rue Sainte Anne

The same prospect with  a few years between

One of the roads within the walled & moated ideal town of Richelieu was formerly called rue Sainte Anne; now re-named rue Henri Proust after a 19th century prelate, scion of a very grand and rich family. The street is seen here in two photo versions taken from exactly the same point.  This street, which stretches between the former nunnery's location and the town's church of Our Lady, included several church schools, formerly run by those nuns. Now there are more modern catholic private schools for the children of the good folk of the eminentissime cardinal duc's old duchy of Richelieu.

.....with many thanks to Elisabeth and Alexandre.

Above, the small wall statue of St. Anne gets a visit from her daughter, the Virgin Mary,
whose statue is at the northern end of the street, below,
'Nôtre Dame de la Rouille'.

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a roof is replaced

old slates off

old battens exposed - roof light removed

slate battens off

old poplar beams removed and replaced and repaired

rafters replaced in tanalised softwood (spruce)

new tanalised battens

battens completed

'new' slate roof completed

ridge in the Touraine manner with crests

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Roger Excoffon - typographer

p.s. oops!  it is Le Mistral n.m. - no 'e'...

as for Marseille (s?)

Imitating his own handwriting, Roger Excoffon created a fully cursive (linking) apparent hand-script, originally for typesetting, now for digital reproduction.  The capitals do not fully link in the computerised version, as was the case with the original, although the lower-case version obviously does. Originally this objective was achieved with various 'ligatures' - fiddly little graphic linkages for particular conjunctions of letters.

'Mistral' is as French as 'Helvetica' is Swiss!

The Sun King's honeymoon hotel.

The marriage of the young Louis XIV at St Jean de Luz

Following his marriage on 9 June 1660 at St Jean de Luz, in the Pyrenees on the border with Spain, the then 22-year old bridegroom, Louis XIV - Le Roi Soleil, brought his new bride Infanta Marie-Therèse d'Autriche, daughter of Philip IV of Spain, past the château and town of Richelieu, on his slow progress back to Paris. The second duc de Richelieu, Armand Jean de Vignerot du Plessis, grand-nephew of the cardinal duc, would have been his host for this visit.

The picture  of the marriage itself is by Laumosnier and is kept in the Musée de Tessé in Le Mans.

During Louis' first visit to the château in 1650 (ten years earlier) with his mother Anne d'Autriche, the 12-year old dauphin Louis had been fascinated by his conversations with the then 65-year-old King's architect, Jacques Lemercier, who was to die five years later aged 69. This first royal visit was only a few years after the cardinal duc's death in 1642, and that of Louis' own father King Louis XIII in 1643, when the dauphin was only four years old.  His fascination with the château and parc de Richelieu was a spur for the expansion of his own dead father's hunting lodge in Versailles, to create the sumptuous and grandiose vision we know today. Louis XIII 1601-1643 had died quite young and had had his two sons rather late (37 & 39), so the little boy Louis XIV naturally wanted to continue his predecessor's project on a grander scale.  And how!

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Progress at the Grand Colbert/New Tourist Office

Contract  value for the restoration of this 'half'  hôtel particulier from arch to street corner only
240,000€
no backland or back façade, but to the full satisfaction of Bâtiments de France
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Facades restored and 'edited'

before (2010)

New doorway on the side façade

First floor window openings

Side (N) façade with new first floor windows installed

Main façade to the market square restored and 'edited'!

some shops close ...others open

Europe's smallest soap manufacturer HQ

The new estate agent well under way

The old seventeenth century shop buildings on the route de Loudun that hug the church site have found two new tenants.  Both have refurbished rather elegant traditional 19th century French retail fronts.  Frenchmen and women, generally not very tall today, were obviously even more petit in those now distant days... Mind you Head, if you need to buy the wonderful hand-made soap.

bonnes fêtes de vos amis à Schaafheim!

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Prosit Neujahr 2012!

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festive photo by Wolfgang Roth

le duc de Buckingham et sa famille vous offrent joyeux fêtes 2011

Merry christmas and a successful new year 2012 

from George Villiers, first duke of Buckingham* , 

scourge of Louis XIII, 

paramour of Queen Anne d'Autriche (Dumas père), 

hopeful liberator of La Rochelle, 

general coxcomb
+
military booby

(and his charming family).

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after Gerrit von Honthorst

*"the prettiest man in all England"


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'av 'n Nappy Xmas...

joyeux noël 2011

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Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche - Napoleon I crossing the Alps 1849-50

St Vincent de Paul

Éminentissime Armand-Jean du Plessis, cardinal duc de Richelieu, appointed his clerical chum, Vincent de Paul, to look after the christian souls of the new inhabitants of his Ideal Town, particularly while the community established itself. As cardinal, one might well think that he might take on this task himself but he no doubt thought that his Responsibilities of State would not allow him time for such provincial pastoral responsibilities.

Abbé H.Proust - Tapissier

Chinon brocante market, every third Sunday of the month, October 2011.  Louis XIII style walnut upholstered foot-stool, generally 'knackered'!  Asked 60€; accepted 40€ on second approach - meillieur prix?  

Should we use an expert upholsterer? ...... NO!

Fabric from Peter Jones, Sloane Square; 1 metre of 40/60 cotton/polyester blend damask £22.00 inc VAT, colour-way 'Cardinal'! 

2 metres of fancy swagging. Supplier as above

Large 15mm dia. upholstery pins from Moran's builder's merchants, Kennington (no S!); 6 packets of 10 @ £2.50 inc VAT.

Removed old covering (and many, many rusty tacks). Re-glued the broken centre foot rail tenon both ends.  Added a white cotton under-cover to remaining spring & horsehair upholstery and stained & ripped cambric covering.  Should really have used a better quality linen cambric.

Machine-sewed cover, having cut it to size.

Inspiration from Google Images: Louis XIII Furniture...

The Abbé liked having a go at upholstery; a quite high reward/effort ratio.

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more 3 musketeers...