Monday 26 January 2015

Saint Germain De Confolens - France ...


 Another great place we saw on my visit to the Charente 
in May 2014 with Diane and Nigel. 

I just did a google on this castle and found Diane's blog post 
of a visit she did in 2012. I am sure she won't mind the link to her blog!!

Saint-Germain-de-Confolens is a small village  in the north-east of the Charente department (Poitou-Charentes region) to the north of Confolens.
The village stands below a hill that is dominated by  two  important monuments - the castle and the 12th century Church of Saint-Vincent.

We went to see this .....

 And were amazed to also see these ...

Here you can alos see the church of 

St Vincent ...

(more about these in a new post) 


The fortified castle of Saint-Germain, although in ruins, still has a substantial amount to see - especially the two large circular towers, with the remains of the main castle building in between them. The castle dates from the 14th-15th centuries and is built on the site of a 12th century fortress.













 And nestled away behind the wall and with a river running near by 
is this lovely little Cemetery .. lovingly looked after too!




The Church of Saint Vincent was originally the chapel of the chateau. 



Say a little pray for me ..


 Love the Stained Glass window!



   The Gallic rooster ,   as a symbol for France dates back to the collapse of the Roman Empire and the formation of Gaul. Despite its frequent use as a symbol for France, the rooster has never been an official emblem. “Cocorico !” (French for “cock-a-doodle-doo”) is often used as an affirmation of French patriotism.



 I know a lot of you
enjoy history, architecture and  the views too.
Hope you enjoy this. 

Thank you to everyone for their lovely comments on my previous post 
and on Facebook too!!  I think Facebook is taking over from blogging , but 
I am going to keep going on here for as long as I can.
♥ ♥ ♥ 


Friday 23 January 2015

How did I miss it???

It was my 

Blogiversary!


I have been blogging since

14th January 2007.

WOW!!!!

Where has that time gone? 







 I remember thinking...

"Why would anyone want to blog?"

WHAT am I going to write about ?

My travels , My postcards , 
Anything that takes my fancy... 

AND 







Who is going to look or read it ?

It is YOU!!

All my friends around the WORLD!!!

These flowers are for you , 

A BIG MASSIVE 

THANK YOU ..

because you spurred me on ,, and kept me going , 
when I thought .. NO more ..!!

And a HUGE thank you for all my postcards ,, 
without  you a lot of my  posts would not exist. 
 


♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Wednesday 7 January 2015

My New Calendar from Angouleme ..

Huge thanks to my friends
 
Diane and Nigel
 
Love the pictures.
 
Here is January !
 
 
The Daltons are fictional outlaws who regularly appear in
 the Lucky Luke comic book series and are recurrent villains.
 They were created by artist Morris and writer René Goscinny.
They are loosely inspired by the real-life Dalton Gang,
 and billed as their cousins.
 
Angouleme is the Home of Street Art and Comic strips
and I wrote about it HERE, after my trip to stay with
 
Diane and Nigel went back a few times , and Nigel spotted this
and said " This one  is right  for Anne" !!!
 
Big Thank you to both of you.
 
Hopefully I will do each month and find links to them all.
 
 
♥ ♥ ♥


Tuesday 6 January 2015

Always lovely to receive a Postcard or Two and a gift! ♥

 
Even from thousands of miles away ,
and I mean thousands.
my friend Marilyn thought of me and sena card from
Santiago , Chile.
 
Marilyn travels a lot , and she doesn't have a blog . I
think she should, maybe one day!!

View Larger Map
 
Santiago, also Santiago de Chile, is the capital and
largest city of Chile and  is located in the country's central valley,
at an elevation of 520 m above mean sea level.
 
 
Looks fabulous.  They also  went to
Easter Island. Has anyone been to Easter Island?
Marilyn and her husband Trev are the only people I know to go.
A boyhood dream for Trevor.
 
RED  marks the Spot ... Easter Island..
 
 
 

 
 
  
 Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean,
and is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai,
 created by the early Rapa Nui people.
 
Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited island in the world,
more than 2,180 miles away from the coast of Chile and
1,289 miles from the nearest inhabited island

A BIG THANK YOU to Marilyn.
 
