Mikeinlagardette's photos with the keyword: france

This church was built in the 13th century, but the tower and spire are later 15thC alterations. There is some speculation about why the spire is twisted, the most likely explanation being the use of unseasoned oak for the internal carpentry, combined with premature removal of the external scaffolding, but what is certain is that it was not intentional! This was taken on Foma 200 film, and developed in PC-Glycol and the result is a bit too "soot and whitewash" for my taste, although almost grain free. I scanned this neg at a higher resolution than normal, so it's a 32mb file which would result in an image over 2m wide if printed full size, and if you look at the original scan you will see why I like my old Kodak Tourist so much !! When the camera was built, it was unusual to make prints much bigger than about 6"x 3½", so the original owner could never have realised what this fine triplet lens was capable of! 1948 Kodak Tourist, f4.5/105mm Anaston lens, x2 yellow filter. Foma Ultra 200 in PC-Glycol, 8mins@21C. Scanned in 48bit colour@2400dpi on Epson V500

Testing the strength of some old developer, I used some Foma R320. This is in divided Kodak D23, and although the film is inherantly very grainy, the effect is not so noticable as with some other developers. The tower of the church in Dun le Palestel, Creuse. This church was built between 1902 - 1908, and replaced an older church which was beyond repair. 1956 Agfa Karat IV, f2/50mm Solagon lens, x2 yellow filter. Foma R320 Soft, in divided D23 5+5mins @21C Scanned@1200dpi on Epson V500

Another picture taken before winter closed in! These deciduous ferns are prolific here, and in autumn turn to a golden yellow before returning to the earth. Hard to do with an old folder without a rangefinder - I didn't quite nail the focus, and at full aperture the DoF is tiny, and a slow shutter speed didn't help! 1942 Voigtlander Bessa 66, f3.5/75mm Heliar, X2 yellow filter. Foma Ultra 100 in PC-Glycol, 10 mins@21C Scanned@1200dpi on Epson500.

Ready to leave Gueret while en route from Limoges to Montluçon. Restored by a group of enthusiasts in Limoges, the locomotive was built in England, by the Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, in 1919. A total of 340 of this class of heavy freight loco were ordered by the Chemin de fer de l'État, and the first 70 engines were built in France, variously by SACM (Belfort), Schneider et Cie, and Fives-Lille, during 1913, but when war was declared production was transferred to Britain. Between 1914 & 1918, 235 almost identical locos were built by both the North British Locomotive Company, of Glasgow, and Nasmyth, Wilson & Company, of Manchester, and the Vulcan Foundry completed the final 35 locos between 1919 and 1920. Six engines were lost at sea on 30 April 1918, when the cargo ship transporting them, the SS Saint Chamond was torpedoed off the Cornish coast, 14 miles north of St Ives Head. A number of these 140-C class locos have survived, and are preserved, either as static displays or, like this one, used for hauling special excursion trains. Historical data from: Davies, John (August 2001). Chemins de fer de l'État Locomotive List 1878–1938. Woodbridge, Queensland: Dr. John Davies. pp. 85–90. ISBN 0-7316-8442-7. Canon Ixus 960is, and photofinished in Gimp.

Almost the last days of November, and the air temperature was 19C when I took this near our house, and we still have a Castor Oil plant in flower in the garden! So much for the climate change deniers! From the first roll since I fitted a replacement bellows to the Ventura, my temporary repairs to the original had finally failed after five years. I used a bellows intended for a Kodak 66, which has a 75mm lens, so it is a little more extended on an 85mm lens, but they are otherwise identical and made from far better materials than the original Agfa, so make an ideal repair, which is quick and easy to do. 1953 Agfa Ventura 66 Deluxe. f4.5/85mm Solinar Lens, x2 Pictorial green filter. Foma Ultra100 in PC-Glycol, 8mins@21C Scanned on Epson V500 @1200dpi

Taken some years ago at a local classic car event, this is a 40HP chain driven vehicle, - the same model was sold in England but with shaft drive. Considering it is over 100 years old, it looks remarkably conventional. (except it has no windscreen wipers!) Due to carelessness, this frame was hopelessly underexposed, but although the neg was very thin, I managed to get this tolerable image 1953 Agfa Ventura 66 Deluxe, f4.5/85mm Solinar lens. Fomapan 400 @800 in Caffenol C, 18mins @ 21C.

