10 January 2008

Country signs and scenes II

A few days ago, I said to Claude in response to a comment she left me that the weather in Tours and Saint-Aignan is less rainy than the weather in Paris in the winter. Well, I was wrong!

White shutters and wysteria in winter sunlight

After I posted that comment, I checked the climate data on the MétéoFrance web site. Paris is slightly drier than the Touraine in the winter, and maybe a little drier year-round. Autant pour moi ! I blew it.

Yield! Cede the passage, in other words.
And don't look back: La Menollière is watching.

Be that as it may, this past Monday was a sunny, dry day here in Saint-Aignan. We relish those in December and January because they are few and far between. Tomorrow I'll probably post some pictures showing our more typical winter weather and skies.

I bet you can't wait. Je parie que vous ne pouvez pas attendre.

This is very shocking!

Because there are so many deer in this area, which is just on the south limit of the forested, game-rich Sologne region, many of the fields and vineyards are protected by electric fences. The slight electric charge they carry shocks foraging animals (and people — take my word for it) into changing their minds about getting past them to eat (or take pictures of) some barley, colza, sunflowers, or grapes.

Wavy tile roof on an old farmhouse

The bad news about our trip by car out into the country is that Callie got car sick on the way home. I didn't hear or smell anything, but when I opened the back door to let her out I saw that she had thrown up on the floor of the back seat. Luckily, everything was on the rubber floor mat and nothing much ended up on the carpet. It was easy to clean up. But it was a setback for all concerned.

On the road back to Saint-Aignan

We'll have to try again on another nice day. One day or another, this dog will have to get comfortable with riding in the car.

5 comments:

  1. I've probably mentioned this before -- I loved Touraine, but I was constantly plagued by sinus infections due, apparently, to the damp weather. My doctor told me Touraine was the WORST place in France for ear, nose and throat afflictions.

    Our last year there it poured every weekend.

    A gorgeous place, but I wouldn't want to live there!I'm glad you do, though, because I enjoy keeping up with the area through your posts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OK, Ken, let's put it that way. Saint-Aignan is just a tiny bit more equal than Paris, but we are equal ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry to hear about Callie's car sickness. I'm with you, keep working on it. It should pass as she gets older.

    Maybelle still gets a bit car sick, but she manages to make some long trips- all the way to Austin last month. We call her the "go dog" as you know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a Seinfeld day...Je peux à peine attendre jusqu'à demain!
    Nice roof picture!

    ReplyDelete
  5. again you made my day with the pix -- wisteria/shutters and the tiles.
    i am sorry ms. puppygrrrl was sick. i hope you both feel better.

    ReplyDelete

What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?