Canine surgery and more from Cheverny

I'll continue the France photos in a moment, but first a note from the canine front. You may recall the need for Dodger to have surgery a couple of years ago to fix a torn cruciate ligament in his back right leg. I posted a few times about it. In the end, he healed well, and you'd never know the leg ever was a problem.

Well, about a week ago, Mandy was running in the yard when she suddenly yelped and pulled up her rear left leg. Opposite side from her brother's problem leg but the same behavior. Sure enough, the same thing had happened to her. So today was surgery day. She's in recovery now, and we hope her healing and return to normal use of her leg goes at least as well as Dodger's recovery did.

Now then, let's get back to those France photos. We were heading out the back of Cheverny to check out the Orangerie and some of the grounds:


A view of the back


From the perspective of the main house, looking towards the Orangerie


The path to the Orangerie


The Orangerie itself

An interesting thing at Cheverny--they still keep a kennel of foxhounds. So, of course, anything with dogs got our attention. Since they were just lounging about during our visit, we got a good look at the whole pack:



They slept in a giant pile, sprawled all over each other...





And then there was a bark in the distance, and everyone was up!



Of course, they barked and howled in French. First the bark in the distance, and then dozens of dogs jumping up... "Sacré bleu! Le woof! Le woof!"

Well, that's what it sounded like to me... that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! ;)

Anyhow... there was a sign asking people not to excite the dogs...



And yes, while my French is far from perfect, exciter is "to excite." Even so, this is how they translated it for those speaking English...



Who knows, perhaps "exciter," when used in that sense, is colloquially taken to mean "tease." Not that it matters. I tend to get too concerned about these little things! :)

Okay, still plenty more to come!

Château de Cheverny

Sorry for the delay in posting. We've been busy, including a lovely week we just spent in Provincetown. But now, let's continue with some photos from France. Next up, Cheverny.


Château de Cheverny, another understated little house

Let's step inside, shall we?




Who said those people could get into my shot? The nerve! ;)




Love the ceiling





And back outside, where we'll head in the direction of L'Orangerie...



More to come!

A short France post

Just a few shots this time, but we're looking for quality, not quantity! :)

A last few shots from our visit to Blois...







And then we went to visit Chambord. Chambord is impressive, both in its design and its size. First, a shot of the whole place...


If you click on this one, it's at pretty good size. I don't post the photos to the blog full-res, but this one is a pretty good size.

Then we'll zoom in some to give you a sense of the scale of the place (see the people?)...



Here's an even better view of the people standing out there...

Go back up and look at where this fits into the whole place to get a sense of the size!

As you can see, it's a just a little place. Seriously, it was just a "hunting lodge" for the king, as he already had other royal residences. It's good to be the king!

More from Blois

Let's go inside! As you'll see, the château is very reserved and understated in its interior design. (Yeah, that's likely.) :)

As always, click on the photos for bigger versions...


Understated fireplace


Love the tiles

All of the châteaus (or at least all of the ones we have seen) have their own chapels, so the royals could be good Christians while oppressing their subjects. If nothing else, that has left lots of pretty stained glass around...






No idea what this is, but it's impressive!

The salamander is an important figure in French royalty and is found in many of their homes...



Okay, we'll stop there for now. Plenty more to come! :)

Château Royal de Blois

Next up, Blois. Blois is particularly interesting, because it's a collection of several different architectural styles, as new sections were added over the centuries.

On the way into the château, we were reminded that any number of towns in this part of France trip over themselves to mention their connection to Joan of Arc. As we entered the grounds of this château, we saw this sign:



As with so many of the châteaus (châteaux?), the sculpture inlaid in the very walls is quite impressive...


Click on this one and check out the details!

And here you can see one small section of the buildings...



Here's a closer look at the top of enclosed staircase in the last photo...



As a last shot (for this post), here's a view from the center of the courtyard...



More to come!

Continuing our visit to Chenonceau

Without further adieu...

