Come stroll with me …

… through the gardens and château of Joinville in the département of Haute-Marne …

The town of Joinville is situated on the river Marne in northeastern France.  With a population of around 3,000, it is a small and relatively quiet town that sits in some of the most verdant and rolling countryside in this area of France.  Despite its unassuming nature, the town has a fascinating history, and some of that is why I’m here.  Come with me as I explore the local château which is sited just a little up, and across the road, from the local supermarket.  Very convenient, I say, as it means I can get a slice of history and some shopping as well!

The building that can be seen from the street was built by Claude de Lorraine, duc de Guise, between 1533 and 1546.  Claude (1496 – 1550) was a French aristocrat, military tactician and general.  He was born in Condé-sur-Moselle, the second son – therefore, the spare! – of René 2 of Lorraine.  Despite his place in the family, he clearly had his sights set on high achievement.  He was educated at the court of Francis 1, and at the age of 16, he married Antoinette de Bourbon.  He and his wife are recorded as having 12 children, the eldest of whom, Mary of Guise, married James 5 of Scotland, and their surviving daughter was Mary Queen of Scots.  So, Claude not only distinguished himself on the battlefield, but he could seriously name-drop, too!

What has all this got to do with the sleepy little town of Joinville?  Claude was made duc de Guise by Francis 1 in 1528 and was ceded the estate at Joinville, which included a medieval fort.  The original grounds were extended, and Claude and his family moved in.  But not to the building you can visit today.

I’m standing here on the forecourt of the château d’en bas – the lower house - as it was originally called.  The old medieval fort had been in place and overlooking the town for quite some time before the arrival of the Guise family.  The building in front of me was built as a maison de plaisance.  It was designed in the style of a grand pavillion, and its intended use was for entertainment, fêtes and to enjoy the gardens of the recently extended estate.

Surrounded by a moat – a typical feature at the time - the interior is dominated by a grand reception chamber where guests would be entertained and lavish banquets would be held.  Off to the sides are some smaller ante-chambers for the Duc and Duchesse to retire to with their favoured guests along with a garde-robe.  There are no bedrooms as the main house was so near.

Although the structure appears to be on one floor only, there are rooms for the kitchens and cellars beneath.  At each side of the building is a spiral staircase up to the roof space.  There is also a tiny chapel in the southern corner that was added in 1546.

Come outside into the sunshine, and there are some fabulous walks through the gardens.  The layout today is not the original.  This estate had one of the most highly valued gardens and parterre in the whole of 16th-century France.  Regrettably, the site was privately purchased in the 19th century, and the original gardens were replaced with a parc a l’anglaise which was later left untended.  The département acquired the site in the 1980s, and the building was restored, and gardens replanted using the plans from the 19th century. The whole site is now used for concerts and exhibitions but is still available for tourists to visit.

I guess you could say that the château and gardens have kind of come full circle.  Not a bad ending for what is, essentially, a posh 16th-century garden shed!  And if you’re wondering about the old medieval fort… sorry to disappoint, but the revolutionaries took exception to it and destroyed it in 1789.

If you enjoyed this post you might also like to read about my visits to the châteaux in Chenonceau Blois  Ancy-le-Franc or Tanlay  

I’m reviewing The Vanished Collection by…

… Pauline Baer de Perignon.  A tale of lost art and the search for justice and restitution.  Read on...

Set in contemporary Paris, this story moves between the present and the past throughout as the author tries to resolve an old family tragedy that has become shrouded in mistruths and secrecy.

Jules Strauss, born in Germany in 1861, became a wealthy banker and art collector.  He moved to Paris and took up residence in a substantial apartment in Avenue Foch in the old heart of the city.  Jules was the author’s great-grandfather and was living in France during the time of the occupation and the division of the country between the southern Free Zone and the occupied north and west.  In June 1940, when the Wehrmacht marched into Paris, Jules refused to leave.  Although the family was of Jewish origin, they continued to live openly within the city.  In the years leading up to the war, Jules amassed an outstanding collection of art ranging from Monet, Pissarro and Degas to Rubens and Titian.  It was a chance remark made by an old acquaintance of the author that set her wondering about her ancestry, the artworks and what had become of them.

