Working at a French château: cooking, horses and photography

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I have been a bit silent the last few days, the reason for that is implied in the title. Not that far as others go north though, only about 1300km and it's not actually a holiday either which is a bit of a contradiction when one has retreated from active service. Moreover, I'm helping at http://www.au-chateau.com/Montcru.htm , doing the bar, the cooking and things like that and doing a lot of photography.

Here are a few.

Transition from bad to less bad weather in the garden:

Garden lawn with a small pond of lily pads and reeds, a tree and conifer behind it, and a gold-coloured statue of a woman on a column at right, with rolling green hills and cloudy sky beyond.


It's possible to get lessons in horseback riding here:

A young girl with long brown hair leans her head against a brown leather saddle, looking off to the side. She wears a grey hoodie with a small Hello Kitty embroidery.


But sometimes the horses need new horseshoes:

A farrier in a leather apron fitting a horseshoe to a horse's hoof, with smoke rising from the shoe; children watch from behind a wooden rail.


That happens in this medieval stable (where the horses have satellite TV?)

Rustic stone house with a timber-framed upper floor and wooden balcony, a large green tree in front, and a white van parked on the grass.


We bake the bread ourselfs, today we went for new flour in this mill, powered by a water mill

Interior of an old flour mill with rows of red-painted milling machines, green wooden pipes overhead, and sacks of flour on the floor, dusty surfaces throughout.


A village in the neighborhood, care to find out which?

Working at a French château: cooking, horses and photography
 
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Discussion

Water mill... When I was a teenager during winter camp somewhere in Poland we found it is possible to enter a (closed then) water mill just by walking the transmission belt

I wonder if the mill still exist.
 
Actually with the type of water mills here the water turbine is completely indoors, the building in the center of the last pic is also such a water mill albeit another one.

Anyway todays focus was on preparation of a change of guests, which happens tomorrow. One of the tasks is to replace the pictures in the gallery in the main hall according to the taste and wishes of the new arriving guests.

An older man in a red striped polo shirt holds a framed print of a red-clad figure while pointing toward a large painting of a woman with long red hair on a yellow-walled room hung above wainscoting.
 
So, is my picture going up or down?

Great shots, btw!
 
thanks Evo, It went up today after I framed it. It was a present from a guest last year, who returns tomorrow. So, I told about the legend of the Lady of Shalott :smile: I think it will stay up.
 
Great pics Andre! That's beautiful country.

Coincidentally, it's the birthday of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (b Aug 6, 1809), the man who wrote The Lady of Shalott, a ballad based on King Arthur legends, which begins:

"On either side the river lie / Long fields of barley and of rye, / That clothe the wold and meet the sky; / And thro' the field the road runs by / To many-tower'd Camelot;"

courtesy of The Writer's Almanac.
 
Great pics Andre, you sure enjoy it there. Who’s the little kid? She’s cute. :smile:
 
Thanks, the girl is one of the guests here, who doesn't want to leave today.

There is little discussion about the most beautiful time of the day. Sunrise, this pic was taken around 7am this morning. I had the chills, but it was still fresh of course. :rolleyes:

Early morning landscape with mist lying over a valley, wooded hills lit by low sun, and a classical stone statue of a woman holding a cup on a pedestal in the foreground.
 
Looks like a beautiful sanctuary. Very nice!
 
If we (Boreks) ever decide to go to the southern end of Europe, Montcru will be on our way :smile:

Actually, going to the southern end of Europe means also going to the western end (or at least it doesn't make sense to make separate trips).
 
Awesome! Sunrise is definitely the best time of the day, it's the beginning of a new day.
 
lisab said:
Looks like a beautiful sanctuary. Very nice!

Absolutely, It's a place that defeats the principle of time dilation, :biggrin: there is no movement required at all to have a sensation of the time standing still.

However as the guests change today, there is a lot of work. Ah well, tomorrow again.

Borek said:
If we (Boreks) ever decide to go to the southern end of Europe, Montcru will be on our way :smile:

I'm sure you are welcome, my brother in law is doing business in Poland and hits a language barrier every now and then. He could use some advice then.

drizzle said:
Awesome! Sunrise is definitely the best time of the day, it's the beginning of a new day.

You bet :smile: but it takes a while before these little fellows below become active and of course I brought my macro lens:

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It's the Hummingbird hawk moth

edit, maybe this shot is better:

Hummingbird hawk moth hovering in flight beside pink-purple flowers, extending its long proboscis toward the blossoms against a dark background.
 
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Andre said:
Thanks, the girl is one of the guests here, who doesn't want to leave today.

There is little discussion about the most beautiful time of the day. Sunrise, this pic was taken around 7am this morning. I had the chills, but it was still fresh of course. :rolleyes:

Early morning landscape with mist lying in a valley below wooded hills, with a classical stone statue of a robed woman holding a bowl on a pedestal in the foreground.
What beautiful Maxfield Parrish lighting! All you need is a couple of beautiful young ladies lounging in simple white dresses.
 
turbo-1 said:
What beautiful Maxfield Parrish lighting! All you need is a couple of beautiful young ladies lounging in simple white dresses.

