August 16
Rouen
Joan of Arc
(French:
Jeanne
d'Arc,[4]
IPA: [ʒan
daʁk]; ca. 1412[5] –
30 May 1431), nicknamed "The
Maid of Orléans"
is considered a heroine of France and a Roman
Catholic saint. She was
born to a peasant family at Domrémy
in north-east France. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel
Michael,
Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles
VII and recover France
from English domination late in the Hundred
Years' War. The uncrowned
King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege
of Orléans as part of a
relief mission. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted in
only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles
VII's coronation at Reims.
On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne
by the allied English-Burgundian
faction. She was later
handed over to the English,[6]
and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre
Cauchon on a variety of
charges.[7]
After Cauchon declared her guilty she was burned
at the stake on 30 May
1431, dying at about nineteen years of age.[8]
Twenty-five
years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope
Callixtus III examined
the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent,
and declared her a martyr.[8]
Joan of Arc was beatified
in 1909 and canonized
in 1920. She is one of the nine secondary patron
saints of France, along
with St.
Denis, St.
Martin of Tours, St.
Louis, St.
Michael, St.
Remi, St.
Petronilla, St.
Radegund and St.
Thérèse of Lisieux.
Joan of Arc
has been a popular figure in cultural history since the time of her
death, and many famous writers, filmmakers and composers have created
works about her. Cultural
depictions of Joan of Arc
have continued in films, theatre, television, video games, music, and
performances to this day.
Chateau
Gaillard:Saucy Castle
Joan of Arc
(French:
Jeanne
d'Arc,[4]
IPA: [ʒan
daʁk]; ca. 1412[5] –
30 May 1431), nicknamed "The
Maid of Orléans"
(French:
La
Pucelle d'Orléans),
is considered a heroine of France and a Roman
Catholic saint. She was
born to a peasant
family at Domrémy
in north-east France. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel
Michael,
Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles
VII and recover France
from English domination late in the Hundred
Years' War. The uncrowned
King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege
of Orléans as part of a
relief mission. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted in
only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles
VII's coronation at Reims.
On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne
by the allied English-Burgundian
faction. She was later
handed over to the English,[6]
and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre
Cauchon on a variety of
charges.[7]
After Cauchon declared her guilty she was burned
at the stake on 30 May
1431, dying at about nineteen years of age.[8]
Twenty-five years
after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope
Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against
her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr.[8]
Joan of Arc was beatified
in 1909 and canonized
in 1920. She is one of the nine secondary patron
saints of France, along with St.
Denis, St.
Martin of Tours, St.
Louis, St.
Michael, St.
Remi, St.
Petronilla, St.
Radegund and St.
Thérèse of Lisieux.
Joan of Arc has been a popular figure in cultural
history since the time of her death, and many famous writers,
filmmakers and composers have created works about her. Cultural
depictions of Joan of Arc have continued in films, theatre,
television, video games, music, and performances to this day.
We stopped at the square where Joan was executed and found the site is marked by a stone in a pleasant garden. There is a very modern church and covered market built on the square and a moving memorial wall erected to Joan's memory.
Monet's Gardens
Claude Monet noticed the village of Giverny while
looking out of a train window. He made up his mind to move there and
rented a house and the area surrounding it. In 1890 he had enough
money to buy the house and land outright and set out to create the
magnificent gardens he wanted to paint. Some of his most famous
paintings were of his garden in Giverny, famous for its rectangular
Clos normand, with archways of climbing plants entwined around
colored shrubs, and the water garden, formed by a tributary to the
Epte, with the
Japanese bridge, the pond with the water
lily, the wisterias and the azaleas.
Monet lived in the house with its famous pink
crushed brick façade from 1883 until his death in 1926. He and many
members of his family are interred in the village cemetery.
We spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering around the gardens and through the house. The gardens were filled with colour and were mass of different varieties, sometimes in bed, but more often in glorious mixtures. Crossing under the road we walked past a bamboo thicket to reach the famous water lily lake which had a sparse selection of lilies, but was very recogniseable as the subject of the paintings.
Dinner was at a restaurant that consisted of a
couple of open shelters for the bar and kitchen and 10 tables set on
an open terrace bounded by a stream facing a field of cows.
August 17
The accommodation at Giverny was rustic with the
floor in the main room on 2 levels divided by a rough stone step. It
is situated on a road that can only be described as narrow – the
parking sensors were in their red zone on both sides of the car and
it would be impossible to open the doors and get out except at a
gateway and only then on one side.
Heading for Paris we stopped at Les Andelys which
has noted views over the Seine and Eure valleys, but decided against
the climb to the imposing 11th century castle that stands
over the town and provides the viewpoint. The town has 2 parts, one
centred on a large square and the other (Le Petite Andelys) nestled
on the bank of the Seine with less shops, but an imposing church.
August 18
Downhill all the way to Auckland.
Reflecting on our stay in France I have
decided that the French can build very good roads, but generally
decide not to. Many of the roads are narrow with ditches or hedges
and areas where it is not possible for 2 cars to pass are often not
marked. It is left to the driver to determine whether they can fit
through the space available and what speed is safe around corners –
even hair pin bends and sharp blind corners are not marked in
advance. Although many intersections have mirrors to warn of
approaching traffic it is still often necessary to edge out into the
road before ir is possible to see if it is safe. Generally, apart
from the north coast areas, I found the other drivers considerate and
forgiving. Very little impatience or speeding.
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