December Reflections 6: Ornament

If you had asked me about ornaments/ornamentation, I might have said that it was not a topic of interest. That would be an honest belief. However, having sifted through over 2,000 photographs from 2020, it would appear that I am almost an obsessive! How come that I never noticed this before?

My image files are littered with detail of many of the places that we have visited and I am clearly fascinated by the European love of ornament and surface detail.

Portuguese Pottery – some of which I would cheerful ornament my kitchen with

Some towns feature more strongly than others.

Morella is a stunning little fortress town, perched high atop a hill in Valencia, in Spain. We visited in early February, on our journey home from our winter break in Portugal. I didn’t have a great deal of time to enjoy and capture as we were on our way to a lunch booking (a tasting menu of Truffle – in every course!) and had walked from the motorhome aire outside the town.

Everywhere I looked, there was decoration.

A shop selling Honey and Cheese, as if you couldn’t guess

There were shops decorated as advertising, buildings simply ornamented for the pleasure of it, and shop after shop selling beautiful and ornamental goods.

I loved the lizards and wanted to bring some home for our garden wall, where many Wall Lizards live and entertain us

Lizards! and Snails!

I obviously need some snails in the garden too but can I affix a pair to the van…

The restaurant that we visited very much had a woman’s touch to it and there were many quirky and eclectic ornaments that I remember well but did not have chance to photograph. The table flowers also spoke of a woman’s touch.

Flowers for table ornament

There was one ornament in the town that really reached out to me:

Simple

I suspect that this Rosemary sprig held some meaning. It adorned an ancient door in what I recall as being a religious building of some sort. Rosemary for Remembrance, perhaps. It is entirely possible that we shall see this photograph again soon, for prompt 8, but nothing is a given and I may surprise myself yet.

Another town that was big on ornamentation was the recently-visited Luchon and again my camera had plenty of use. I really wanted to visit this building as I have something of a passion for Art Nouveau. The Musée was open but we passed because of the mask-wearing requirement. It’s difficult to enjoy an experience when masked, and even harder to follow/translate when one’s glasses are steamed up!

I settled for admiring the exterior tiles.

Ornamented eaves!

Luchon was simply riddled with Fin de Siècle ornament. Later constructions seem to have carried on the tradition of ornamenting buildings.

Only slightly OTT. Fabulous!

Even the functional is heavily ornamented in Luchon.

What a bracket!

The old thermal baths were closed due to virus measures. I so very much wanted to see inside and especially to view the stained glass with the light behind it.

Must be beautiful on the inside

We enjoyed wandering around the ornamental park, which was beautifully and artfully planted in a natural and understated style.

So perfectly French!

May I confess to having a “thing” for cast and wrought iron?

Quintessential bandstand in the beautiful park

There were other gorgeous towns this year but this is already becoming far too lengthy and I have dinner to prepare and so… one vignette from Germany before we move on….

Bavarian Eagle ornament on a hotel in Oberprechtal

Closer to home ornaments:

In the house, my ducks. Are they ducks or geese? Geese, I think, but I am pretty sure my MiL called them ducks. Anyway, I love them. I asked for them after she died because I recall the joy that they brought to her. She told me that when she got up each day they were there (on the kitchen top cabinets) and that they always cheered her up.

They cheer me up too

Personal ornamentation. I have had a bonanza year!

Ginkgo Leaf jewellery for my birthday
Not just earrings but a pendant too.

I like these and wear them often,

In Montreuil Sur Mer earlier in the Autumn, we found this in an antique shop. I fell in love with it and Mr L insisted that I have it.

This is also frequently worn

On reflection, it appears that I really am pretty much obsessed with ornaments!

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