17 January 2024

Azay-le-Rideau: a curtain of trees

It's snowing north and east of us, but our temperature this morning in the Saint-Aignan area is above freezing (+3.3 degrees Celsius on our thermometer) and a light rain is falling. The danger is freezing rain on the streets, roads, and highways up toward Paris. However, some snow is predicted for tomorrow morning here. That means I have to get out and do some shopping this morning, including a trip to the pharmacy. Colder weather is supposed to return over the coming weekend. I'm trying to ward off cabin fever by staying busy indoors.

My photo, taken in Oct. 2000

The photo above shows the side of the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau that faces the village of the same name. The Cadogan Loire guidebook describes a "curtain" (un rideau in French) of trees that separates the château from the village (pop. approx. 3,000), even though the Rideau in the name actually derives from a the name of medieval notable named Ridel. In May 2017, Walt and I took a walk around the village and had lunch there when we were on the way to Chinon to pick up 10-week-old Tasha and bring her home. We didn't go to the château in Azay because it was covered with scaffolding and tarps because restoration work was under way.

5 comments:

  1. Oh, wow, that is a view they never show of Azay-le-Rideau. Wonderful!

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  2. We're in the deep freeze here. We've even had a dusting of snow.

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  3. This side has a completely different feel than the one you showed yesterday, and honestly, I don;t think I've ever seen a picture of it.

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  4. Melting. Word of the day, here, anyway. And, higher temperatures, lots of just plain rain. The trees are bare again, although missing many fallen branches here and there. Glad your temperature hasn't risen. Freezing rain can be scary. Several deaths due to falling branches and trees in our state over last couple of days. Stay safe! As I remember reading about this château, I believe there were many dresses on display ... maybe they are long gone by now. That was back in 2001 (decades ago!).

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    1. I didn't know you were having such bad weather. Storms! This morning it's raining here. According to our outdoor thermometer, it's in the low 40s F right now.

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