No Post Today

...,.. unless you count this.

Tourtheloire.com is our new website. Same address new look.

At the end of seven day's work, the new website it's at the stage where I can let it rest a while as it is. To my eyes there's no glaring problems that need solving "this instant" and I'm happy with the look (but already nostalgic for the slightly home-brewed look we previously had).

Meanwhile, a photo of a sunset. For no particular reason.

Using AI for a project like this has been interesting: frustrating at times, because machines "think" differently. I used a fairly generic prompt (modernise this website) then when we got to the stage where I was happy with look I (eventually) discovered that it's best to make one change at a time. If I tried to improve too many things at once one of the previous changes got reverted.

Still. It's finished for now, and I don't have to spend 18 hours trying to make a machine mind read my latest thought.

Of course, if you see a glaring problem, please use the contact form (it's here) to let me know. 

The New Website

After 4 incredibly long days our new Loire Valley Time Travel website is online.

There are one or two little glitches I'm in the process of sorting out, but I think so far I'm happy. The website is here.

There's not a lot of other news, yesterday was a nice day so I sat in the garden a while, played some guitar, and fretted about the new website. 

Today I hope we can have a little adventure.

Oops a Daisy!

You may have noticed there was no post yesterday. We've been distracted. 

I have been spending the past four days recoding the Loire Valley Time Travel website. It's been rather all consuming, me doing the coding, and Susan reading the results, offering advice, and keeping my liquid and food levels up.

Here's a sneak preview: 

It's not yet ready to be put online, but I think we're close.

Springtime in the Forest

It has now reached the stage where even the most recalcitrant trees in the forest are starting to show signs of spring. These photos were taken on Monday, before we we went to the farm to buy veggies.

Monday before buying veggies is a regular walk time for us, it works really well, as combining two activities in the course of one car journey makes sense - especially with fuel at 2€09.

In other news, I have been using AI to redesign our website. No news on that yet, but it's getting close.

First Visit to the Touraine (20th Anniversary)

This is part two of our search for a house, exactly twenty years ago. After the disappointment of having the offer for a house we weren't sure about turned down, I was anxious to get back on that horse.

April 9–12, 2006

The second trip happened while Susan was in Australia visiting her parents. She was at Ayers Rock, and I decided that it was time to test the waters again. I rang my mate, Bryan the Artist, and asked if he was interested in a trip. This time we were going to Loches in Indre et Loire.

Bryan lives in Cockermouth (oop north), so we arranged that he would drive to Stansted Airport, and we would fly to Paris together, driving from there. The flights, hotel and car were booked – then the French Air Traffic Controllers went on strike and all flights were cancelled.

This was a problem, because Bryan had a meeting the next week he couldn't miss. Luckily a window opened, and we arranged to fly out on the Sunday and back on the Wednesday. This would allow us time to visit the market in Loches on Wednesday. Bryan was flying from Durham with BMI, and I was flying from Heathrow with BA.

Amazingly, both flights were on time, and we even managed to meet up in the agreed place. Car hired, we hotfooted it around Paris in the rush hour, spending a lot of time following a circus van carrying an alligator. We found a hotel in Amboise (eventually) where one or two beers were partaken of before bedtime.

The next day it was, as on the previous trip, a parade of uninspiring properties, albeit with some amazing views and interesting signs in between, including Valencay and a threatening set of clouds. Although we were getting fairly hungry for lunch (Monday and all the shops and restaurants being closed), we weren't tempted to have burgers.

Storm clouds near Valencay

I was pretty dispirited by the houses I had seen so far. There were places being advertised on the internet that looked promising, but once again they had been sold the day before I arrived in France.

It appears that some people arrive in the country and simply make an offer without any kind of survey. Susan and I had always intended to have any house we were really interested in surveyed properly before making an offer. We weren't going to buy somewhere on a whim only to find later it was structurally unsound – or needed a new roof.

Luckily, a good dinner and a digestif restored my faith, and the views of the chateau and old town of Loches are enough to restore anyone's spirit.

The House at St Jean de Sauves

Loches and our hotel

Angel Food at the Gerbe d'Or

Lettuces in Loches

On the way home we visited the gardens (well – the car park) at Chenonceaux, then retraced our route to Charles de Gaulle airport. Once again it was rush hour and it felt like we were going to miss every turn while trying to find somewhere to fill the car with fuel.

Absolute bedlam, and I vowed never again to fly into Paris. Bryan didn't miss his flight, although I'm not sure how, and I was four hours early for mine.

Simon

A lot has changed since this trip. The Gerbe d'Or has changed hands a couple of times before becoming Abore et Sens. "Our hotel" has also changed hands and reopened as “Le George”, and is much improved.

What hasn't changed is the market, which has become a not quite regular part of our lives. Susan received an email in the Northern Territory with the lettuce photo saying “we must live here”. It amused her then, and it's a story she still tells.

You may find the photos slightly disappointing – digital cameras weren't all they are now.

What the Heck is That?!

Any minute now bizarre lumbering irridescent black beetles will be appearing in woods and grasslands in the Touraine Loire Valley. These are the ranunculus munching oil beetles. They like buttercups and wood anemones, which they eat so they can accumulate their toxins. It makes the beetles themselves toxic, and their larvae, which you might spot sitting on flowers, trying to hitch a lift on a bee. Once their ride has arrived they get transported into the bee's nest, and will feed on the pollen gathered by the bees for their own larvae.

 

Violet Oil Beetle. This one was photographed a few years ago at the Moulin de Malicorne in the Courtineau Valley.

 

Nine times out of ten they will be Violet Oil Beetle Meloe violaceus (Fr. Méloé violet). I know, I counted my records. But occasionally I will see a Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabeus (Fr. Méloé printanier). Their alternative name in French is 'enfle-boeuf' ('swollen beef'), because as ancient texts mention, if they are accidentally ingested by grazing animals the toxins in the beetle will cause the beast to swell up, possibly even to the point of death.

 

Black Oil Beetle. They are so similar to M. violaceus I usually have to ask for expert help to confirm the species.

Because they are parasites I sometimes get asked if we should kill oil beetles if we see them, to help the bees. My response is NO!! The presence of parasites is a good sign for the host. It means the population is sufficient to support parasites -- who are not out to kill the entire population, because that would be depriving them of their own food. Monitoring parasites can be a good way of extrapolating information about hosts. If both are in decline then that's a problem -- and that is the case with this pairing. In addition, you don't want to kill a native species going about its business. The higher the biodiversity ie the higher the number of species, the more stable the ecology is. Everything is linked, and specialist species like the oil beetles are the keys to a well functioning natural system.