Or Redbeard’s Tower in English, stands above the coastal village of Gruissan in the Aude départment of France. The tower is all that remains of a castle built at the end of the 10th century to observe the approaches to the harbour at Narbonne and to guard against seaborne invasions of the city by theContinue reading “The Tour Barberousse”
Tag Archives: France
Trompe l’oeil
Trompe l’oeil is French for ‘deceive the eye’; an artistic technique using realistic imagery to create an optical illusion in which the depicted objects appear to exist in three dimensions.
Pub Culture
Pub culture – or bar culture, it’s not the same everywhere …
Balance of Nature
“On the old door creepers spring,And a stillness reigns in the air unstirred by the beat of a wild bird’s wing.Those who see believe the old house grieves with the grief of a sentient thing.”Paraphrased from The Deserted Homestead By Edward Dyson
Le Petit Café
The delightful Art Nouveau facade of Le Petit Café de Collioure in the south of France.
Minerve and the Cathars
A decorative wrought iron cross next to the Marie’s (mayors) office in Minerve, a village in the Hérault department of southern France in which a group of Cathars sought refuge in the village after the massacre of kinfolk at nearby Béziers in 1210.
La Maison Jaune
French street in Arles, Provence…
Bell Rope
Every Leaf is a Flower…
the impression given when vines in the commune of Saint-Chinian develop autumn tints around a quintessential, pink, French farmhouse; a spectacle that’s been a regular event for some 25 centuries.
Sunday Evening
Village ladies have retired for the night and in another scene echoed over most of France, a young guy, out for the evening, is strolling along a sunlit street in the coastal village of Gruissan in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
Early Sunday Morning…
Mass is over for the village ladies. time for a catchup on local gossip before dropping into the conveniently located patisserie for a gâteau, macaron, tarte, molleux, or a mousse: heaven sent temptations for their just deserts. A scene echoed over most of France, this one is in Neuvic, aka Neuvic-sur-l’Isle in the Dordogne region.
Mirror Mirror…
The collection of car mirrors on a French flea market stall, offering a glimpse of the sky and trees, seem innocent enough…
Cloisters
A solitary silhouetted figure wandering through the remaining ancient cloisters at the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.
Le Petit Train Jaune
Also known with affection as The Little Yellow Train, Le petit train travels through stunning alpine scenery via small villages frozen in time.
Big Brother is Watching…
A little way from Avignon’s Palais des Papes featured in my post of two weeks ago, are some Trompe L’oeil wall paintings of historic French people gazing out of what would-have-been blank windows. Realistic figures keeping a friendly “eye” on the passing young lad. While a 21st century street camera is also watching street activity…
Still life at Gruissan
Fishing implements silhouetted in the lagoon at Gruissan, in Languedoc-Roussillon, France.
Palais des Papes
The main gate of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azurin, Southern France, a fortress, palace and the seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century.
Mediterranean Blue
The quintessential colour of vernacular architecture in the southern regions of France featured on a beautiful and stylish house is in the former fishing village of Gruissan in the French Languedoc-Roussilion region…
Market Interlude
The Sunday Flea Market in Saint Leon sur Vezere, Dorgogne, France is a popular and busy affair and borrowing a pose from “Whistler’s Mother”, one old lady takes a break from the haggling.
River Crossing 2
The massive and magnificent Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct built in the first century AD to carry water over the River Gardon near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in Provence, France.
George Munday Creative 