Solutre

Elisabeth invited me for lunch. Before rolling down the hill I looked out from my terrace...

...and over to the other gite where the pink rose bush was in deep shade, though the pot of pink geraniums were enjoying the sun.

Only a few of the big orange poppies were still blooming in the center garden.


A little further on a mock orange with its big white flowers was in bloom at Daniel's place.

The Godons had repaired the BB car...it wasn't even clanking as much as it had been when Mimi and Harriet Ann were traveling with me...so down the hill I went.

Spanish lilac was blooming near the fountain. It has been gorgeous right into the middle of June and still adding color as the end of June approaches.

Here's a close-up...

It was so nice we decided to eat outside in Elisabeth's garden.

A small delphinium is tucked in with greens near a rugosa rose.

We sat down to have some of her orange wine. All was good.

Then she brought out broccoli and fish. The flies descended upon us en masse! It was impossible to shoo them away. We gave up and hurried ourselves up the stairs and into the house.

Before escaping from the deluge of flies hungry for fish, I photographed her ripening figs.

The last time I stayed in Blanot was during the fall and Elisabeth kept me supplied with figs from this tree. They were soooooo good. I'm hoping the first fruits of this year ripen before I have to leave!

Elisabeth has taken pictures of the lilas espanol or Spanish lilac along the lane to the pottery...

 ...and across from the fountain. The lavoir is behind the fountain. The memorial further in the background is for the resistance fighters of Blanot who died during WWII.

After our lunch Elisabeth and I took off in hopes of finding the field of poppies I had seen a couple of weeks ago by Hurigny, near Macon. We made a brief stop in Aze where sweet peas were growing.

Further along our way, these roses poking through the white fence were spectacular.

 

Then I spotted what I thought was a lavoir. Since an old well sits near, it may have been a lavoir once upon a time, but now it is just a covered platform, probably for community events such as outdoor concerts.
Nearby was a nicely planted round-about...and then we really did find a lavoir...

The structure has been nicely kept and decorated, but there is no longer any water inside.

Either the field of poppies I had seen had been mowed or the grass had grown taller than the poppies. We couldn't find it so we headed towards Solutre instead.

In Salornay we spotted this sign and pulled into their long driveway for a peek.

The llama I had seen disappeared into the trees and was playing shy. I wasn't willing to wait.

The ducks weren't swimming in the pond. With that muddy water, I couldn't blame them.

Elisabeth and I traveled on...

We were traveling higher.

That bump in the middle of the horizon is the Solutre rock.

We paused for this old church, une eglise de Charnay les Macon, because it has an interesting tower.


Shortly thereafter we stopped for pictures of this chateau.

This is the gate I was taking the pictures through.

To reach Solutre we traveled through an area thick with vineyards, often tucked right up to house walls.

They had obviously been recently sprayed.

I didn't see any spraying being done, nor were the enjambeurs in the fields. The smell of the spray wasn't overpowering, but it was definite and I was developing a headache from it. I would not want to live in a house near non-organic vineyards!

 Vineyards as far as the eye can see...

 Solutre is quite the rock! It's actually a pleasant climb from the back. Been there, done that.

We traveled on, away from the vineyards and the  smell of their spraying and into woods where the air was fresher.

We were moving into the haut beaujolais area, too high for vineyards.

That is the village of Cenves on the distant hill.

Here is a closer view of the church tower from the picture of Cenves above.


We drove by a hillside of digitalis creating a purple hue...looks pretty, but not to be touched.

We stopped in Cenves to cool off in the shade at tables across from a cafe, ordering a Panache for each of us.

The proprietor carried the drinks across the road to us. I asked if I should pay him then, but he replied that I should do so when finished. He went back inside his cafe. No one was watching us. We could have driven off without paying though we certainly would not have done that. Still, the trust level is relaxing. Stress does go away.

This was obviously not a tourist trap. Granted, we were not having cafe liegeois or coffee sundaes as we had done in the south of France, but our two drinks were only 6 euros instead of the 20 euros we had paid there.

Learning that I was an American, the proprietor had to ask and was thankful to learn that I was not a supporter of our orange buffoon.


Digitalis is above and to the right.

Below is the cafe in Cenves.

The 16th century Chateau de Bourgogne at Tramayes

Our final stop was in Bourgvilain to photograph this blue flowering shrub that I'm hoping someone will recognize and then tell me what it is.