15 June 2018

Trois maisons dans le bourg

By tradition, the commune we live in (no, we're not hippies) has always been part of the old Touraine province, which is centered on the city of Tours. Toward the beginning of the 19th century, the département ("county") boundaries were redrawn and Montrichard, for example, and all the villages east from there to Saint-Aignan, were put into the département du Loir-et-Cher.


The city of Tours is in the department called l'Indre-et-Loire, which also includes Amboise, Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon, Bourgueil, Chenonceaux, and Villandry, among many other towns and villages. Traditionally, Saint-Aignan was considered to be located in the ancient Berry province. It too was re-assigned more than 200 years ago, and is now in the Loir-et-Cher, the département centered on the smaller but old royal city of Blois.


Apparently, at the time of the French Revolution, national authorities promised the town of Montrichard that a new road up to Blois would be built, making it easier to cart wine up there and put it on boats plying the Loire. The people of Montrichard decided that was a good plan. The wine villages along the Cher River were subsumed into Blois' département along with it. Our commune was the eastern-most village in Touraine. Our house is only 3 km (2 miles) from Saint-Aignan, which was called Saint-Aignan-du-Berry until before the 19th century.


The pictures here show three houses in the bourg that is the central built-up area of the commune we live in. That is, houses in our village. They might not look like what you'd think of a "village" houses. (We are not hobbits.) One is a maison bourgeoise, a grand edifice situated just across the road from the church. Another is a longère or "long house" — a typical farmhouse around here. The third (with green shutters) is a pavillon (a house in the middle of a garden or lawn) that was built, I imagine, in the 1960s or '70s.


Our own house was built in the late 1960s and is located in an outlying « village » or hameau (hamlet) on high ground less than a mile from the Cher River, equidistant from our bourg and the town of Saint-Aignan. The couple who had the house built planned to use it as a vacation home for 10 or 12 years before moving here upon his retirement. The man's wife was killed in a car accident in 1976. I believe they still lived in Paris at that time.

10 comments:

  1. The last photo is very peaceful and inviting.

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    1. Our place is very peaceful (except for Tasha's shrill bark). We have only one nearby neighbor who lives here full-time.

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  2. What strikes me about the houses is that there is no external indication of what they might look like inside and as yours is, I expect the other two are thoroughly modern and convenient.

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    1. Exterior signs of wealth are considered vulgar, by most, in France. Clean, neat, convenient, but not showy, that's the rule.

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    2. Something went over my head ... what do hobbits have to do with anything ? to adults ...

      "Exterior signs of wealth are considered vulgar" ... this cannot be said of many/most US wealthy suburbs lol

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    3. What I meant was that French or at least Loire Valley villages don't much resemble villages of thatched-roof cottages as seen in the Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movies. That's a stereotype.

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  3. Ken, do I remember correctly, though, that the most recent inhabitant of your house, before you two, was an elderly lady? I guess that I had just assumed that she was the original owner of the house, but I guess not. Did she buy it from the original owners, or did he remarry (or am I just all confuse :) )?

    Lovely photos. Every photo of your house -- front, back, inside-- is a pleasure to see!

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    1. Josette, who sold the house to us, was the second wife of widower Jean K. He died in 2000 or 2001 at age 86 or so. His first wife died in 1976. I don't think Josette ever cared much for this house, since it wasn't originally hers. She sold it for what I'd describe as a reasonable price.

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  4. We're not hippies, he says. And we're not hobbits.
    Perhaps he doth protest too much. < giggle >
    Nice pictures -- it all looks so pleasant and welcoming and calm, much needed in today's world.

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  5. No, neither hippies nor hobbits are we — although there are people around here who might fit into those categories.

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