Good idea, Working on that, maybe next week. We need more rain though to get that morning fog back.

Meanwhile I thought to shoot another hummingbirg hawk moth to improve the results but it turned out to be quite something different:

Hovering hawk moth with yellow-green thorax, rusty red wing edges and a banded orange and black abdomen, feeding on purple buddleia flowers.


It could be a Bee hawk moth or maybe not. Anybody a good tally on the species?
 
I am afraid all I have is about moths/butterflies present in Poland, using these books for southern France can be misleading.
 
Thanks, anyway this guy is more familiar, a clear resident of the pond.

Close-up of a dragonfly with large blue compound eyes and green-blue thorax, perched on a green reed with its legs gripping the stem and wings spread.


Normally little Charles follows him carefully when in flight:

Close-up photo of a cream-coloured cat with grey tabby markings and striking blue eyes, looking toward the camera in front of a rocky, mossy background.


We monitor the light changing in the evening as the sun sets.

Evening landscape photo of rolling green hills and a distant mountain ridge under a sunset sky, with a stone bridge, a garden pond with lily pads and a rock edge in the foreground.


the last rays captured by an approaching(?) storm:

Cumulonimbus cloud tower lit gold and orange on its top by low evening sun, above dark rolling hills and a dusky sky.
 
Andre said:
... Normally little Charles follows him carefully when in flight:

Close-up of a cat with pale grey fur, striking blue eyes and pinkish ears and nose, looking toward the camera against a blurred rocky background.

... Gizmo wasn't there when you took that pic, right?

We monitor the light changing in the evening as the sun sets.

Sunset view over rolling green hills and a valley with scattered farms, a stone balustrade in the middle distance, and a small garden pond with stones and water plants in the foreground.


Woah!

Though I don't like sunset, but this one is as good as the sunrise pic... This place is definitely a heavenly sanctuary.
 
drizzle said:
... Gizmo wasn't there when you took that pic, right?

No, Gizmo doesn't like to travel, so he stayed home, in the north. :smile:
 
Gorgeous pictures, as always! I love blue eyed cats.
 
Andre said:
No, Gizmo doesn't like to travel, so he stayed home, in the north. :smile:

Good! :biggrin:
 
Ah, Charles was just a stray and there are more like him but feral. Charles is a gentleman. He was found on the premises when only a few weeks old and it's probably the TLC of the family that transformed him into a friendly creature.

Yesterday was hiking day, albeit that the original destination was Andorra, you know, where those blue antennae people live. However unreal touristic traffic jams caused a change of plans.

On our way:
A narrow dirt footpath along a steep wooded mountainside, with green shrubs and conifers, and a wide valley with a road and low cloud beneath misty peaks.


Nature reclaims the remains of a former mine higher in the mountains
Overgrown narrow-gauge rail track made of concrete sleepers running through green undergrowth toward a weathered grey stone building, with a hiker in a backpack walking up the track in a wooded area.


The destination of the hike, l'Etang des Bésines
Calm lake in a mountain valley under overcast sky, with misty peaks behind, pink willowherb flowers in the foreground and pine trees on the right shore.


where we also found the contraption that used to use those rails:

A rusted, overturned industrial machine with large iron wheels and gears lying in green ferns and nettles, a man in a hat and backpack standing beside it in misty woodland.


From earlier that day: sometimes unexpected guests appear to prefer the banjo:

Close-up photo of a brown lizard with a scaly head and textured body, its eye visible, gripping a wooden surface beside metal fittings and strings.


anyway, after seeing all these pics there has been shown some interest here to visit this santuary in the fall.
 
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We can certainly discuss that maybe tomorrow.

Today was market day in St Girons. A few sceneries.

The stereotype idea of a little medieval French town:

Stone arched bridge with a railing crossing a river in a small French town, with pastel and terracotta-roofed houses lining the far bank and wooded hills behind.


Any other day, you would not find a living soul on the streets, but now just about everybody from the whole county is here.
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Colourful fruits and vegetables
Busy outdoor market under yellow and red striped umbrellas, with stalls of tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and produce and shoppers browsing in a town square.


The paëlla, obviously we are close to Spain
Very large steel pan of paella on a portable stand at an outdoor market, filled with prawns, mussels, chicken pieces and yellow rice.


and finally we found our target, what it's all about for bears, hunny
Rows of honey jars with white lids and labels reading MEL D'ARÈGE, the upper jars filled with light amber honey and the front jars darker.
 
turbo-1 said:
What beautiful Maxfield Parrish lighting! All you need is a couple of beautiful young ladies lounging in simple white dresses.

As you wish

A young woman in a white dress stands barefoot on a grassy lawn beside a black and white dog, with misty hills and a stone balustrade behind them.


A young woman with shoulder-length light brown hair in a white lace-trimmed top stands on a stone terrace with a balustrade, with misty green hills and mountains in the background at sunrise.
 
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:smile: The next time we have that morning fog we aim to have a horse too with the girl (niece).