Photos - December 2022

Our first frost of the winter came on Friday 9th December - Le Manoir de Champfreau looked especially magical that morning.

The black dog in the composites above is Zeb, the resident Poodle.

These photos were taken later into the morning once the sun had melted most of the frost. I was trying to capture the vivid combination of the last remnants of frost reflecting the blue sky with the green of the grass. The damaged wall in the background in the above photo is one of several made of Tuffeau stone on the property which date from the 15th century.

Chateau de Saumur from a distance of around 10km.

Saumur hadn’t dropped below 3 degrees the morning of 15th December and I boarded the first of my two trains north to Gare Montparnasse, Paris at 7.30am. Day broke and as I travelled quickly north over the next couple of hours, a layer of frost began appearing in the French countryside, getting thicker and whiter. Paris, 300km northeast, was bitterly cold when I arrived.

Photos - November 2022

The view from behind a bustling Sunday morning market on the bank of the Loire River.

In the 1820s, J.M.W. Turner travelled through this part of France apparently attracted to the region’s beautiful light.

Early morning mist covering some of the 17 hectares on which I am living and working (Champfreau).

Dusk falls over Champfreau

Shepherd’s warning

The grand Tuffeau stone archway of Champfreau

(Above and Below) The light at the end of a working day in late November

Stapes - ‘Tunnels’ (audio)

One two one two,

this is just a sketch……

Another idea put out under my alternate moniker; Stapes.