♥ ♥ ♥
 
Two  days before Christmas. 
 I had a parcel from ITALY !!
 
I had a huge surprise !!
 
Well what was inside was a surprise but unfortunately
he (Christian) had to tell me  to expect the delivery as the company,
he uses, wanted a phone number for me. So he had to ask me.
 
Christian is a  wonderful young man , who I happened
to meet when working at Williams F1. He is Italian, he lives in Italy with his
wife AND  he is a WILLIAMS F1 FAN!!!  (Unusual :-) )
 
He lives in Verona , and one day I will go ,he will be my guide.
How wonderful. Funny thing is, he says he lives in the WRONG country!!
And I live near his TEAM !!
 
 
Inside was a postcard
 

A lovely box
 

 
YES it was a Panetonne
all the way from VERONA
 
 

And a box of Waferini ..


 
I was over the moon , I was shocked and surprised , I wept a tear.. 
Such a  wonderful gift .  It meant a lot .
 
Just as much as  the Williams shirt I sent him means to him!!
 
Big thank you Christian.  Forza Williams !!
 


Thursday 1 January 2015

Dreaming of France - Tusson in Charente.



 
Tusson is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France.
 It was previously a centre for the trading of donkeys.
 Marguerite of Angoulême also built an abbey in the village.
 
We (Diane, Nigel and myself)  didn't have rain , so we took a walk round.
There is so much more to this small town  than you think.!!

 
 
 
 
La Maison de Charante
 
I never realized what was behind this façade until doing
my google searches ....
 
You will be amazed!!
 
Click on this link to find out more!!!




 
Love Cognac Love Pineau ♥
 
 
Pineau des Charentes, (Pineau Charentais, or simply Pineau) is a regional French aperitif, made in the departements of Charente, Charente-Maritime.

It is a fortified wine (mistelle or vin de liqueur), made from a blend of lightly fermented grape must and Cognac eau-de-vie.

 



 
Wonder what or who is behind this door!!
 
Behind this door is the sculpture workshop of a very talented man
 
Marc Deligny
 
if you would like to see more , click on link above.

 



Can you see the little owl , I nearly missed it!!!



You never know who is watching you !
 


 
Watching over you ♥




 ARCHIPELLE, Tusson -
 
(see sign below)
 
This unique building gives the visitor an insight into how the production of stained glass and the unique craft of restoration has been carried out for hundreds of years using secret traditional methods. The production of stained glass dates as far back as early Christian churches of the 4th and 5th centuries





 
I ♥ the signs you find in France ,, look at the cat!!


 
 

The Medieval or Monastic garden was created by a local group of enthusiasts who  set out to

recreate as accurately as possible what a medieval garden would have been like.
Officially listed as one of France's 'remarkable gardens', the garden features four separate garden areas dedicated to vegetables, medicinal plants, fruits and ornamental plants. Stone features and some ancient tombs also add to the appeal of the garden.


The garden is closed in January, and an admission charge of three euros is payable.








 
 
 
I have never seen an Insect House before . It is amazing.
 
If you would like to know how to build one, follow this link.
 





Fennel Fronds




Chantier Ecole Marpen
 
The sign below belongs to  Club Marpen
Click on link to read more..
 
The clubs aim is to conduct rehabilitation and to showcase the archaeological heritage, architectural, ethnological and natural.
 
 Students learning the stone-and discover the Charente heritage in its various aspects: architecture, botany, ethnology, culinary expertise ... stays can be from 1 to 10 days..
 
Judging by what we saw, they are doing a brilliant job!





Follow these signs and find the flowers.



Below is the Sign for
 
 
which I discovered today is
 
A STAINED GLASS workshop .
 
   The stained glass studio, known for its restoration, has seen the most prestigious glass, including several stained glass windows of the Cathedral of Chârtres.  Anne Pinot and Andre Morteau perpetuate an art that is known to be contemporary,  their creations , figurative or abstract, traditional or innovative, illuminate forty churches in Poitou-Charentes.
(the above info was taken from the internet)
 
I don't think you can just visit freely , but you can in groups with an appointment.

 
And The Town Hall..
 

 
I do hope that you enjoy the tour of Tusson and
click on a few or all of the links,very interesting.

Thank You Diane and Nigel, another very interesting place.
 
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