A couple of photos taken at a lunchtime stop in Candes Saint-Martin looking downstream of the Vienne to the confluence with the Loire.

Last rays of the light on the Château de Chinon and the Vienne

Monday was certainly the best day of 2011 so far. Not that there has been much competition to date. Monday was the first sunny day of the year and the light was good throughout but particularly good as the sun dipped down. The clarity of light on a fine winter day has a special quality. 

After finishing my visit to Domaine de la Noblaie we headed to Chinon to try to get the last of the light and just managed it. I took pictures from two sites: the south side of the Vienne across from the town and the château above and then from the far east of the town by the railway bridge and the Vienne.

Chinon and its château (above and below)

Railway bridge to the château

Setting sun on the Vienne

See also photo here taken same day combining ancient and modern Chinon.

Confluence of the Loire and Vienne@Candes Saint Martin (above and below)

Domaine de Bablut: Chenin Blanc mid-October 2009 raisins dorés and start of botrytis

Typical big skies and wide open spaces on the road across to Manthelan

Contrary to the rather grey weather forecast, today was one of those brilliantly clear, sunny winter days. We headed off to Saumur via Mantelan, Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine and to Nohant-en-Touraine, where we turned off the direct route via Ile Bouchard to Saumur and made our way through Saint-Epain and down the very pretty manse Valley to Crissay-sur-Manse. – one of the 'Plus Beaux Villages de France'. France has 151 villages in this category.

Church@Crissay-sur-Manse. Described as one of the 'Plus Beaux Villages de France'


The château@Crissay-sur-Manse

Then on through Panzoult, Cravant-les-Coteaux to Chinon, where I took some pictures of the old town and the château above along with the reflections in the Vienne. All the photos have almost improbably deep blue sky.

Chinon's old town and château mirrored in the Vienne

The Vienne and the gatehouse entrance to the château

Work continues on restoring the château – the scaffolding has
now been removed from the central part of the château

Chinon to the west of the château

Then onto Saumur where we arrived at Le Pot de Lapin around 1pm just perfect timing for lunch. (See tomorrow’s posting)

Time for lunch