From St Gengoux to Bissy sur Fley

I didn’t think I had ever been to St Gengoux le National, so one day Elisabeth suggested we go there. On our way we passed through Bissy /s Uxelles, a quaint little village… 

…and I recognized one of the first lavoirs I had visited 3 years ago. I had never been able to find it a second time!

The lavoir is rela-tively small, a beau-tiful oval basin under an open roof so the interior is bright and cheer-ful.

There’s a door at both ends for easy access. I was deligh-ted to see it again!

As we drove towards St Gengoux the fog rolled in only to lift as we entered this medieval town. 

I quickly realized I had been here with Marie-Annick. I just hadn’t known where I was! 

There was one sight I hadn’t seen before— the lavoir.

It also has an open roof, but that’s where the similar-ity to the Bissy lavoir ends. 

The fog contin-ued to lift.

Once again I took a picture of the towers with their connec-ting bridge so I could return to the earlier blog post and know where I had been.

Elisabeth, ever the teacher, encouraged me to take a closer look at what I had previously assumed was simply a tower.

It’s really a stone staircase and this photo was taken at the bottom of the stairs, looking up. 

I hadn’t gotten this close on my first visit. 

Elisabeth pointed out the sign which explained the purpose of this tower-like structure and who had been worthy of owning such a stairwell.

Since I had previously wandered through St Gengoux, Elisabeth suggested that we visit another chateau she knew of. We passed this arbor on our way…

…and this house in Bissy-sur-Fley with pumpkins decorating its wall and reminding me of home.

Within minutes we were entering Bissy-sur-Fley and approaching the Chateau de Tyard which is an official historical site. Poutus de Tyard, the original owner, lived during the Renaissance from 1521 to 1605.

We walked around the front of the chateau and through an open doorway into a courtyard that Elisabeth said is used for concerts in the summer.

We then walked out through the far opening and noticed a field of young trees with labels.

One purpose of this site is to preserve heritage fruit trees. By the field was a colombier, or pigeon house (un maison pour les colombes). Elisabeth checked, but it's door was locked. If I remember correctly, the sign said the colombier had 845 nesting holes. That's a lot of pigeons... 

I noticed a sign that pointed to a path into the woods and decided a short walk might be interesting. I was also hoping it might lead to rabbits, but no rabbit ever appeared.

We did find thick vines that hugged dead tree trunks for support...and some rustic stump chairs...

When we emerged from the woods, Elisabeth pointed out the fog in the distance that we had been driving in and out of all afternoon.

(I do appreciate the zoom lens.) Before we were finished wandering around the chateau, this is what the fog did...

Among the large signs that explained the pidgeon house with its 845 nesting holes and told about the garden, was one that encouraged visitors to draw and suggested 4 ways to illustrate one interestingly shaped tree...sign and tree below.

 Another sign said that Poutus de Tyard was a poet, musician, philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, theologian, and a personal councilor of kings from Henri II through Henri IV. At first I was thinking of the British kings named Henry and the dates didn't match with the Henri numbers. Later Anne said there had been French kings named Henri.

At the time this chateau was built, indoor plumbing was a chamber pot...or, for those hanging out in towers, a ledge with a hole. I suspect this is one of those ledges, but with a back rest.

Elisabeth suggested that I wander on down the road to the church.

By the time I said hello to several curious neighborhood cats and got to the church, Elisabeth was catching up to me.

 That's her red car coming down the road. (Cars going in opposite directions have to take turns.) As we headed for home we ran into the fog and didn't emerge until we had almost reached Blanot.

 That's a setting sun.