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The last time I visited the Château de Chaumont was in the fall of 2012. More friends from California were in town and we visited both Chaumont and Chambord. The next batch of photos are from that visit. Long-time readers might recognize some of these photos that I posted back then (already almost eleven years ago!). I'm taking this opportunity to re-work some of them.

The main entrance to the castle's courtyard. October 2012.

This is a not-very-good shot of the drawbridge at the castle entry. I was still learning how to use the camera that I got earlier in the year, a Canon T3i, my first digital SLR. Most of my shots that day, like this one, were taken in aperture priority mode, but a few might have been attempts with full manual mode. It's apparent that I was still working on getting the lighting right.

There are actually two drawbridges at the entrance; a wider one for horses and carriages (I'm guessing), and another narrower one for pedestrians. The entrance leads to a courtyard surrounded on three sides by the château and open to the north and views of the Loire River in the valley below.

Time

I might have waited until the big hand was on the twelve. I might have done a better job of centering the clock inside the gate's fleur de lys ornaments. But no. The clock is in the courtyard of what I think are the old stables at the Château de Chaumont.

It's almost two o'clock. Lunch is over. March 2006.

Now that March is over, the winds have calmed and high pressure is building in. That means clear skies and cold mornings. We're expecting to be down very close to freezing the next few mornings. Easter is next weekend and that means the start of school vacations. And an uptick in traffic going to the zoo. There's a new hotel in town and it looks like the construction is pretty much done. I wonder if it will be open in time for "spring break." I looked on the web and it seems that it opened this past weekend.

Drawbridge

To enter the château at Chaumont, visitors pass over a drawbridge. It's difficult to see in this photo, but if you look closely you may see the beams over either side of the door to which are attached the chains that made the bridge operable. I don't know if it can actually close these days, but that would be cool, wouldn't it?

The drawbridge is a short section between the castle door and the larger fixed bridge in front. March 2006.

Just after crossing the drawbridge, visitors paid their admission charge. Now, and for a while, that's all taken care of on the edges of the property at the entrances (I believe there are two).

Let's go to Chaumont

You might remember the story of Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II, being kicked out of the Château de Chenonceau in 1559 after the king's death. His widow, Catherine de Médicis, took over ownership of Chenonceau, but she offered the Château de Chaumont to Diane in exchange.

The Château de Chaumont sits high above the Loire Valley, about a 30 minute drive from our house. March 2006.

This photo of the castle and the few that follow are from March of 2006. Back then, the grounds were open to public for free. Admission was only charged to enter and tour the castle. That has changed since then and now visitors pay to get into the park as well. Since 1992, the castle grounds have hosted what has become a prestigious international garden festival.

Men at work

Here's a good-bye shot from the Château de Chenonceau, at least for now. The renovation project that required this scaffolding in the river was completed over a decade ago. I'm not aware of any projects going on now, but with these monuments there's always something that needs doing.

Hory-Chauvelin is a local masonry company that specializes in the renovation/restoration of historic monuments. September 2011.

The wind howled through the night. Again. Apparently there's a named storm crossing the British Isles and its southern edge is passing over us. According to the forecast, the wind is expected to continue through the day today.

Our landscape contractor is coming by next week to till up our vegetable garden plot. When we told him we had a heck of a time last year because the ground was as hard as concrete, he said, "Well, I can do that. We do it for many of our customers toward the end of March." The first tilling of the season is the most difficult, so getting that done by a pro will be a big help, not to mention a relief. I'll try to get some before and after photos, weather permitting.

Cherry blossom festival

Our flowering, but fruitless, cherry is finishing up its spring bloom. I though I'd get a shot before the blossoms start falling to the ground.

The cherry tree towers over our little carport. View from the deck.

Good news on the contractor front. A little background: last spring, we got an estimate for some plumbing work we've wanted done for a while, accepted it, and made a 30% down payment, which is customary. The contractor promptly cashed the check, but then we didn't hear from him. For months. Over the winter, I sent him an email but it went unanswered.

So, yesterday afternoon his truck showed up at the house of one of our neighbors. Ken and I walked right over. He was all smiles and said that he scheduled us for the end of April, and that he needed to take our central heating off-line for two days to do the job. Which, we presume, is why he didn't do anything over the fall and winter. I just wish he had let us know that we were in the queue.

Have you ever seen "A Year in Provence?"

Lights, camera...

These are some of the lights that light up the Château de Chenonceau at night. Or at least they were. I wonder if they're still there or if they've been replaced by something more modern.

Lights. September 2011.

Something curious is going on with Blogger comments. I noticed that my spam folder is suddenly filled with "spam" comments. Eighty-one of them at last count. And they are all from current and former regular commenters, so they're legit, not actual spam. And they go back to 2008. When I check the original post that one of these comments was made on, it's missing. I restored one, and it showed up once again on the original post. I know these comments have not been sitting in the spam folder all this time -- I regularly check that folder. They just moved from certain posts to the spam folder all of a sudden, seemingly on their own and with no rhyme or reason. I guess I'll restore them all, but I fear that this might be some web pirate's nefarious plot and my blog might blow up. Well, stand back, here goes nothing...