Today, for our first visit, we did a village north of the Loire River. All, or most, of the popular châteaux 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 château. I think every little village in this part of France has a château. We didn't visit these villages for the sole purpose of their châteaux, we just wanted to see the villages themselves, many of them dating back centuries.
Well worth a detour for a visit. Entrance fee was very reasonable at €6 at the time of this post. Interesting grounds with the gardens and a couple of floors to explore with later period furniture.
As you can see Talcy isn't too far away from Blois.
The château, 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 château 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 châteaux like Chenonceau, but quite small and functional. It contains a dovecote (a house for pigeons) for 1300 pigeons. At that time their eggs were eaten (as well as some pigeons), their cote used as dung and were traded for other goods. An impressive building in itself.
I think these smaller châteaux could be compared to the English manor, where the squire or lord of the manor used to reside. That is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.
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 EM1 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 images taken with it so far. That is the same amount as the E-M5 II and half the amount with the EM1.
Talcy - Olympus E-M5 MkII - Panasonic 12-32 f3.5-5.6
Talcy - Panasonic GX7 - Panasonic 7-14 f4
1st image. Within the grounds of the château you can visit a mill which is centuries old but still in working order and is still being used today. Amazing construction.
2nd image. It looks a lot brighter than it really was. Light conditions were abysmal. The GX7 did a great job here especially since it acquired focus (contrast detect) without any problems and the image was taken handheld.
8th image. My love of old doors and windows coming to the fore again.
10th image. Craftsmanship at its best.
12th image. 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.
14th image. No wonder they didn't bathe very often in those days.
15th image. This is the room occupied by the Commander-in-Chief of the French forces during the Franco-German War at the end of the 19th Century.
21st image. 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. 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).
Vendôme 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.
Vendôme - Panasonic GX7 - Panasonic 7-14 f4
1st image. The church at Vendôme. Like all these churches, they really are too big for the village/town. Taken at an extreme angle.
5th image. Pretty impressive pulpit.
Vendôme - Panasonic TZ101
2nd image. Hummingbird Moth. Who said you couldn't take insects in flight with the Panasonic TZ101?
Vendôme - Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 12-32 f3.5-5.6
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 an ancient bridge which is a national monument. 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 so long and are still quite visible today.
After Lavardin we headed back to Blois. All-in-all, a nice day out.
Lavardin - Panasonic TZ101
Lavardin - Panasonic GX7 - Panasonic 7-14 f4
One hell of a climb to get to the top of that fortress. Yes we did manage it.
Lavardin - 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.
Blois - Panasonic TZ101
The pidgeons just made it into the frame.
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