France 4 Faces

When visiting France you never know what to expect. Just outside a modern church in a small town called Lavandou was this face carved out of stone. Surprisingly in the citadel at St.Tropez was another face looking at me from the end of a brass cannon. I realise that this is not made of stone but I mention it as a work of art which made me wonder why those planning decorations beside a church and a Citadel should be thinking along the same lines.

France 3 A Modern Dolmen ?

There are ancient standing stones in France especially in Brittany around the Carnac area (which I shall put into the blog in later entries) .These were placed in prehistoric times and built by hand using large numbers of workers with the help of ropes ,tree branches and possibly horses. However in several other places the large flat rocks lend themselves to being set up in modern times by farmers with heavy equipment. Could be fun .

Thanks to Hilary Martin for helping to show the size of this monument.

France 2

Adolphe-Julien Foure (1839-1910 )carved around 300 fantastic figures on the cliffs at Rotheneuf in Brittany. Here are a few examples of his creations. To see more have alook at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~fhs/rotheneuf.htm

Rocktober Festival

I do not usually post coming events on this blog, however this is an exception for three reasons. Firstly I have had great support and many excelent photos from wallers in Canada secondly I like the walls in this particular picture and thirdly I have attended each of the festivals in Ontario found them inspiring and what is more the folk there are really friendly. For more information about the festival contact john@dswac.ca

France Deep Well

This is a shot down the central well of the Citadel in St.Tropez taken during a recent visit to the South of France. I do not understand how this structure which goes down perpendicularly for many metres can be built .Can someone out there explain the means? Do they start from the surface , if not how are the sides supported while the stone is put in place? It all seems impossible. Please email me if not room on comments to normanhaddow@hotmail.co.uk