Tower of power

Well, not so much. This is the southwestern tower of the Château de Chaumont. Looks like many a fairy tail castle tower. In the background is the Loire, and a portion of that island from yesterday's photo.

Le Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire. October 2012.

Good news on the contractor front: the deck guy called yesterday and wants to start work on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday in France). Yippee! We've cleared the deck (as it were) of plants and everything else that was out there a few weeks ago. We still need to get the bbq grill off the deck, and there's one large potted plant that hast to come in as well, so we're basically ready. Demolition will be noisy, but we'll get through it. I hope the weather cooperates and all goes well. As usual, I'll try to take photos of the progress.

I'm heading over to the Friday market in a near-by town this morning in search of rabbit pieces (like thighs) for Sunday's meal. Ken wants to make a slow-cooked dish, a confit de lapin, and it sounds good. It's the poultry vendors in France that normally deal in rabbit, so I'm hoping ours has some today. They usually do, but if they don't, I may be able to order it for pickup at the Saturday market in Saint-Aignan. Wish me luck!

La Loire

Here's a view of the Loire River seen from the Château de Chaumont. The little town of Chaumont-sur-Loire is down at river level a little to the right of this view. There's a bridge across the river there. The closest crossings otherwise are about fifteen kilometers (just under 10 miles) in either direction.

Looking downstream from the left bank of the Loire. October 2012.

It's tax season. I haven't started the American return yet, although I think I've got all the documents I need. The French return is due some time in May. Neither return is all that difficult to do. I just have to get over inertia and do them. That's my plan for the weekend, other than going to the market to find some rabbit for Easter Sunday's lunch.

The plot thickens

The vegetable garden plot, that is. Our landscape contractor showed up around nine yesterday morning and spent about an hour tilling up the vegetable garden. I didn't get "before" pictures. Bad planning on my part. But here's an "after" shot.

Looking east (into the sun) on Tuesday morning. I haven't measured lately, but the plot is about ten meters on a side.

The contractor has a bigger and more powerful tiller than we do. And he's younger and stronger than either of us. There were a lot of weeds to contend with, but he made short work of it. The first tilling of the season is always the most difficult. Now that it's done, we should be able to run our tiller through it once or twice (to keep the weeds down) with relative ease before we plant in mid-May. Now it's time to get the seedlings going.

Jump ahead

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.