The book is part family history and part a search for justice and the return of the artworks to the descendants of Jules Strauss.  The author centres her book on a particular canvas by Nicolas de Largillière - Portrait of a Lady as Pomona, the sitter being Madame de Parabère - and a drawing by Tiepolo.  The narrative follows Madame de Perignon’s searches through archives, museum records, auction house catalogues and various books and repositories of information about art.  The book opens in 2014, and the journey of research and discovery lasts until 2021.  It is also most interesting to note that, despite the international agreements made in the early fifties, little progress had been made in the intervening decades.  Add to that the reluctance of museums and galleries across Europe and the world to give up their treasured works of art, and you will have some idea of the extent of the work involved for Madame de Perignon and the constant frustrations and obstacles she faced throughout her search.

I found the book a fascinating example of family history research, and the legal wrangling and hoops that had to be jumped through to get restitution of the lost items were monumental.  But the narrative presents these difficulties succinctly and without judgement.  The story flows as though it were a novel, the various hurdles presented as though they are twists and turns in the plot of a mystery story.  This book was originally written in French, and the translation has carefully preserved the Frenchness of the original narrative voice.  An enlightening and enjoyable read that I can thoroughly recommend.

As for the artworks?  Are they traced and restored to the family?  That would be telling, and you should read the book to find out.  What I will tell you is that Jules died in 1943 at the age of 81, and the family survived the war.

If you enjoyed this review you might also enjoy my thoughts on Cursed Bread, Clouds Over Paris, The Light of Days or Paris Echo

I'm Off My Beaten Track in Abydos ...

 ... today.  This part of my Egypt Journal picks up from where I left off in September last year and a more recent post from May.  You can read those earlier posts Here and Here if you want to remind yourself ...

ART, OSIRIS AND CAMELS

With barely three hours of sleep for the crew, we were already moored at Abydos when I come down to breakfast.  We are still not a full complement, but numbers are on the way up, and the boat has recovered from its temporary 'illness'.  The temple of Seti I and a ride in a taxi are today's treats.

The ship was tied up at the side of the lock and a short walk on gangplanks to where our transport was waiting.  It was five of us in each taxi.  All the drivers had been asked not to drive like demons, we were told.  Despite the warning, the journey was an experience never to be forgotten.  If the windows were left open to let in the air they also let in all the dust and dirt.  If they were closed, each one of us steadily cooked.  The driver may have been told not to drive like a demon, but no one had given him the OED definition of the word.  He was driving here, there and everywhere.  He had no regard for white lines, what few of them there were, other road users, or pedestrians.  He had developed to a fine art the process of changing gear with as little use of the clutch as possible and was a master at finding and hitting every single pothole and bump.  The highlight of the journey was when our driver threw caution to the wind and proceeded down the wrong side of the road for a good mile or so.  I concluded that if you were not on the ship's sick list before getting in the car, you certainly would be when, and if, you ever got back!

 We were 'checked in' to the village of Kerba by the local police, and we parked up in front of the temple.  It was not quite what I had expected.  The desert stretched out behind, and the monument was flanked by a disarray of mud houses with a high rocky ridge in the distance.  To the right was a newly built concrete and brick mosque still awaiting completion, painting and final decoration.  And there in front of us, amidst all this paraphernalia of modernity, was a magnificent edifice predating our own calendar.  The tops of the external pillars were restored, and it was quite obvious how this had been done.  No attempt had been made to recreate the splendour of the originals.  Each column was highly decorated, although the colour had faded with time and the sun.
Abydos was one of the most sacred sites to the ancients and was a place of pilgrimage.  The temple was built during the existence of the new kingdom, between 1500 and 1100 BC approximately.  The Pharoah Seti I had the temple built, and there are scenes inside depicting him laying out the foundations.  Seti caused a change in the style of art, and in this temple, the gods are seen to display human expressions and emotions.
The artwork inside the temple was stunning.  Once my eyes had adjusted to the meagre light, it was as though I had stepped into a kaleidoscope.  Vast walls were completely covered in plasterwork of red, blue and green, brown, white and rose, black for effect, light blue and yellow.  Each of the rooms in the temple told a part of the legend of the god and goddess, Osiris and Isis.
The story goes that Osiris was a good and just king, but his brother Seti was jealous of his success and popularity and conspired against him.  At a banquet, Seti tricked his brother into entering a large chest, and then the chest was closed and cast into the Nile.  Isis was brokenhearted, and she set out to search for her husband.  With the help of the goddess of protection, Nepthys, she found the body of her husband in the Nile Delta.  Isis carefully hid the body, but this was not enough.  Jealous Seti discovered it and cut it into fourteen pieces, and scattered them far and wide.  Isis again set out to search for the remains of Osiris.  Having found the pieces of his body, she enlisted the help of the jackal god, Anubis.  Whilst Anubis prepared the remains for burial, Osiris was revived sufficiently to give Isis his seed, and she subsequently bore a son, Horus.  Isis raised her son in the marshes of the delta until he was old enough to avenge his father's death.  Horus found his uncle Seti and killed him, and then raised his father from the dead.  However, Osiris could no longer reign on earth and became the king of the underworld.  Horus then reigned over Egypt in the name of his father.  The legend is beautifully retold in the reliefs of the temple.

