Back at Elizabeth Park

 On our way to visit the Connecticut Science Museum with the granddaughters, we stopped at Elizabeth Park for lunch at the Pond House.  

It was hot.  The Canada geese snoozed.

Pond House outdoor dining is beautifully ringed in flowers.

A man ignored the Canada geese and fed the mallard ducks.

A wedding party came through the outdoor dining area on their way to the wedding venue.

The rose arches were in peak bloom, so we did a quick visit.

An attractive woman was being photographed by a friend, so I sneaked a photo over the friend's shoulder.

Main Street in Danbury

Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, has some attractive buildings and features.

Union Savings Bank is a handsome 1887 brick building with strong exterior details.

The Savings Bank of Danbury has a history going back to 1849.  

The current Main Street building dates from 1909.

The former Danbury National Bank building.

It's not all banks and old WASP businesses.  Danbury has benefited over the centuries from an influx of immigrants who worked in Danbury industries and stores.   A church and gathering place rubs shoulders with the banks and civic buildings.

A transformer didn't want to be left out.

Union Carbide Building

 One of the famous new buildings in the 1980s was the Union Carbide headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut.  Designed by Kevin Roche on a 540 acre hilltop site hidden by trees but close to an interstate highway, it was completed in 1982 .  The complex has 1.3 million square feet of office space, in 15 connected buildings varying from 10,000 square feet per floor to 20,000.

The company moved 3300 employees from previous New York City locations to this new building.

This place is MASSIVE.

  Only two years later a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released a cloud of poison gas. About 500,000 people breathed its fumes. The government of India reported that the gas release killed 3,787 people. Other estimates said the death toll could be as high as 15,000, with at least another 100,000 injured.  The Company never recovered and was sold off to Dow Chemical.

This place was abandoned.  Subsequent developers have tried to convert some of the pods into apartments, health care or educational institutions, small businesses and offices. 

Farmers Market

 

The first farmers market of the season was held Saturday on the grounds of the methodist church.

Shona offered aromatic products for sale.

Floral bouquets were popular, as were fruits, vegetables, crafts and the like.

And bagels.

Kids all found the place to paint.

Make Music Day

 Along with people all over the world, Ridgefield celebrated Make Music Day yesterday.

 Sting Busters played Americana and Bluegrass on the lawn of Ridgefield Library.

Austin Bradford is an excellent young jazz pianist from Redding.  He performed in front of Town Hall.

A string quartet from Ridgefield High School performed classical music on the front porch of Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.  One of the granddaughters began playing the bass in the fourth grade.  She was with me and I could see her imagining herself performing here when she is in high school,.

I felt badly for the string quartet.  The porch faces traffic on a busy stretch of Main Street.  At times it was hard to hear the string quartet's music over the noise from the street.

Griswold Inn

 

The Griswold Inn in Essex, Connecticut, dates to the late 18th century.  

Florence Griswold Museum

Shortly before my visit to France, I went to the Florence Griswold Museum in Lyme, Connecticut.  Around the start of the 20th century, Miss Florence took in boarders to pay the bills.  An artist rented a room and told his friends how beautiful the area and how good Miss Florence's hospitality were.  Before long, more artists came and an artist colony formed. 

  The art collections and the house's history with American artists who boarded with Miss Florence in the early 20th century are the principal reason for most people to visit.  

But, I like the grounds and outbuildings, too. 

It is such a beautiful place.

The main house has just been repainted.  Workers were rehanging the shutters on the front.  If I had been there an hour later, the work would have been done and the ladders would have been gone.

A lovely depiction of the front of Miss Florence's house in the early part of the 20th century is in a front parlor.  The artist is Matilda Browne.  

 A painting of Florence Griswold is in the entry hallway.

Chambord

I stayed at a hotel that is a short walk to Chateau de Chambord. 

 The is a photograph of Chateau de Chambord from the late afternoon of my last day there.  It was a beautiful cloudless day.

This is from around 9 p.m. of the evening before, when the light was strong nd there were some clouds in the sky.  The water was still and permitted reflections.

And this is from the about 6 p.m. of the day before.  I could make an argument for any of these images.

The interior of Chateau de Chambord has far less complete furnishings than Chateau de Chenonceau.  I think I will skip photos from the interior.  I will be back in Connecticut when this post appears.

Chenonceau

 Chenonceau should be in the running for the most spectacular Loire Valley chateau.  It is sometimes called the Ladies' Chateau because King Henri of France gave it to his lover, Diane of Poitiers.  On Henri's death his wife, Catherine de Medici, forced Diane out and made Chenonceau her favorite residence.

The chateau is approached through a long allee of plane trees.

The best view of Chenonceau is from the gardens.  The chateau serves as a bridge over the River Cher.

There are beautiful floral displays in each room that bring out something about the room's furnishings.

This is Catherine de Medici.

Tours

On one side of Tours' central square are half-timbered buildings from the14th century. 

One of those buildings was a money lender's office.

St. Martin stands atop Basilique Saint-Martin.  He was much beloved in Tours.  The present Basilica (1886-1924), designed by the Touraine architect Victor Laloux, is built on the tomb of St Martin (in the crypt) which was discovered in 1860 in the cellars of houses built on the site of the old Basilica. 

A 20th century reproduction chateau hides behind gates.

Along the riverfront, a statue of the philosopher Delacroix looks over the happenings.