History in France Part 4 - Vercingetorix 82-46 BCE

When I was a child growing up on the French South Pacific island of New Caledonia (my book “French Sand” is set there), the ancient Gaul leader, Vercingetorix, was the subject of a history lesson one day at school.

I have never liked the Romans because of what they did to him – much to my mother’s distress, as she was a classicist, a scholar of Roman history and a professor of Latin. How can you not admire the Romans ?!she would exclaim in exasperation.

Because they were rotten to Vercingetorix.  Quite a logical answer if one is only eight years old.

Vercingetorix was a cheiftan in Gaul during the time of Julius Ceasar’s Gallic Wars.  At that time Gaul was divided in to many little areas, each with its own chief. Vercingetorix, who was from Arvenis (now the Auverge) united the chieftans in a fight against the Romans.  They in turn made him King.  He won an outstanding victory in 52 BC against the Romans at the Battle of Gergovia but, later the same year, lost at the Battle of Alesia  and was captured.

He was kept in a small wooden cage for five years and paraded through the streets of Rome before his execution.  What little information we have about him comes from Julius Ceasar’s account of the Gallic Wars, and what statues and illustrations we have of him are, of course, fictive.  But he stikes an enigmatic pose, doesn’t he ?  Looks good.  I think it was a picture of him, squatting like an animal in his little cage, that I saw in a history book, and quite possibly a figment of the illustrator’s imagination, that made me always dislike the Romans …

Catherine Broughton is a novelist. Her books are available on Amazon and Kindle, or can be ordered from book shops and libraries.  More about Catherine Broughton and her work on http://www.turquoisemoon.co.uk

History in France Part 3 - Royan

Royan is a holiday resort sitting on the Gironde Estuary, about half way down the Atlantic coast of France.  When we first came here, over twenty years ago, Royan was very much “an old folks’ town”, with a few elderly people enjoying the sun in the summer months and utterly devoid of any signs of life in the winter.

Nowadays, although it most certainly not my favourite town in the area, it is a lively and charismatic place all year round, with a very good selection of shops and restaurants, wonderful markets and huge sandy beaches.  People quite often rent our Chateau early in December in order to benefit from the excellent French-shopping, the way only the French can do it,  in Royan.

Archeologists have found cut flints in the area, so we know that there was a pre-historic settlement.  During Roman occupation, oysters were bred here, and vineyards planted.  Charentais wine is a bit mediocre, actually, but the vines dates back many hundreds of years.  Royan then came under English control in the days of Eleanor of Aquitaine (when her husband became Henry II of England in 1154, her lands passed under English control) and to this day there are English surnames – Bell, Moore, Tyler – that are the legacy of English soldiers in the area.

In 1789, shortly before the Revolution, this area of France was named Charente Inferieur, and it retained this name till the 1980s when, quite rightly, it was decided that the name was not very encouraging and, as tourism was vital, it was re-named Charente Maritime.  Much better !

During World War II the Germans occupied Royan and the surrounding area.  Well after the liberation of France, the Germans held on grimly to the town.  Following information from the French General Larminat, who stated that there were only Germans and collaborators left, on 5th January 1945 the British RAF bombed heavily and all but flattened the whole place.  The job was finished in April by the Americans.  By this time Larminat realized his mistake and send an urgent message to the Americans – but in French.  The signalman, understandably, didn’t speak French.  Over 1500 French civilians were killed or wounded.

Most of the old buildings were destroyed, leaving today just a small selection of absolutely exquisite Napoleon III (Victorian in the British world) houses to one side of the sea front.  The neo-Gothic church was destroyed and when the town was re-built in the 1950s a new church was built.  Apparently it is a classified historical monument, the Notre Dame, but I’m afraid I can’t see it.  Looks more like a monstrosity to me.

Catherine Broughton is a novelist. Her books are available on Amazon and Kindle, or can be ordered from most leading book stores and libraries.  Catherine Broughton is also a published poet and an artist.  Go to http://www.turquoisemoon.co.uk for more about her and her work, to include her entertaining blogs and short stories from around the world.

Frangi-Pangi

I have fond memories of playing, with my little sister, in a frangi-pangi tree in Nigeria when I was a little girl.  The tree was in the middle of the front lawn of our house in Ibadan, and my sister and I played – incredibly – “house” in the tree.

