Plazac is a small but beautiful, medieval village in the Périgord noir in the south-west of the Dordogne; at its centre is an imposing church above a grid of narrow streets below. Plazac sits just to the north of the Vézère Valley with its pretty riverside towns such as Montignac, Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère and Les Eyzies. To…
Category: Art
Marc Chagall at Tudeley Church, Kent
This is a collage of some of the stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall and installed at All Saints’ Church in Tudeley near Tonbridge in West Kent; it’s a snapshot of the sad beauty of the extraordinary art that was inspired by the accidental drowning of the 21-year old daughter of the local landowner….
Jazan and Farasan Town
Jazan is a port town in the southwest of Saudi Arabia with an old castle on the hill, complete with flocks of circling black kites. There is a modern corniche complete with enormous hotels and vast play areas, designed to attract tourists; the main inhabitants are the cats that lie around without a care. The…
Folkestone Harbour
The ferries no longer cross to France and nor do the trains run down down from London so the Harbour is now a peaceful place of relaxation and bright sea views. On a sunny Sunday in October with a fresh breeze it is bright and cheerful; the old station with its curved platform is a…
Summer shades
Sometimes there is no story, no theme to wrap some pictures around, just the rich sights of late summer to enjoy. Bright sun against a dark thundercloud, flowers in morning light, the appearance of the last swifts in the sky and the effervescent and colourful insects; even the irritating paparazzi, the clegs and mosquitoes, and…
Wrabness
Wrabness is a small village with a long history and, on a bright day, wide views north across the Stour Estuary to Suffolk. Today, a cold shroud deadens the coast. In the churchyard, a small bell house squats square amongst the headstones; it was constructed as temporary measure after the bell tower toppled off the…
Abri d’art
The art of the gardens at Boisjarzeau in August are the dying borders of Allium, Rudbeckia, Gaura and Agapanthus and a host of others with forgotten names; tall sunflowers in orange and yellow, exuberant vegetable beds, laden fruit trees and raspberry canes, three blue beehives and four fat chickens in a run. The autumn golds…
August at Boisjarzeau
The view across the Tude valley is dry and parched. The wheat is cut and fields disced and harrowed; the sunflowers are burnt brown and heavy; and the maize is still green with irrigation deployed to combat the long drought. A great banded grayling sets up territory on the lime tree and chases off all…
L’ancien et le nouveau chez Boisjarzeau
The hot weather of August produces great storms that travel from the west and on one day monumental clouds rise up over the hameau. The hameau, like many hereabouts, is part old and part new as homes are created in the ancient limestone buildings. On the old well (le puits) at Bois Jarzeau there is…
Summer days at Boisjarzeau
The heat of the past few days brings dark thunderstorms that travel up from the south over the wooded hills to the west, then switch direction, run up the Vallée de la Tude, and deluge the ground. The humidity immediately drops and the cool, clear air is cleaned of pollen and dust. The fields of cereals and young…