On Monday 21 March we joined a walk from La Celle Guenand, but only just! Due to a confusing email we thought the start time was 2:30 pm, but it was actually 2 pm. We drove into La Celle Guenand to see the walking group already well on their way, on the other side of the stream. We parked and thought we could catch them up. Just as we were about to head off at a pace, more people turned up, also under the impression that the walk started at 2:30 pm. Things started to get chaotic and confusing. I got a lift to where I had last seen the walkers and ran to catch them up. By this time Simon had simply disappeared and wasn't answering his phone. The friends who gave me a lift decided they weren't into running and just went home. The walkers milled around for a bit, then we decided to continue. We couldn't do much if we couldn't contact Simon. By this time the walkers were on the far side of the sports ground. I tried Simon again, and this time he answered, so I told him where we were and he drove up to catch us. Which meant that at the end of the walk we had to walk from the centre of the village to the sports ground to get the car. But it was only a 5 km walk in total so not a problem. Simon had walked a couple of kilometres more in his efforts to catch the group initially, and we cannot understand how he missed the walkers as they entered the sports ground.
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The walkers approaching the Moulin de Civray.
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The rare Purple Toothwort Lathraea clandestina (Fr. lathrée clandestine) growing at the base of the poplar trees along the mill stream. You can see why this parasitic plant is called toothwort.
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The Moulin de Civray still has its water wheel in place. Rather unusually it is an overshot wheel.
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A drystone wall constructed of flint with some old cauldrons inserted for a new life as planters.
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Old farmhouse.
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Installing fibre optic cables.
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A sign that has presumably been erected by a pro-wind turbine farmer. It caused a certain amount of chuntering amongst my mostly nimby friends.
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Isolated pear trees on field edges like this are a common feature of the Touraine Val de Loire countryside.
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Oxlip Primula elatior (Fr. Primevère élevée), much rarer than its cousins the Primrose and the Cowslip.
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A pollarded tree in a front garden in La Celle Guenand.
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The ruins of the Manoir de la Celle Draon.
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2 comments:
I get such pleasure from your 'walks' postings. You have a good eye for what to photograph. The silhouettes of those still dormant trees against the sky are, I wager, totally ignored by your fellow walkers.
Sheila: I'm glad you enjoy these posts. Several of my companions will also photograph the solitary trees and one has done a couple of montages of them.
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