HDR TUTORIAL AVAILABLE NOW

French Journal Day 175 (Travel Diary Day 255)

(For best quality image see my blog - www.throughstrangelenses.com/2013/03/25/chateau-chambord/)

Before checking into our strange hotel on Friday in Loire valley, we attempted to catch the remnants of a hopeful sunset at the incredible Chateau Chambord.

The thinly layered clouds had been dominating the sky for most of our road trip from Northern France that day. The temperature, however, was relaxingly warm by late afternoon.

We pulled up to the chateau around 5:30 and took our time wondering the green grounds of the huge building. Surrounded by a mini-moat and forest, Chateau Chambord is an awesome sight. Huge pillars sit either side of the famous building which is capped by fairytale-style turrets and spires.

It’s difficult to believe that this wonderful place was barely used in its heyday.

Since we had time to kill until sunset, we sat facing the building with the faint, warm sun on our faces, and we had a picnic. Since the castle isn’t near a main road and there were few tourists were around, we enjoyed the beautiful scene in relative peace. Just there, in that moment, the 5-hour drive felt worth it.

The sunset was non-existent, sadly, but the gentle way we enjoyed our time on the chateau grounds was reward enough.

We are, although it feels strange to believe it, sitting in a hotel in Bilbao, Northern Spain right now.

Last night we returned to the wonderful Ferme de Tayac, one of favourite house sits. The owners, Mike & Suzanne, along with their son Paul, welcomed us in, fed us good grub and wine, and allowed us to stay the night.

We’d spent much of that day looking for a supermarket to buy wine for our arrival. Since it was Palm Sunday, everything was closed. We inevitably turned up empty-handed. Mike commented that he preferred it that way because he liked the idea of us leaving their place with a guilty conscience. He has a sick mind, I reckon. He probably kicks kittens when no one is watching.

It was nice to be back at the old place but a few home truths came our after a couple of glasses of wine. They neglected to inform us that there have been quite a few ghost sightings in their house, and that the guest dining room, where I’d heard a huge bang one day, was built on a graveyard. There were literally corpses under our feet…not to mention the woman who committed suicide just across the road.

It’s strange that a non-believer such as myself would be so bothered by that. Yet, there’s always a part of me that thinks there may be, regardless of how illogical, ghosts or other entities that would like to rip my face off. With that in mind, I may not have enjoyed my stay the Ferme de Tayac as much.

Today’s Photo – Chateau Chambord

This is a digitally blended image using 2 exposures, 0 & -1. I used a mixture of hand painting and luminance masks to blend the exposures.