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| Merry Christmas 2012 |
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Friday, 2 November 2012
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
More pictures of Alice Heine
December 22, 1925The Associated Press is reporting the death of the Dowager Princess of Monaco. The former Marie Alice Heine died suddenly today in Paris.The daughter of a New Orleans banker, Alice Heine was born on February 10, 1858. She married the 7th Duke of Richelieu in 1875. He died in 1880.After his death, Alice married in 1889 to Prince Albert I of Monaco. The new Princess of Monaco sought to establish the principality as a cultural center. Her marriage was not happy one, and in 1902, the couple separated officially, but were never divorced.Marie Alice was born at 900 Rue Royale in New Orleans' French Quarter. Her French-born father Michael came from a prominent German banking family. He was also a cousin of the German writer, Heinrich Heine. Her mother, Marie-Amelie Miltenberger, was the daughter of a New Orleans architect.The Dowager Princess is survived by her son, Armand, the 8th Duke of Richelieu.
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| Marie-Alice is buried far from her second husband Albert 1 in Monaco; in the cemetary of Père Lachaise in Paris |
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Monday, 15 October 2012
Harold Jacobs
The painter, Harold Jacobs, who lives in Ligré, has a decennial reason to celebrate. Below a link to a u-tube movie about him...
bonne anniversaire!
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Thursday, 11 October 2012
Saturday, 6 October 2012
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
The old Grenier à Sel ?
From much before the 17th century, the King of France had raised a tax on his subjects called the Gabelle. It was a tax based in later years on the supply of domestic salt. As salt was the principal method of preserving meats, fish or even vegetables, it was a very necessary product for daily life. The King produced the salt in his own salt farms on the Atlantic to the west, and it was distributed to his greniers à sel - salt 'barns' - located by privilege all over his kingdom. In this way an important tax that was dependent on domestic consumption was spread to the entire population.
A modern parallel is hydrocarbon fuel duty, where a tax, much higher than the market value of the product itself, is raised on a necessary daily product. Read Here about this tax in the UK.
The locations of the warehouses that sold the protected royal product were important, as they would required constant visits, and would attract all sorts of other commerces to their side.
When the King, Louis XIII, gave royal patents to the newly-founded town of Richelieu, among other particular benefits to privilege the venture was the re-location of the local grenier à sel for the region. It was moved from the bustling town of Loudun, twenty kilometres away, to the new town of his powerful cardinal duc.
Of course this was not a popular act in the town of Loudun, as it required them to change their habits and make frequent visits to the new but isolated town of Richelieu.
Click here for the history of the salt tax, the Gabelle.
Below we show photos of the 'alleged' former grenier à sel de Richelieu. (See the 'comment' of Richelieu's historian Marie-Pierre Terrien, below). It has recently been sold by the Sorbonne to a new owner, who prepares to restore it, presumably as a residence. If one looks at this blog's map of locations (see RHS) there is an indication of where the building is to be found, exactly between the town walls and the ducal château parc, between moat and canal, on the axis that terminates in the statue of the cardinal in the place du Cardinal.
Seems it is more likely one of the ducal parc's many support buildings ... but who knows?
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below
is a map of the gabelles at a national scale; note that Richelieu is the only town marked in the region; no sign of Loudun for example!
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Thursday, 27 September 2012
The town's own facebook page!
The Richelieu Tourist office has opened its own Facebook page that will give easy access to up-to-date information on the towns activities.
Monday, 24 September 2012
Sunday, 19 August 2012
She scrubs up well
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| BEFORE - a rusty Virgin... |
The niche located at the north end of rue Henri Proust, on rue de Jarry, contains a statue of Mary, who is celebrated here as the result of successful prayers of inter-muros parishioners of the Richelieu church, itself dedicated to the Virgin.
These prayers resulted in the saving of the town of Richelieu from an epidemic of Cholera in the 19th century.
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| Now re-furbished and de-rusted. |
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'It's him wot dun it' - Cyr, that is,
just in time for the Assumption of 14 August 2012
Thanks Cyr - she is lovely now; as befits the Virgin Mary!
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Cape et Epée 2012 - the movies
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| the Dark Cavalier... |
The little town comes to life with thousands of visitors who enjoy seeing the place inhabited by various bands of historical re-enacters. And having a good lunch together in the market square...
In the evening the jollity continues with dancers and FIRE EATERS?
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Sunday, 15 July 2012
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Friday, 29 June 2012
Old postcards - la Gare
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| the 1906 postcard's view today; from a little closer to the station |
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| a Google Earth version 29 June 2012 - more wide-angle |
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15 September 1906, a day for your sabots.. |
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Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Pictures of the chapel of the Sorbonne
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| the location of the Sorbonne |
click here for other posts on the Sorbonne and the cardinal's sepulchre.
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| The external views of the chapel designed by Jacques Lemercier in the 1620s; the minor façade to the internal court of the Sorbonne, the major to the public square without, both in strict Jesuit manner, following Vignola. |
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| the high altar and the cupola from inside |
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| the tomb of the cardinal complete with his magically levitating cardinal's hat |
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Expansion of the town's hotel, the Puits Doré
Click on the small blue letters Puits Doré in the 'labels' at the foot of this post to call up photos of the various stages of the reconstruction.
It is impressive that this small rural hotel has had the entrepreneurial courage to expand into this fully 'listed' rear extension and thus increase its commercial viability by increasing the bed spaces. In doing so, they were obliged to restore the façades, remove the 19th century commercial shop fronts and incorporate facilities for handicapped people within including a lift.
Good luck Puits Doré - we hope tourists will now flood in.
It is impressive that this small rural hotel has had the entrepreneurial courage to expand into this fully 'listed' rear extension and thus increase its commercial viability by increasing the bed spaces. In doing so, they were obliged to restore the façades, remove the 19th century commercial shop fronts and incorporate facilities for handicapped people within including a lift.
Good luck Puits Doré - we hope tourists will now flood in.
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