I suppose the tree must have been a good size, for we were aged something around 7 and 8, and we found areas of the tree that were the bedroom, or the kitchen and so on.  We wore just knickers – my mother had made them, blue and white stiped knickers with little roses in the stripes.  They had a wide frill of the same fabric around the edge of the leg. There were several pairs of them.  Looking back on it, I suppose my mother made them as something easy to replace, easy to wash and, although they weren’t shorts, they were not quite knickers either.  We were always barefoot.  We used to arrange the frangi-pangi in our hair and around the waist-band of our knickers.

We went to school, of course, driven there in a Landrover by a Nigerian called “driver”.  We thought that was his name.  I don’t remember anything about him except that he took us to school, along with my big brother, and then fetched us again when, as soon as we were home, we stripped off our school clothes and climbed in to the frangi-pangi tree.

The house was big with a wide shadey terrace running all around it.  We had a houseboy called Difon and a cook and a “gardener” – I use inverted commas because the garden was really just a dust bowl with a frangi-pangi tree.  The cook’s children often used to play with us.  We also had an English nanny called Valerie, who we all loved very much, even though we got spanked for using her make up.

At some stage another little sister appeared.  It seemed she was bright red.   She was seven years younger, and quite an oddity, bundled in a huge white nappy, and lying either in my mother’s arms or in a cot that seemed much too big for her.

One day there was a snake weaving its way through the upright slats of the cot.  The baby lay silently.  My mother read.  My brother, sister and I watched the snake for a while and then one of us felt it a good idea to mention it to our mother.

“Mummy, there is a snake in the cot…”

My poor mother!  It was only many years later she mentioned to me how she hated Nigeria, and that after the snake incident she begged my father (who was a doctor of tropical disease) to return to South Africa.  Four years in Nigeria is enough for any white woman even in those days when it was “British”.

From there we went to Switzerland for a few years, and then to the South Pacific – that was wonderful, and forms the happiest part of my childhood memories.  Along with the frangi-pangi tree.

Catherine Broughton is a novelist. Her books are available on Amazon and Kindle or can be ordered from major book stores and libraries.  Catherine Broughton is also an artist and a poet. More about her, to include her entertaining blogs and short stories from around the world, on http://www.turquoisemoon.co.uk

Tonnay Boutonne-historical places in this part of France

We used to live just outside Tonnay Boutonne, so I know it well.  It is (with the best will in the world) just a stoney French village with a main road blasting through the middle of it.  I haven’t been for several years now and I have heard that it has been spruced-up and modernized, which is great.  Some of these villages have had by-passes built, which makes the place quieter but takes all the trade away.  Tonnay Boutonne boasts a pretty river, the Boutonne, an interesting old church and some pretty surrounding countryside.

Tonnay Boutonne’s main claim to fame (if it can be called fame) is that one Ganes de Ganelon ( 8th Century) was once Lord of it.  Never heard of him of course.  He was the chap who betrayed Roland, as in Roland and Charlemagne.  He was married to Isabelle de Taillefer, widow of the King Jean-sans-Terre, and her ghost is said to haunt the one remaining tower in the centre of the village.  She in turn was Countess of Taillebourg, another local village.

Tonnay Boutonne has two stories as to the origin of its name.  The first is that the ancient Celtic word for tower was tom, and the ancient Celtic word for river was bou.  The second story dates to the days of Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th Century), when there was a large population of English in the area and they referred to the town as the town on the Boutonne, which over the years became Tonnay Boutonne.  The truth is undoubtedly a mixture of the two.

There are the remains of a chateau, mostly within the grounds of a private house.  It seems there were three towers with drawbridges and a moat, and that the place was more of a fortification than a village.  The remains of the Chateau have been dated to the 8th Century, but the one remaining tower, in perfect order, seems to be several hundred years later.  Perhaps it was re-built.

Now, Roland is a vastly more interesting subject, even though he never went (as far as I know) to Tonnay Boutonne.   During medeival years there was a great culture for highly romanticized and embellished “true stories”, and La Chanson de Roland appears in a 12th Century Oxford manuscript, telling the story of Roland, nephew of Charlemagne and Defender of the Frontiers.  He and his army were betrayed by Ganelon in Iberia at the battle of Roncevaux, where they were ambushed and every last man slaughtered.  According to the legend, Roland had a horn ( called an olifant, which was a special message-horn) to blow if he needed back-up, which, with his dying breath he managed to blow, and Charlemagne and army came dashing to the rescue, arriving too late.

