Friday 26 April 2013

An old French town

Well, we had three days of lovely warm Spring weather, and now it is grey and raining again. I haven't made anything, I haven't bought anything else, so I don't have anything new to show you. Instead, do you fancy coming on a little walk through an old French town with me?

Last Sunday, we drove to Bourbon Lancy, because there was supposed to be another vide greniers. Well humph, no signs anywhere, and after searching for it for half an hour, we gave up. What did I do instead? I went to the old part of Bourbon Lancy and took some photos with my little camera which I often carry about with me in my handbag. I adore old buildings, and all the wonderful little decorations, and old French towns never disappoint. I didn't have much time, because DH wanted to get home, it was horridly grey and cold, but I snapped away for a few minutes.

The Old Town is approached through a big old archway -

 with immensely thick walls -

a bit of historical information -

and a cobblestone mosaic on the floor -
Can you make out the lion? You'll see it again later on a shield...

I was just standing there admiring this gorgeous old building when this sweet little old lady came up to me and asked me whether I would like her to take a photo of me in front of the house. YIKES!!!! It was such a nice thing to do, I couldn't refuse her, so there you go, a pic of me in many layers to combat the cold, mightily wind swept and generally not exactly looking my best, lol -

but hey, the house is gorgeous, isn't it? See that statue over the door? -

Here is a close up of it and also of the beautiful plaques on either side -


Many French houses have little niches with religious figures, this house even had a second one, high up on the side of the house -


Almost opposite of this house was what looked like a very well stocked, and no doubt very expensive, antiques shop ( closed ). It had some rather lovely pieces outside, permanently by the looks of it -



I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to own this mermaid, isn't she absolutely wonderful? 

There were a number of other rather lovely sculptures -



Have a look at the shield the lion is holding, this is what the cobblestone mosaic from earlier is depicting.



Oh, and the old doors! They are just incredible. Hundreds of years old, studded with handmade nails, with the most amazing hinges etc, cellar doors, front doors -





Doorways beautifully decorated -

Doorways leading to little formal gardens -

Of course there has to be a sign to a certain kind of shop .....
closed of course, it being a Sunday.

And you got to have a trendy restaurant -


Yes, I think the Old Town is a beautiful place to womble about in. Next time I am there I will try and discover a few more beautiful old buildings. 

Looking at the grey skies and the rain hammering down, I fear greatly for the vide greniers which are supposed to take place on the weekend. I have a feeling they might just get rained off, sigh.

Have a great weekend wherever you are, toodlepip xxx

8 comments:

Rhonda said...

Sigh, what a beautiful post, Liz. You look so beautiful, walking around that quaint French town. You have to go back and get inside the antique shops, though, you just have to.

Salma said...

wie wunderschön! ich LIEBE solche kleinen, mittelalterlichen städtchen, da könnte ich stundenlang herumschlendern und einfach nur schauen und staunen...

vielen dank, dass du uns auf deinen spaziergang "mitgenommen" hast!! :)

und vielleicht wird das wetter zum wochenende hin ja noch besser!

alles liebe
salma

Anonymous said...

I just popped over from Karen's blog, "Alaska Blue Moose" and had to leave you a comment! This little treat of Old French Architecture was so wonderful... you are so lucky to live close enough for those little visits *sigh* So, I will just have to follow your blog so I can go on these adventures with you in cyberspace! lol!
Lovely blog and great to meet you!
Hugs,
Beth P

Sophie said...

Herrlich, und vielen Dank für die wundervollen Eindrücke.
Ich bekomme jedesmal Fernweh, wenn ich das alles so sehe, und ich sauge jedes Detail deiner schönen Reise auf.

Sonnige Grüße von Sophie xx

Dorthe said...

Thankyou, dear friend, for this wonderful tour through the old town- it was so beautiful coming with you, and seing you, in your lovely dress,-all things I love to wear myself :-)
And you looks so sweet and lovely dear Liz!!!
The town is an amazing place so filled with old buildings and beautiful streets.
Hugs ,Dorthe-xo

Catje said...

Lovely photos! Thanks for sharing :)

suziqu's thread works said...

Oh Wow Liz! If only I could have walked the cobbled stone streets with you to admire the amazing architecture, sculptures, doorways etc. Just how beautiful you look too!
That colour really suits but instead I've been walking around in my own head worrying about our dear Andrea here who is just recovering from neurosurgery from a brain tumor. We are all shocked and stunned!
Sending love and warm sunny smiles,
Suzy

Alexandra said...

Ettlingen ist auch ein hübsches Städtchen und lohnt für einen Besuch :D
Tolle Bilder hast du gemacht meine Liebe.
Hugs Alexandra