Bruce Calvert and John Prokop's Trips

Photos and Text by Bruce Calvert, ©2007

France (Paris, Chartres, the Loire Valley)
In 1996, John and I took our second trip to France. We spent a week in Paris (very little sunshine, but had a grand time anyway), two days in Chartres, and more than a week in the Loire Valley. Everyone talks about how wonderful Paris is, and it is, but I have never heard people talk specifically about the architecture there. It’s quite something. These shots only give you a peek.
Paris
Why not the Arc de Triompe to begin the photo trip? This spot is locally known as Les Étoiles, as I recall, because the streets fanning out from the arch suggest the shape of a star.
Notre Dame from the back (a cliché shot, I know). Our hotel was literally across the bridge from there, which was a great location. John delighted in bouncing a quarter off the ceiling, once he found it was constructed of rubber sheeting.
The lovely Sainte Chapelle was nearby. I was fascinated with the interior painting. The figures on the dark blue columns are fleurs de lys, and those on the red columns are castles.
The hotel de ville (town hall) of Paris.
The Palais du Luxembourg, which houses the Senate of France, and two ladies feeding the pigeons in the gardens.
A less-clichéd shot of The Louvre.
Sunset on the Seine.
A day trip from Paris took us to Versailles. It’s a very interesting place and certainly has its place in history, but we think of it as an “excess of excess.” This shot is one of the fountains and the “back” of the main building.
We found the Queen’s Hamlet at Versailles had far more charm with its more human scale.

Chartres
This tiny girl aboard the large horse charmed me while they waited in front of Chartres Cathedral for passengers. Pictures of the cathedral itself on this gray day weren't very satisfactory.
The Church of St. André is well-known for its square tower.
The Loire Valley
Our first “Loire Chateau” was Chambourd, which has the most astonishing roofline I have seen anywhere. Just unreal. It also has a fine double helix staircase.
I had always wanted to go here to Chenonceaux, and wasn't disappointed. We found swallows nesting right over the front door, and these lovely marigolds below sitting in a spot of sunshine.
Friends of ours were then living in the area, and we went to their converted moulin for a day visit. On our way, we stopped in the nearby town of Montrésor (my treasure) where we found this church. The statues on the front of the church all lost their heads during the French Revolution! (See image below.)
I wanted to visit Saumur because my grandfather was in France in World War I, and had his cavalry training in Saumur. We found the buildings and the “Exposition of Equitation and Cavalry of the “Belle Epoque” which was all that remained of the school in that location.
I also discovered on our return from France that I took some of the same pictures that my grandfather did, one being this shot of the view of the town of Saumur and river from the chateau.

I had never seen timber and brick Tudor construction like this house in Saumur before I went to France, but here it is, right next to the French version of what I am more accustomed to seeing in the UK.

 
In a park at St. Aignan we found Milor (think Edith Piaf) and his adorable little owner, just before Milor, un Nouveauterre (Newfoundland) plunged into the water. The only way to get him out, it seemed, was to offer him gateaux (cakes). We still chuckle when we remember the little girl’s father holding them out in his hand, coaxing, “Gateaux, Milor, gateaux!”
The stairs to the chateau at St. Aignan (above), and a peek at the chateau through a gateway (below).
This charming 16th century Chateau de Gué Péan boasts an unusual bell-shaped tower and sits in woodlands near Montrichard.
John hugs a tree to demonstrate its impressive size.
Fontainebleau began as a hunting lodge in the 12th century, and was expanded dramatically over the centuries, most notably by Francois I, a contemporary of Henry VIII of England, and Napolean Bonaparte.
Sunflowers seem to be everywhere in the Loire Valley.
This is the church in St. Denis sur Loire. I had a copy framed in my office at work, and many people who have seen it assume it was taken in the southwest of the U.S.
We timed our arrival at Chateau Sully too late to go in, but just right for pictures. This is my favorite from this trip.