This is the view inside a château-length hall that goes out over the river:



Something I didn't expect, but I suppose it's not surprising, given this country's (and continent's) history:



In English, "Here, 2254 casualties were treated during the war, 1914-1918."

For those of you who may be history-challenged, "the war" would have been the First World War. Sadly, another followed, but it's a strange feeling to look down that lovely, peaceful hall and think of it lined with beds, filled with horribly wounded men. Between the horrors of "The War to End All Wars" and what passed for medicine in those days, it must have been a nightmare come to life.

On a happier note, here's the outside of that same hall:



A couple of views from the hall:





To close this post, here's one of the full-time residents of the grounds:



That's a muskrat. There are lots of them living along the banks of the canals when you walk in. They're along the water, eating, and basking on the grass.

More Chenonceau

Let's see. Where did we leave off? Outside, I believe. So back to the gardens!

There were lots of pretty flowers, even though it wasn't prime blooming time there...



And the gardens--and fountain--were lovely...



Then there was the house near the gardens. Perhaps it's a groundskeeper's shack?



How long do you think it took to grow wisteria like that?





And then we went inside. Have I mentioned that there's a lot of stained glass in France? Chenonceau is no exception...



That's it for this post. Hope you're enjoying these!

Some France photos for my poor, neglected blog

I've become such a neglectful blogger. Well, let me try to make amends with a few photos, with many more to come. We began our recent trip to France in the Loire Valley. We stayed at a lovely little hotel near the Château de Chenonceau. So that château was our first stop.

As you enter the grounds, you cross what would be the first obstacle for an unwanted visitor...


It may have been meant as an obstacle, but it's just pretty now.

Then you walk down a modest, little path that leads you to the château itself...



Along the way, there's some Egyptian influence to be seen...



Next, you see the first part of the gardens...



One interesting additional measure, apparently meant to isolate the property, if needed, is this...



If you click on that last one (and, of course, I know you're clicking on all of them for better views *g*), you can get a better view of how it's put together. If you were to reach up and pull down on the near end of the lever, the little draw bridge would come up, leaving a long drop right down to the water below.

Fortunately, such measures were unnecessary, so we were able to walk across this little drawbridge, so I could get a nice shot of the château...



I hope you enjoyed those. There are many more to come, but I plan to spread them out a little. Not because it gives me lots of things for the blog; rather, because I love reliving the trip this way! :)

Paris chocolate

Okay, so I didn't plan to blog again before getting home, let alone today, but I need to sit for a while anyhow. We went out for six-and-a-half hours and, except for about a half hour break for a bite to eat, we were walking the whole time. I think we walked about every street in Paris. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little, but my legs are killing me, as is my back from carrying my 100-pound camera bag the whole time (and I barely touched the camera!).

We shopped and shopped. My favorite stops were at the chocolate shops. At three (of the several we visited), we bought some items to share with, among others, our coworkers when we get back... because orking cows is tough work! We also bought some to bring to our cousins tomorrow night, since they're having us over to their home for dinner.

Anyhow, we went to a few chocolate places on Rue Saint-Antoine, our favorite being Jeff de Bruges, where we bought a few items. Then we went over to Rue Saint-Honoré, where we visited Jean-Paul Hévin (well, his chocolate shop), as well as Chocolat Cluizel (the establishment of Michel Cluizel--apparently, chocolate aficionados know the name). It was fun, as the staff in Jean-Paul Hévin's place noticed the Jeff de Bruges chocolates bag and raised an eyebrow, and then the staff at Chocolat Cluizel turned up their noses (discreetly, of course) at the bags from de Bruges and Hévin. Well, sorry, but we're comparing, and you'll all just have to deal with it! :)

On that note, I'm going to go collapse for a few minutes!

I should post more

So we're just wrapping up a fun morning here in the room (you know, playing cards and discussing philosophy), and I realize I haven't posted anything in a while. So what should I do? A trip update on here or head out for fun in Paris? Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

How about I use the trip details and photos for posts after we're back home? Okay? In fact, I can stretch that out for a long time!

Thanks, I knew you'd understand! ;)