Azay-le-Rideau: river reflections
View from the bridge over the Indre in the village / small town of Azay-le-Rideau (the département of Indre-et-Loire, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region in central France), on a mostly clear midday in mid-October (2016).
Riverside houses are reflected in the calm water above one of the mill-races. As is characteristic of the area of the Touraine, a historical, pre-Revolutionary province, the buildings are of pale, silvery-grey to near-white tufa limestone (in French, tuffeau or tufeau).
While broadly considered part of the "Loire Valley" or Val de Loire, Azay-le-Rideau actually lies along the River Indre, which is a tributary of the Loire itself. Several mills were established in and near the village. The village is probably best known for the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, a small gem of the Renaissance period primarily built between 1518 and 1527. The château is surrounded by the Indre, which forms a natural moat, as well as a garden and parkland. Azay-le-Rideau is located within Le Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine (the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park).
[Azay-le-Rideau bridge reflections houses chimneys 2016 oct 10 o; PA100184]
Azay-le-Rideau: river reflections
View from the bridge over the Indre in the village / small town of Azay-le-Rideau (the département of Indre-et-Loire, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region in central France), on a mostly clear midday in mid-October (2016).
Riverside houses are reflected in the calm water above one of the mill-races. As is characteristic of the area of the Touraine, a historical, pre-Revolutionary province, the buildings are of pale, silvery-grey to near-white tufa limestone (in French, tuffeau or tufeau).
While broadly considered part of the "Loire Valley" or Val de Loire, Azay-le-Rideau actually lies along the River Indre, which is a tributary of the Loire itself. Several mills were established in and near the village. The village is probably best known for the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, a small gem of the Renaissance period primarily built between 1518 and 1527. The château is surrounded by the Indre, which forms a natural moat, as well as a garden and parkland. Azay-le-Rideau is located within Le Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine (the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park).
[Azay-le-Rideau bridge reflections houses chimneys 2016 oct 10 o; PA100184]