10 June 2014

The local economy

Across the river in Noyers-sur-Cher there's a roundabout a.k.a. traffic circle (carrefour giratoire) on the old highway that runs from Tours to Vierzon and on to Bourges. It has been "redecorated" over the past few years and now features some live grapevines, a replica of a grape workers' hut typical of the region, and a metal sculpture of a man with a horse plowing a field.


Where we live is in the Touraine wine district, and it's now called Touraine-Chenonceaux after the town with the famous Renaissance château 15 miles downriver. Grape-growing and wine-making are the mainstays of the local economy, along with tourism. Centuries-old châteaux including Chambord, Cheverny, Chenonceau, Chaumont, Amboise, Le Moulin, Le Gué-Péan, Blois, Saint-Aignan, Chémery, Montrichard, and Montrésor are within a 30-minute drive of Saint-Aignan and Noyers. Not to mention the nationally renowned Zooparc de Beauval, where there are two giant pandas from China and important collections of birds and animals from North America, Africa, and Australia, including gorillas, orangutans, manatees, kangaroos, koalas, and white tigers.

18 comments:

  1. Ken - its' Touraine Chenonceaux, (with an "x" like the village) just one of the controversies the new appellation has (one of the others being that some of the winemakers in Chenonceaux missed out)

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  2. That is a truly wonderful sculpture...
    it has all the air of being one of Hirlay's large scale works...
    do you know who it is by?

    Pauline and I are both fans of Hirlay's work and French roundabout decoration...
    the ones at Chatellerault are amazing... even if wierd [the big yellow arm!]

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  3. Roundabout decor is one thing, but the tedium of a series of roundabouts is another. Tim is right. This sculpture is particularly nice.

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    1. I think the roundabouts are a lot better than a lot of stop signs or slow-cycling traffic lights.

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  4. Tim, it is a work by Hirlay. Here's a 2012 article in the Nouvelle République about the inauguration ceremony.

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  5. I like the sculpture and second your comment about lights and signs.

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  6. The newspaper article has a photo of the ribbon cutting. There are a few guys there in red outfits with caps- do you know who they are?

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    1. Evelyn

      The members of the Confrèrie des vignerons - Brotherhood of winemakers.

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    2. Thanks for telling me about the Brotherhood of winemakers!

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  7. Okay, so is it Chenonceau for the castle, and Chenonceaux for the town?

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    1. Yes, Judy, you have it right. It seems the X on the end of the name of the castle was dropped sometime around the French Revolution. It stayed on the name of the village.

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  8. Just an interesting photo.

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  9. This is exceptional public art. Wow. I wish our city "public art deciders" had an aesthetic (and historic) sense.

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  10. 1. Love the roundabout-art!
    2. Totally agree about preferring them to stop signs or stoplights (cheaper, faster to incorporate and safer!).
    3. Now I won't be writing Chenonceau Chateau or Chenonceaux Village incorrectly!
    4. You have to love the french way of doing things (ribbon-cutting with uniformed city employees for the redecoration of the carrefour giratoire!
    5. Yippee! Yesterday my surgeon said no more brace and I could do anything I wanted with my wrist...just take it easy and it it starts to hurt, STOP!
    Merci, Ken

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  11. I like that sculpture. Ales had a similar idea and showcases the historic local economy with a roundabout sculpture of a coal miner and a coal cart. http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/20551174.jpg

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  12. Very interesting picture..........keep it up.

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