Invitation To France, Vignettes-5

Chapter 9 Loire River Valley

Angers … In one huge specially designed, 350-foot-long, three-story room, we could view what remains of the Apocalypse Tapestry, made in Paris between 1375 and 1380. Originally ninety scenes on six tapestries that were 78 by 20 feet

The Châteaux de Saumur was just across the river from our RV in the Municipal Campsite at Saumur. We’ll bet no hotel room offered such a view.

… between Vendôme and Châteaudun we found a little shack in the woods with a few tables and chairs, doing a big business. They served about the best tasting and the biggest portion of French fries we have had anywhere in any country.

Orléans … The Cathédrale Ste-Croix (Cathedral of the Holy Cross) with its very large open foyer or narthex, and round, flat-topped lacy spires can be seen for miles. We’ve seen no other spire even a little like these.

Chapter 10 East of Paris

Phalbourg … little girl wanted to know where we lived … when he mentioned Disneyland, her face lit up and she said, “If you could be in Disneyland today, why are you in France?”

Reims … A terrible fire on the night of May 6, 1210, destroyed the then existing edifice, and exactly one year later Archbishop Aubri de Humbert laid the first stone of what was to become the Reims cathedral of today.

Domrémy … The stone house where Joan was born is a charming, substantial two story stone house, with huge beams in the ceilings, and a shed roof. The room where Joan ‘d Arc was born on January 6, 1412, looked as if it could have been the living room, with a fireplace.

Nancy … As one man said, “They are washing off not dirt, but tradition.” … we’re happy to see the cleaning process

Metz … The windows aren’t all old, one group was created relatively recently by the famed Russian artist, Marc Chagall, who died in 1985.