Easter in France

OK I know what you're thinking Easter was ages ago but bare with me and you'll understand why there has been a slight lull in posts. So first thing first, if you're a regular reader you'll know that I go to France to see my folks at Easter. They don't live there but have a house and spend 2 months  there twice a year. I work in a University and we close for a week which is perfect to pop over to France. For the past couple of years I've been very lucky with the weather so it seemed only fair that I had to have one year of sunshine and rain. Here are my favourite overall shots from the week.

 I loved the yellow theme going on in this garden.

 The church is a central feature of the village. I've been coming here since I was 16 so over 25 years and in all that time the church bell rings on the hour, striking the hour so it rings once for one o'clock, six times for six o'clock (you get the idea). But this year the church bell is broken and so it was pretty silent, and a little eerie if I'm honest. 

 Despite the long, cold winter spring colour was starting make an appearance. 

 OK so yes it rained a lot, and was pretty cold but there were some days that had a brilliant blue sky. On days like this you've just to grab the camera and go. Sadly it wasn't warm enough to sit outside in the sun except for 2 afternoons but walks in this light are always magical. 

 The village has a lot of crucifixes dotted around the place and this one is my favourite. The way the yellow of the lichen clashes with the blue of the sky is electric. 

But I did also like the addition of the gnomes on this one. 

 I have spent most of April blossom chasing. So here is my first blossom of the year. 

 Just to prove it wasn't all clear blue skies here are the clouds rolling in. 

 The colours were pretty amazing when you saw them. This view is an old favourite with the church in the background. 

 The lichen in the village is always incredible thanks to the clean air but this reminded me of coral. It was just like a mini city. 

 I love finding new things to see when walking around the village. Don't think I've seen this date on a door frame before. 

 I was on the phone to OH when I looked up and saw the light starting to fade giving a golden glow over next door's barn. 

 No trip to France is complete without a trip to the market. 

 You just don't get markets this good in the UK. 

 On the way home we stopped off to enjoy the colours of the River Vere which for those of you who don't speak French translates as green. 

And the river was teeming with fish. This picture just doesn't do it justice but there were fish of all different sizes. We weren't sure what they were doing but it was impressive. 

And finally this cottage has been slowly disintegrating for the past 25 years and it's suddenly got a for sale sign on it so who knows, someone may buy it and return it to it's former glory.