A few surprises

We met up with a friend of ours Sylvie for coffee last Saturday morning in Chinon. She's a really lovely person and we enjoy each other's company. Fairly recently we discovered that Sylvie's father was a greatly respected French photographer and also, very sadly, that he had died last year. I'd emailed to Sylvie about him and she filled us in a little bit in her reply, including his website details. Over coffee we spoke more about him and his work. It's a fascinating story and so I asked Sylvie if she was happy for me include her father in a blog.

Fernand Michaud's website the first thing we noticed was his involvement with the performance arts, which have long been of great importance to us. His images include  shots of Pina Bausch and company, various production shots at La Comédie Française - an important venue in Paris and portraits of other master craftsmen. To name a few: Merce Cunningham,Vittorio Grassman, André Malraux, Marcel Marceau and Duke Ellington. In total contrast there are wonderful images of the human form and the Brenne, a magnificent natural park in the Indre region. Clearly an artistic eye and mind, resulting in beautiful and memorable work.

The camera came along yesterday when we celebrated a friend's birthday. There was to be a dinner in the evening which he knew about, but the first part of the afternoon was a surprise. We all arrived at the house sharp at four in the afternoon. Overwhelming support for the birthday boy to be blindfolded and then we took off for a quick drive over the hill, to arrive at a Les Attelages de Cuzay. 

We've see these calèches or calashes in Chinon. In all likelihood they belonged to this company who mentioned they were often over our way. There were fourteen of us in all, pulled by two beautiful horses. Ten in the front and four in smaller trailer style calèche, that was attached at the back. Calèches were a mode of transport in the 18th century. Ours of course were geared for modern roads, so there were brake lights and a rearview mirror. 

What fun! Very comfortable to travel in and of course we moved along at a luxuriously slow pace. Never been on one of these before. But it proved a great way to see the landscape as we steadily made our way round through villages and hamlets. Attracted plenty of interest from locals as we rode/drove by. Only once did we need to get on to a busy main road, but it was a quick visit before turning off and getting back into country lanes. The route took about an hour and a half and was simply a joy. 

We then went back to the birthday house. A table had been laid up outside. So fizzy was opened. Plenty of chatter and laughter. A gorgeous dinner, rounded off with some fireworks and a few Irish songs. Brilliant.