Bonnes fêtes - Merry Christmas 2019

Christmas fireworks over the ducal park from the Market Square

Christmas lights are switched on in the streets and squares of Richelieu

La Mairie or Townhall

la halle, or market hall

original photos by A.Proveda - thanks AP; hope you don't mind!

and here is an older picture of the Grande Rue,
empty of traffic, and with an added hornbeam 'avenue'...

same day, different view...

***

Mid-winter in the parc - cold and foggy at noon

***

God Yul 2016

Merry Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas 2016!

click here below for
Abbé Henri Proust's
Season's Greetings from Christmases Past...

****
***
*

the 2016 Greetings Card

Following the huge success of last year's greetings card, which saw €2000 being donated to the restoration of Tour St Anne, Alan Halliday has very kindly donated another image for this year's card.

The cards will be available from the end of October, priced €30 for 20 cards. 

Please email alikimberbates@icloud.com to place an order.

the 2016 greeting card

***

Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2016

Christmas cards of Richelieu in the snow….

TOUR SAINTE ANNE 

RESTORATION

To raise funds to help a restoration project in our beautiful local town, we would like to sell you a 'Richelieu Christmas Card'.

Tour Sainte Anne is an iconic 17th century vestige of cardinal-duc Armand-Jean du Plessis'  Richelieu - untouched, architecturally perfect but now dilapidated. As friends of Richelieu, we would like to ask you to help by buying this wonderful and evocative Christmas/Greetings Card.

Alan Halliday, an acclaimed professional artist who lives nearby, has kindly donated the use of his painting free of charge.  The interior of the card will be blank to enable its use for Christmas but also all year-round.

'Richelieu in the snow'

All the profits from the sale of the card will be donated to the restoration of Tour Sainte Anne.

http://toursainteanne.blogspot.co.uk

 The restoration of the tower continues the work of Le Fonds de Dotation - Ville Cardinale which has already restored the gates at the Porte de Chinon. 

 http://richelieu-eminencerouge.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Dotation

The card will be quality produced with a full colour front page and supplied with an envelope included. The minimum order is for 20 cards and envelopes at £20/€26 (plus p&p if required.)

To ensure that we can get the most competitive printing costs and ensure we raise as much money for the project as possible, if you are interested, please could you give an indication of the number of cards you would like to purchase in an e-mail to Alison Kimber-Bates.

Should this idea be widely embraced, Alan Halliday has a number of other wonderful images that could be used to create further greeting cards. We would like to encourage other local artists to also consider donating the reproduction rights of their images to be used to fundraise for this and other projects in the future.

If you know anyone who you think would like to purchase these cards, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them and help us to restore the Tour Sainte Anne. If you could indicate how many cards you would like, that would be very helpful so that we can get the order placed.

We look forward to hearing back from you to place your order.

Ali and David Kimber-Bates    alikimberbates@yahoo.co.uk

 ***

Christmas Jig-saw Puzzle 2014

***

Click here for the clever jig-saw puzzle on the Facebook page of the Office de Tourisme of the little town of

 RICHELIEU

***

Merry Christmas 2013

Two sons of the Abbé Proust belt out 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing'
as boy choristers  in the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral, London 2000
under the meticulous direction of Mr. John Scott,
the
'Eminence Ginger'.

Marvel at Sir Chris.Wren's cathedral resonance…

SUBTUS CONDITUR HUIUS ECCLESIÆ ET VRBIS CONDITOR CHRISTOPHORUS WREN, 
QUI VIXIT ANNOS ULTRA NONAGINTA, NON SIBI SED BONO PUBLICO. 
LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE Obijt XXV Feb: An°: MDCCXXIII Æt: XCI.

which translates from Latin as

Here in its foundations lies the architect of this church and city, Christopher Wren,
 who lived beyond ninety years, not for his own profit but for the public good.
Reader, if you seek his monument – look around you. Died 25 Feb. 1723, age 91.

Merry Christmas to all the Abbé's readers & chums

*

**

***

****

*****

******

*******

********

*********

**********

***********

************

l

==========

2013

______________________________________________________
p.s. cricket fans - note Mr. Alastair Cook, 2013 Captain of England
 in the choir
Trounce those Aussies, next knock
 SVP!

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).

***
after Gerrit von Honthorst

*"the prettiest man in all England"


*

'av 'n Nappy Xmas...

joyeux noël 2011

*

**

***

****

*****

******

*******

*

\  --------------  /

\                   /

\  ______ /

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

Merry Christmas

be so good as to click 'ere/ faites un déclic ici s.v.p.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GkHNNPM7pJA

***

Joyeux fêtes 2010

'absolutism grabs the steering-wheel'

Msgr. Henri Proust

***