Roland also had a horse by the name of Veillantif and a sword that no other man could weild, by the name of Durandel.  These stories, and various versions of them, appear in medeival writings in Norway, Italy and Spain, as well as in England and France.  However, the one and only historic and accurate mention of Roland is in Charlemagne’s 8th Century “biography” (Einhart), where it is stated that Roland, nephew to the kind and prefect of all frontiers, was killed at Roncevaux in the year 778 AD.

What happened to Ganelon ?  Oh, I think Charlemagne killed him, which is why his wife’s ghost forever haunts the tower ….

Catherine Broughton is a novelist.  Her books are available on Amazon and Kindle, or can be ordered from most leading book stores and libraries.  Catherine Broughton is also a publsihed poet and an artist.  Her web site, for her entertaining stories and blogs from all over the world, is http://www.turquoisemoon.co.uk

Holiday Rentals: The Chateau and Cottages of Rochebonne

The Chateau  is available for short breaks (as well as weekly breaks) of 4 nights from early October through to the end of March.  Full central heating and two open fireplaces, all inclusive £700 for up to 8 people.  Another 4 people can be accomodated @ £40 each for the 4 nights.

Situated half way down the west coast of France, this lovely property offers the perfect getaway.  Comprising a small Chateau and six cottages (totally separate, so the Chateau is not over looked), and huge grounds barely 4kms from the beach, this is a delightful and unique place for a short break or your main holiday.

Closest airport: La Rochelle

Closest port: St Malo

Closest big towns: La Rochelle, Royan, Saintes

web site:  http://www.holidaychateaufrance.com

Contact: hit the contact button on this site or on the above site

AVAILABILITY:-

Availability in the Chateau and in the cottages below.

The Chateau is also available for weekly stays:-

8 June – 13 July @ £2430 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £1999 pw

31 Aug – 7 Sept @ £2430 pw    SPECIAL OFFER £1999 pw

21-28 Sept @ £1885 pw             SPECIAL OFFER £1500 pw

“8 Sept through to the end of March @ £1885 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £1110 pw

Prices do not include travel.

Prices include all bedding but not towels – which can be hired – please ask.

Wifi available @ £20 for the duration of your stay

Cook available – please enquire.  Also English-speaking baby-sitter.

Cottage availability:-

The cottages are closed from mid-September to the end of April.

La Charrue, 4 bedrooms, available 1-22 June @ £785 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £685 pw

13-20 July @ £905 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £850 pw  

31 Aug – 7 Sept @ £750 pw SPECIAL OFFER £600 pw 

Le Chai, 2 bedrooms, available 1-15 June @ £455 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £400 pw

13-27 July @ £665 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £590 pw 

31 Aug – 14 Sept @ £650 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £500 pw 

Please note that there are three 2-bedroom cottages and that availability for the others differs slightly, so it is worth your while enquiring.

Le Pressoir, 3 bedrooms, available 1-22 June @ £495 pw   SPECIAL OFFER £425 pw

20-27 July @ £955 pw (sorry no specials)

31 Aug – 14 Sept @ £700 pw  SPECIAL OFFER £550 pw

Please note that there are two 3-bedroom cottages and that availability varies slightly, so it is worth your asking.

Big shared pool, private parking, games room, individual gardens with BBQ andf big shared grounds.

Prices do not include travel, utilities of bed linen & towels.  Wifi, cot, high chair available.

Full details are on http:// www.holidaychateaufrance.com or click the contact button on this site

www.turquoisemoon.co.uk

The Man with Green Fingers

I have received a fair few messages recently, asking me what made me think of “The Man with Green Fingers” and how in the world I came up with the plot.

To see full blog and more please visit www.turquoisemoon.co.uk

Such Friendly People- USA

Well, we all know that in all countries there are plenty of people that are decidedly un-friendly, but from the point of view of a tourist, I can confirm that – along with Australia – Amercians are friendly, cheerful and polite.
I suppose because we live in Europe – and thence spend most of the year in Europe – it particularly strikes us when we come to America.  The Bulgarians are very grumpy and rude people, I suppose because of their pre-Cold War heritage.  The Swedish can be dour people.  The English are generally pleasant and fairly easy to get talking to but there is nothing quite as dreadful as the British drunk when he is abroad. Italians are also friendly and cheerful but what mad and noisy drivers!  The French know nothing – but nothing! – about good customer service, so I do appreciate it when we come to the USA.

For full blog and more please see www.turquoisemoon.co.uk