The Orne in Autumn

On our last visit to La Roche d'Oetre, in the Suisse Normande region of Normandy, everything was lush green. Since then, the leaves have turned: most of the poplars and cherry trees near us are already bare, the chestnuts are losing foliage rapidly and only the oaks seem to be hanging on.

We'd noticed that, up in the Suisse Normande, in the northern part of the Orne département, autumn seemed to be a little more advanced. So we rushed up to the Roche d'Oetre hoping we weren't too late.

What we saw was simply magnificent.

The image to the right was taken from an outlook near the Roche, looking down the gorge of the Rouvre river. The light kept coming and going - fast clouds scudding across the skies. As a photographer, it was occasionally fustrating. Long 'streets' of cumulus clouds (so beloved of glider pilots because they can use them to travel long distances) obscured the light for long periods, with the sun just peeking out for brief moments.

On the whole, though, we had good weather, with temperatuires around 18C - not bad for this time of year.

Of course, what we'll remember about the day is the display of colour. It wasn't just the expected yellows, browns and reds of autumn. Some of the bare trees looked blue in the October light, almost like smoke in the forest.

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