Wednesday 29 October 2008

La vue du toit du Château d'Amboise






Comment un touriste en France peut se dépêcher à Azay-le-Rideau quand la vue à travers la vieille ville était si magnifique ?

7 comments:

Cheltenhamdailyphoto said...

Oh gosh how fabulous these views of roofs are! I adore this perspective of the dolls' village!

claude said...

Thanks m.Benaut to show what I did never see before !

dive said...

Woohoo!
Love that last shot!
Vertiginous!

Webradio said...

Vraiment sympas ces photos...

Jules said...

Wow what wonderful views.

These great photos reminds me of a funny story.
When we were there a few years ago now, we drove to a restaurant along the river there (the name has long since gone). We were obviously hungry and arrived at the restaurant at 7 pm so had an hour to fill in. A walk along the river, opposite the restaurant was out of the question considering it was about -2 degrees outside, so we sat in the car with the engine running and the heater pumping. Next minute down the road came this old man with an equally old dog. As they got closer it was obvious they were homeless and the old guy very under the weather - the dog seemed to have more of an idea of where they were going than he did. As they neared the car the old man stopped and then sat on the concrete verge of the river bank for a minute before climbing over it and then slipping and sliding across the loose gravel down to the water’s edge. From my side of the car I watched him paddle out into the water and climb into a moored dinghy, obviously where he had decided to spend the night. The dog sat patiently waiting on the verge, watching him. As he climbed into the boat the old man unbalanced it and the boat rolled over taking him with it, and trapping him underneath. All I could see was one hand desperately clinging to the edge of the upturned boat. I screamed out,
He’s drowning. Quick save him.
Who… moi???? stuttered He-Who-Doesn't-Swim-in-Cold-Dark-Rivers - alias My Hero.
I gave him a filthy look and he begrudgingly got out of the car, and we gingerly peered over into the icy water. My-Hero was quickly doing a mental calculation based on water temperature multiplied by the amount of time it would take him to strip down to his underwear,
It’s no use, he’s a gonner, we…….he started to say.
At that moment the half drowned man managed to sling an arm over the edge of the boat, followed closely by a leg.
This looks promising, said My-Hero, relieved.
Within minutes the old man had scrambled out from under the boat and staggered ashore. We slunk back to the car to give him some sense of pride, although in his state the whole town could have been there cheering him on and he wouldn’t have noticed. Dripping wet and in the freezing cold wind, he wandered off down the road with the dog following behind.

Funny how you remember things as if they happened yesterday!!!

PS This extract is from my book - I haven't been sitting here banging away on my computer for half-an hour.

M.Benaut said...

HWDB nor SICDR, (A-MH) must have been mighty relieved.
By the way, I thought you were the swimmer, Jules !!!
Left the flippers and snorkel home dear?
Though I guess the water temp was a few points less than what you're accustomed to.

That certainly is one fantastic memory.
In a week or so, you will see me here - at a similar trick.

Jules said...

Sounds intriguing MB!!!!

Yes I always take my fins and snorkel now when I travel overseas - never know when you have to dive into icy water to rescue drunks!!!