Last rays of the light on the Château de Chinon and the Vienne
Monday was certainly the best day of 2011 so far. Not that there has been much competition to date. Monday was the first sunny day of the year and the light was good throughout but particularly good as the sun dipped down. The clarity of light on a fine winter day has a special quality.
After finishing my visit to Domaine de la Noblaie we headed to Chinon to try to get the last of the light and just managed it. I took pictures from two sites: the south side of the Vienne across from the town and the château above and then from the far east of the town by the railway bridge and the Vienne.
Chinon and its château (above and below)
Railway bridge to the château
7 comments:
Jim, when I still was using “argentic” camera’s, I had treated myself to a fish-eye I was very proud of (Olympus was my gear, with amongst others a lovely 90 mm portait lens, one of the best ever made, I think). But everyone - even their sister - got bored!
It seems you yourself have developped a kind of arctic charr or pike-perch personality, haven’t you?
No, I’m kidding. Love your pictures and they take me closer to an area I love and miss a lot. Used to spend a lot of time up there when I still had a decent profession and earned a living!
Keep us up to date:
« Plus mon Loire gaulois, que le Tibre latin,
Plus mon petit Liré, que le mont Palatin,
Et plus que l'air marin la douceur angevine ... »
Yes, I know, Tours is still some miles short of that, but who cares ?
Luc. As usual your wisdom shines through,you are right I should become too fishy. Having acquired a new lens plus an SLR body to go with lenses that I used to use with my old EOS 5 (pre-digital) it has been fun to explore the possibilities and the flexibliity that a range of SLR lenses gives.
I think the series of vignerons in the round can be fun and intend to pursue that.
Nice pictures of Chinon, including the railway bridge over the Vienne for the 19C branch line that carried white veal from the market of the cité idéale of Richelieu, via Chinon SNCF to the tables of Paris. The pretty line still exists the length of the vallée de la Veude, but there is little agreement what to do with it. Termite infestation of the 'traverses', difficult road/rail intersections, modern standards of safety, 24hr start-up times for steam locos and even leftist sentimentality all burgeon to make it a 'green' cycleway!
But what an opportunity lost.
'Rosbifs' would have found a way to keep it going by now, with a long list of volunteers ready....
Allez les bleus!
Henri. Many thanks for your commnent and the background to the railway.
ONE:
When I very reluctantly “got rid” at a second-hand shop of all my old photographic equipment (the old OM-1 body I had received as a present for my 16th birthday) and bought a basic (N...N) but very satisfactory numeric “machine” with that money, I did indeed hesitate for a while. Shouldn’t I go for a modern Olympus body and keep my old lenses, or at least some of them? But you loose, by so doing, most of the advantages of the chips in the camera (the various exposure controls, the autofocus ...) and a lot of luminosity as well. Moreover, the dozen or so of lenses had travelled many miles (on horseback, pillion on a motorcycle, in the bagage hold of airplanes, in the boot of many cars and vans) and were getting more or less loose. So, I was left in tears but did the right choice.
TWO:
What to do with old railways is always difficult. They cost a lot to maintain. I won’t comment (yes, I do though) on the “leftist” sentimentality, but if you want, “coûte que coûte”, to keep them, it is for the sole benefit of ancient nostalgics (rightist?) but with a high cost to the entire community. This being said, I agree they have, more than not, a lot of charm, can make for a wonderful day-trip (“Tried to please her, she only played one night stands ... and I found out”). “Le Vin Bourru”, this excellent book, alludes a lot to the decayed railway track on the flank of the Montagne Noire. But they could be rehabilitated into something as beautiful but without the nuisances of the machines, and cheaper. Small electric carts on a tarmac, horse-wagons and indeed bikes, tandems, rollers, wheel-chairs ...
Lovely photos of my favourite place in an interesting style.
Many thanks, Jean. A good place indeed and some fine reds.
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