Looking upwards to the top of Porte Saint Jean, from rue St Jacques. Much of the gatehouse we see today is from the 15thC, but the foundations date from the mid 13thC. The upper level was used as a prison in the middle ages. The buildings in rue Saint Jacques are much later - 18th/early 19th century, with Mansard roofs & stylish dormer windows. 1953 Agfa Ventura 66 Deluxe, f4.5/85mm Agfa Solinar, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 @ 400 in Diafine, 4+4 mins@21C. Scanned @120dpi on Epson V500.

A mild autumn has left many trees in leaf far later than usual, and these oaks are an example. The terrain in this part of Creuse is not suitable for large scale cereal growing - it is mainly beef farming country, so most of the fields are quite small, and many are still separated by hedgerows that are often hundreds of years old. My first efforts with PC-Glycol and medium format, - I was careless about the exposures, and the film was also over developed, but worth going on with! 1942 Voigtlander Bessa 66, f3.5/75mm Heliar lens, X2 yellow filter. Foma Ultra 100 in PC-Glycol, 10 mins@21C Scanned@1200dpi on Epson500.

This superb art-deco monument is an appropriate celebration of one of the giants of French literature. The main structure, of polished red granite, is by Franz Jourdain, and the bust of Zola is by the sculptor Phillippe Solari. In fact, Émile's body was re-interred in the Panthéon in 1908! It's still the family vault though, and shares this cemetery with many other famous names from the world of arts - Degas, Alexander Dumas, Hector Berlioz, Offenbach, Stendahl, the dancer Nijinski, Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone - to mention just a few! A fascinating, if slightly macabre, diversion in Paris !! 1940's Voigtlander Bessa 66, f3.5/75mm Heliar, X2 yellow filter. Shanghai GP3 100 @200 in Diafine 3.5 + 3.5mins @ 21C Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

Following on from the last pic, here's another church doorway from the 12C, this time in central France, and we can see that although it is more stylish than the one in Guiting Power, it has many similarities. Like St Michael's, the church was drastically altered, here in the 17thC, but again the doorway was incorporated in the later work. The decoration of the arch orders is very elaborate, and it's remarkable to think that it was done more than 800 years ago by men who probably lived in little more than mud and straw hovels! The style of decoration with the polylobal inner arch is quite common to this area, whereas the ball ornaments in the fourth order are more unusual. Taken with the Welmy Six a few years ago. 1952 Tasei Koki Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan 100 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

Had to be a train photo in this little set! Taken with a 1952 Welmy Six, - another regrettable sale - which had a wonderful Terionar lens, a triplet of remarkable sharpness. This locomotive has now left the area for more northern parts of France, but I enjoyed several trips behind it when it was based in Limoges. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

Chateau de La Roche. The Department of Creuse is not famous for it's chateaux - you need to go to the Loire to see the most beautiful examples, - but there are a few here, and this is an impressive building, by any standards Here is a view of the front facade of the chateau, which is surrounded by a very formal, strangely five-sided moat, ornamental, rather than defensive. The original building was built for Gabriel Foucauld, between 1533 and 1588, but only a little of this remains, and we are looking at a largely late 18thC rebuild, by the architect Pierre Berthomier, and the result of further restoration during the 19thC. Taken with a 1942 Voigtlander Bessa 66 some years ago, in fact the very first roll of film I exposed in the camera, which came from the late Robbe Keppens, in exchange for a very strange 35mm Agfa Flexilette! 1942 Voigtlander Bessa 66, f3.5/75mm Heliar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan 100 @200 in Diafine, 4+4 mins @21C

