Les platanes

... I haven't blipped them for a while. The avenue of plane trees runs for about 800 metres from the main road up to the village. We have a watercolour hanging above our fireplace by one of the painters at the journée des peintres some years ago. It's an iconic view of the approach to the village, and I was trying to recreate it in this blip. Not entirely successfully -- I'll blip the painting one day. But I do love the light and shade from the trees.  They've only just come into leaf, so the green canopy isn't complete yet.

Nearby, along the Canal du Midi, hundreds of plane trees are being felled because they are infected with a fungus that probably arrived with American ammunition cases during World War II. There's no known cure -- the only solution is to cut down affected trees in the hope of limiting the spread, replant resistant varieties, and wait a few generations. I hope the fungus doesn't reach these glorious old trees -- at least, not during my lifetime.