The topics of this blog are Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Duke of Richelieu, and the IDEAL CITY built on his command next to his magnificent CHÂTEAU on the borders of Touraine, Anjou and Poitou, in France.

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Postcards from about 1910

These postcards from the period before 1914 and show the dusty drowsy state of the town in that era.  Although Richelieu is still 'a bit cut off' from the rest of Touraine and Poitou, 20 km from any other comparable town, at least this isolation is diminished today by motor transportation. 
Before 1914 and popular car ownership, the town relied on its rail connection to Chinon and beyond, constructed in 1880 for the trade in veal for the tables of Paris.  Before that, for the wealthier the carriage or the horse and for the poor, walking.  Note the arrival of early cars in some of the pictures.  They produced some tourism - and the consequent market in postcards.





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