Today, for our first visit, we did a village north of the Loire River. All, or most, of the popular chateaus seem to be on the south side of the Loire. I wonder why? Anyway, the first village we visited was Talcy. Of course it also has a chateau. I think every little village in this part of France has a chateau. We didn't visit these villages for the sole purpose of their chateaus, we just wanted to see the villages themselves, many of then dating back centuries.
Well worth a detour for a visit. Entrance fee was very reasonable at €6 at the time of this post. Interseting grounds with the gardens and a couple of loors to explore with later period furniture.
As you can see Talcy isn't too far away from Blois.
The chateau, as it is today, dates back to the 16th century. It was commissioned by Bernardo Salviati, a banker from Florence. He also had connections to the Medici family. Yes, them again! The chateau has been a state property since 1933. The gardens have been restored according to their original layout, and original furniture (later period) can be found inside. This isn't like one of the grandeur chateaus like Chenonceau, but quite small and functional. It contains a dovecot (a house for pidgeons) for 1300 pidgeons. At that time their eggs were eaten (as well as some pidgeons), their cote used as dung and were traded for other goods. An impresive building in itself.
I think these smaller chateaus could be compared to the the english manor, where the squire of lord on the manor used to reside.
Image of the dovecot.
Entrance to the dovecote (or dovecot). You can see how massive this structure is and is something new to me. In mediaeval times these structures were quite important providing food and for trading.
Photography Notes
I needed to travel light today as we were going around a few villages so the E-M1 and 12-100 f4 got left behind. What I did take with me was the Panasonic 12-32 on the E-M5 II and the Panasonic 7-14 f4 on the GX7. I think it worked out quite well and if I needed anything longer I took the Panasonic TZ101 with me. It's always with me nowadays because of its size. Comes in quite handy at times. I've used it quite extensively on this trip with over 650 taken with it so far. That is the same amount as the E-M5 II and half the amount with the E-M1.
Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 12-32 f3.5-5.6
Panasonic GX7 - Panasonic 7-14 f4
Within the grounds of the chateau you can visit a mill which is centuries old but still in working order and is still being used today. Amazing construction.
It looks a lot brighter than it really was. Light conditions were abysmal. The GX7 did a great job here especially since it aquired focus without any froblems and the image was taken handheld.
Again, some of these images are very similar but it's my way of testing lenses. Real world examples.
My love of old doors and windows coming to the fore again.
Craftsmanship at its best again.
I believe this is the "Medici Room". It is said that Catherine de Medici, together with her son Charles IX, planned the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day in 1572. Religion has a lot to answer for.
No wonder they didn't bathe very often in those days.
This is the room occupied by the Commander-in-Chief of the French forces during the France-German War at the end of the 19th Century.
Love the camera. A Daguerreotype I believe.
Having left Talcy we headed for a town called Verdome (population of 20,000) which is built on the islands in the River Loir (not to be mistaken with the Loire River). The river has now been re-routed through the town. Since it was a Sunday the streets were empty and the shops closed. It was like a ghost town really but we did enjoy it. Well worth a visit with one part of the town being particularly lovely (see images below).
Verdome is less than 40km from Talcy but look how long it takes to get there. It's all country lanes in this part of France so if you want to visit this region, calculate enough time to get from one place to another.
Panasonic GX7 - Panasonic 7-14 f4
The church at Versome. Like all these churches, they really are too big for the village/town. Taken at an extreme angle.
Pretty impressive pulpit.
Two from the Panasonic TZ101
Hummingbird Moth. Who said you couldn't take insects in flight with the Panasonic TZ101?
Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 12-32 f3.5-5.6
What a lovely place to live.
Our last village of the day was Lavardin. A very small village with a declining population. It has the ruins of a mediaeval fortress, which even when you look at the ruins today you can see how large this fortress was. There is ancient bridge which is a national monument because of it's age. The fortress was very important in the 14th century and was fought over several times. A gem here is the very old church with murals dating from the 12th to the 16th century. Impressed they've survived and still quite visible.
After Lavadrin we headed back to Blois. All-in-all, a nice day out.
Panasonic TZ101
Panasonic GX7 - Panasonic 7-14 f4
One hell of a climb to get to the top of that fortress. Yes we did manage it.
Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 12-32 f3.5-5.6
After we got back to Blois, I noticed people taking off in a hot air balloon. I've noticed that they either go up first thing in the mornings or wait for early evening. Having the Panasonic TZ101 handy I just snapped a couple of images. Memories are memories.
Panasonic TZ101
I liked the pidgeons in this one.
