Tuesday 22 May 2012

More Bollée

It was only 3 weeks ago we encountered our fifth Éolienne Bollée, and now we have 6.

We have been really busy the past week, working for 6 days and covering over 1200km (about 700 miles) in Célestine. This has been good because it has taken us back to places we haven't been for a while, and to one or two places we haven't been to at all. When we posted our last Éolienne Bollée I noticed that one of the hotels some of our clients use has a Bollée of its own. Last week we were back there so we asked at reception about the windmill, and were pointed towards a clump of trees.

This is the first éolienne we have encountered where there was nothing to stop one climbing the stairs, so being a man of action I made a bold attempt to climb to the top. This was defeated by 51 1/2 years of common sense overcoming the urge to be a hero: the stays holding the ensemble upright weren't tight, and the swaying was becoming somewhat alarming.

The pump house from the steps to
the top of the bollée
A Duke of York moment - I was only
half way up before I marched down again.
The pump house - you can see the
driveshaft entering on the left hand side.
The makers plate
If you're ever in the Loire Valley and staying at Domaine des Hauts de Loire you're extremely lucky - It looks a lovely place. But do ask to see the éolienne.

Simon

I have updated the éolienne map to reflect this new find.

2 comments:

Carolyn said...

Wow. That's a long drive for you and Celestine.

Tim said...

You wrote....
"This was defeated by 51 1/2 years of common sense overcoming the urge to be a hero:".... and the recently revived memory of leaping off a ferry with your arm in plaster. perhaps?

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