Illustration - Loire Valley

Illustration - Loire Valley

FRANCE - LOIRE VALLEY - INDRE ET LOIRE (37) - CASTLE OF VILLANDRY : CHATEAU DE VILLANDRY AND ITS GARDENS: VIEW AT MID-HEIGHT OF THE VEGETABLE GARDEN FROM THE SOUTH WEST. IN THE BACKGROUND, THE RENAISSANCE CASTLE AND THE DUNGEON, THE ONLY REMAINING VESTIGE OF THE MEDIEVAL FORTRESS. Photo by Stephane Compoint/Only France/ABACAPRESS.COM

Illustration - Loire Valley

Illustration - Loire Valley

FRANCE - LOIRE VALLEY - INDRE ET LOIRE (37) - CASTLE OF VILLANDRY : CHATEAU DE VILLANDRY AND ITS GARDENS: VIEW AT MID-HEIGHT OF THE VEGETABLE GARDEN FROM THE SOUTH WEST. IN THE BACKGROUND, THE RENAISSANCE CASTLE AND THE DUNGEON, THE ONLY REMAINING VESTIGE OF THE MEDIEVAL FORTRESS. Photo by Stephane Compoint/Only France/ABACAPRESS.COM

Illustration - Loire Valley

Illustration - Loire Valley

FRANCE - LOIRE VALLEY - INDRE ET LOIRE (37) - CASTLE OF VILLANDRY : CHATEAU DE VILLANDRY AND ITS GARDENS: VIEW AT MID-HEIGHT OF THE VEGETABLE GARDEN FROM THE SOUTH WEST. IN THE BACKGROUND, THE RENAISSANCE CASTLE AND THE DUNGEON, THE ONLY REMAINING VESTIGE OF THE MEDIEVAL FORTRESS. Photo by Stephane Compoint/Only France/ABACAPRESS.COM

Illustration - Aerial View of France

Illustration - Aerial View of France

FRANCE - AVEYRON - 12 - CONQUES : VIEW OF THE VILLAGE CENTER FROM THE SOUTHWEST. BOTTOM LEFT, THE STREET GONZAGUE FLORENS. ON THE RIGHT, THE ABBATIAL CHURCH OF SAINTE FOY AND THE REMAINS OF THE ABBEY. IN THIS SITE OF RARE BEAUTY, WHERE WILDERNESS HAS KEPT ITS PURITY, CONQUES CLINGS TO THE STEEP GORGES OF THE OUCHE RIVER. THE WINDING STREETS AND BEAUTIFUL OLD HOUSES ARE THE SETTING FOR A MAGNIFICENT ROMAN CHURCH (AND ITS PRODIGIOUS TREASURES), VESTIGE OF AN ABBEY THAT LONG HOUSED THE PILGRIMS TO ST. JACQUES DE COMPOSTELA. Photo by Stephane Compoint/Only France/ABACAPRESS.COM

Ex-post office built before WWII on Russian-held island demolished

Ex-post office built before WWII on Russian-held island demolished

Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2014, shows a former postal station house before its recent demolition in Shana, or Kurilsk in Russian, on Etorofu, one of the four Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands off Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. The last vestige of Japan's presence on the island is said to have been dismantled in June 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo