Thursday 16 May 2024
Breakfast in Tours
Wednesday 15 May 2024
Le Dolmen de la Grotte aux Fées
Le Dolmen de la Grotte aux Fées was built overnight by a team of fairies. Either that or it's three huge stones which were balanced on 8 smaller stones about 7000 years ago by a neolithic community as a communal burial chamber. But by "smaller" we're talking huge, and by "three huge stones" we're talking properly massive. It's estimated the whole ensemble of stones weighs over 88 tonnes. It's over 11 metres long, divided into two chambers, and shards of worked stone were found in the soil inside. One of the stones is a polisoir, a hard stone used for grinding and sharpening stone axes.
Tuesday 14 May 2024
Look Out For Drone Flies in the Touraine Loire Valley
The drone fly Eristalis tenax (Fr. Eristale gluante) is an inoffensive species of fly disguised as a honey bee. It is the most abundant Eristalis species in Europe and as it feeds on the nectar of many species of plant it has a role in pollination. Like several other species of hover fly, the drone fly may make a long distance migration twice a year.
They are nimble flyers and capable of hovering on the spot. If they are attacked one of their defensive mechanisms is to whiz around and around their enemy.
Their larvae are known as rat-tailed maggots and live in shallow stagnant water full of rotting vegetation. The 'rat-tail' is in fact their rear mounted breathing siphon.
Monday 13 May 2024
The Wait is Almost Over
The chapel of Saint-Hubert, patron saint of hunters, was built in 1493 by Charles VIII on the foundations of the old oratory of the chateau of Amboise which was built by his father, Louis XI. The chapel was intended for the private use of the king.
On 2nd May 1519 Leonardo da Vinci died in Amboise. He had expressed a wished to be buried in Amboise, and his tomb was in a now demolished church in the chateau grounds. When the demolition happened, the tomb (or at least, the coffin) was moved to the chapel.
For the last two and a half years the chapel has been under wraps whilst being restored, but that program is now almost finished. We've written about the restoration, before - here about the carvings, and here about the carpentry.
This is what it looks like from the street below the chateau. The chapel's reopening is on the 16th of June, and anticipation is starting to rise.
At the moment the most effective view is from des Tanneures, the large public car park.
Saturday 11 May 2024
A Korean Soup
Friday 10 May 2024
Look Out For Orchis spp and Their Hybrids in the Touraine Loire Valley
Orchis spp hybridise easily and I see the resulting hybrid orchids often in the Touraine Loire Valley.
Monkey/Lady Orchid hybrid Orchis x angusticruris. |
Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe). |
Lady Orchid Orchis purpurea (Fr. Orchis pourpre). |
Monkey Orchid (left), hybrid (centre) and Lady Orchid (right). |
Hypochromatic Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe), with a ruby-tailed wasp Chrysidae. |
Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe). |
Monkey/Lady Orchid hybrid Orchis x angusticruris. |
Monkey/Man Orchid hybrid Orchis x bergonii. |
Hybrid Monkey/Man Orchid with parent species. |
Monkey/Man Orchid hybrid Orchis x bergonii. |
Man Orchid Orchis anthopophora (Fr. Homme-pendu). |