This was the end of the last stage of this little steam excursion, up into the western slopes of the Massif Central, to the town of Commentry, and the train was hauled from Montluçon by two of these American built locomotives, one at each end. It's a steep gradient from Montluçon, and the sound of the exhaust of the two locomotives reverberating off the rock faces as they climbed was truly spectacular! Over a thousand of these locos were built in America and Canada at the end of WW2, to replace French locomotives destroyed during the war, this one was built by Alco in Schenectady, NewYork in 1945, and is one of only four still serviceable. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

To continue this "excursion in reverse," this is where I joined the train. Taken six years ago, here is TD 141 740 arriving in Guèret station from Limoges, ready for the run up to Montluçon. Notice that there is no diesel back up locomotive, which it seems is now mandatory for steam locomotive hauled trains on public lines in France, but not when this photo was taken. I used a Welmy Six folding camera, which I have since sold, and regret doing so, - it was a delightful little camera, made in Japan - an excellent copy of a Zeiss Ikonta. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

To get to Parsac-Gouzon the line must first cross the deep, densely wooded valley of the river Creuse, and it does so on this spectacular structure. Opened to traffic in 1863, the steel girder viaduct carries the line from the junction at Saint Sulpice Laurière to Montluçon, and onwards across the Massif Central towards Lyon. Built by the Paris Orleans Railway, the total span is 339m (1,112ft), and the height above the river Creuse is 56.5m (185ft). Local people often understandably attribute this work to Gustave Eiffel, but it was actually designed by another eminent civil engineer, and contemporary of Eiffel, Wilhelm Nördling. When it was built it had two tracks, but one of these has now been lifted. Taken with a 1948 Kodak Tourist 620, converted to 120 film. f4.5/105mm coated Kodak Anaston, X2 yellow filter, Rollei RPX400 @800 in Caffenol C + iodized salt, 20-20-6-6 Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

In contrast to the previous picture, this is how the station at Parsac-Gouzon usually looks! It's a lonely little place, some way between the two towns of it's name, and I think only a couple of trains a day in each direction actually stop here. It is on the single track line from Guèret to Montluçon, which is part of a longer cross country route from Bordeaux to Lyon, although direct services between those cities have been suspended for some time while this section of the route is completely re-signalled 1948 Kodak Tourist I converted to 120, f4.5/105mm Anaston lens, x2 yellow filter. Shanghai GP3 in Divided D23, 5+5 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson 500

Following on from the last photo, this is how I travelled up to Montluçon! Of course, this is not the usual motive power used on this line, (!) but a special train going from Limoges, to the annual Festirail meeting in Montlucon. This locomotive was built by SFCM de Denain in 1932, for the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Est, it was one of 42 locomotives built for hauling heavy suburban trains in the Greater Paris area, which it did until it was finally taken out of revenue service in 1967. Steam trains cannot go very far before they need to have their water supply refreshed, and here we have stopped at the little station of Parsac-Gouzon to re-fill the tanks, which also gives people a chance to walk about, - and take photos of the locomotive! 1948 Kodak Tourist I, f4.5/105mm Anaston lens, x2 yellow filter. Shanghai GP3 in Thornton's Two Bath, 4+4 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson 500

Another from the Tourist archives! Montluçon is considered to be "The Gateway to the Auvergne", although it is in the department of Allier - it is quite a classy place, so it is not a surprise to see high quality building here, but this is definitely in a league of it's own! I have no idea of the original purpose, - hotel, bank, insurance office, could be any of them, - nor when it was built, but what is certain is that it is one of the most accomplished examples of brickwork that I have seen! The diamond pattern is worked in a darker brick, and would be a challenge in a flat panel, but to have achieved this on the surface of a circular building, is indeed, a class act. Viewing the image at original size will show what I mean, and also demonstrate that the old Kodak is no slouch either! Taken with a 1948 Kodak Tourist 620, converted to 120 film. f4.5/105mm hard coated Kodak Anaston, X2 yellow filter, on Shanghai GP3 @200, developed in Thornton's Two Bath 5+5 mins @21C, and scanned @ 1200dpi on an Epson V500.