not

The lily pads floating in the lazy Indrois River reminded me of Claude Monet. There were even several arched foot bridges over the river, similar to the one in Giverney made famous by the painter. And although this photo in no way resembles a Monet painting, it reminds me of that.

A few of the hundreds of lily pads I saw in the river. Click to impressionate.

The warm and wet weather we've been having for a few days now has started the grass growing again. In fact, weeds of all kinds are popping up all around, in the yard, in the garden, in the vineyard, and in the woods. The next dry stretch we get will see me out with the lawnmower, maybe for the last time this year.

Squash it to me

As this week is projected to be a wet one, I thought on Sunday that I should get some harvesting done. I went out and pulled up all the bean plants. I plucked all the beans from them and we'll go through and shell the ones that can be shelled and cook up the rest.

Winter squash from the garden: potimarron (red/orange) and patidou (yellow and green). Click to cucurbitacate.

I also picked the winter squash before it had a chance to rot on the muddy ground. It's not a big harvest, but there's enough to keep us going for a while. I left the two butternut squashes out there because they didn't look quite ready for picking yet. I'll keep my eye on them.

One of two butternut squashes still in the garden.

All of these squashes came from seeds that were saved (by us or a neighbor) and not from seed packets. The only real surprise is that the patidou (similar to acorn squash) reverted to prior forms. One plant gave us the oblong yellow squash and another gave us the dark green pumpkin-shaped fruit. The original squash looked exactly like a cross between these two, so it kind of follows.

The three dark green squash came from two plants. The two yellow squash came from one plant. Each of the potimarrons came from its own plant, and the two butternuts (not shown) come from two plants. I don't know why each plant produced only one or two fruit this year; that hasn't been my prior experience. It has been a funny year in the garden.

Pointing skyward

Here, once again, is the church in Montrésor, St. Jean Baptiste. The roof is covered with slate tiles and the spire is the tallest structure as far as the eye can see.

The roof and central bell tower and spire.

I think I already mentioned that the church was built in the sixteenth century. I didn't spend a lot of time inside, nor did I take many photos. You've seen one of these and you've pretty much seen them all. Still, here's a shot of the choir from the nave with the nice stained glass windows behind.

An interior view.