Restored reliefs at the entrance to the temple

On one wall, Osiris is pictured, standing tall and proud, wearing the double crown of Egypt.  I noticed a shaft of sunlight playing on the scene in front of me.  As visitors to the temple moved about so they disturbed the dust and the air.  In turn, the shaft of light flickered, and Osiris appeared to stride across the temple wall.  I stood there for some minutes, mesmerised.

All four rooms were almost completely intact.  The paintwork looked as fresh and as clean as it would have done 3000 years ago.  I found myself looking around for the artist - it seemed to me he must have just finished his work.

The wonder was that the eyes of a dead civilisation had read and understood the story on these walls. 

There are times when I think that we modern humans have lost the ability to see.  We have microchips, computers and photoelectric cells, and we seem to live from one tangible reminder to another rather than enjoying what we see and carrying the memory with us. 

My fellow travellers were solely concerned with their shots and their videos.  I was in awe of the talents of ancient people and the illusion of Osiris striding across the wall.  There are some things you can only witness, and having done so, the memory is all that is needed...

There will be more from my Egypt Journal in the coming weeks.  So, keep watching this space!
 

I'm very pleased to be able to reveal...

 ... the cover for the next book in the Paths series of anthologies.  Read on for more details ...

I hope you have been following the posts on my website and on my pages on Twitter - or is that X now? - Insta and Facebook.  If you have, then you might have worked out that a new book is on its way.  Spring Paths, the third in the series of multi-genre anthologies, is almost ready for publication.  And the gorgeous new cover is on the right.  What do you think?

The two previous books, Authumn Paths and Winter Paths are still available on Amazon, and soon Spring Paths will be joining them.

The author line-up for the new book is slightly different, too.  This time around, we have two new faces, Eden Monroe and Gianetta Murray.  You will fInd out more about these writers in the next few months as I invite each of them onto my blog.

At the moment, all the stories are collated, and the book is being prepped for uploading.  All of which is completely beyond my comprehension.  I'm expecting that I will be able to let you know fairly soon when the book will be available for purchase.  I'll also be able to let you see the blurb at that point, too.

In the meantime, just gaze at the fabulous cover and look out for my next post some time in September.   I will have loads more details then.

Still not read Autumn Paths or Winter Paths yet?  Then check them both out here Here

I’m celebrating the life and work of…

M R James today. Read on…

On this day in 1862, Montague Rhodes James was born into the household of Herbert and Mary James.  He was the youngest of four children and had a sister and two brothers as siblings.  His father was an Anglican clergyman and his mother was the daughter of a naval officer.  His famly lived in Goodnestone, a small village about seven miles south east of Canterbuy at the time he joined the household.  But from an early age Montague spent at lot of his time in Suffolk – but more of that location later.

He grew up to become an author and eminent medievalist scholar.  He was provost at King’s College, Cambridge and Eton College and he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1913.  His work as a medievalist remains highly respected and he produced a significant body of scholarly texts.  It was James’ discovery of a tiny piece of manuscript that led to archeological excavations in the ruins of the abbey at Bury St. Edmunds in 1902 and the discovery of several twelfth century burials that had remained untouched since the dissolution of the monastries.  It was James who translated the latin hagiography of Æthelbehrt II of East Anglia and this book is still referenced and quoted even today.

During his time in academia, James catalogued a great many of the manuscripts held in the various college libraries of Cambridge University.  He also wrote The Apocalypse in Art, translated The New Testament apochrypha, and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Biblica.

Between 1893 and 1908 he held a directorship at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. During those fifteen years he managed to secure numerous valuable manuscripts and paintings, including some portraits by Titian.  He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930 and died in 1936 at the age of 73.  He is buried in Eton.

And what does any of this have to do with Suffolk or me?  I’m afraid my interest in M R James is of a very lowly nature.  He wasn’t only a great scholar.  He was a marvellous ghost story writer, too.  And I have some of his stories on my bookshelves.  I suspect the ghost stories provided him with moments of fantasy and fun inbetween his much more high brow and taxing spells of research and writing.  Well, we all a need to take break from time to time!  But I'm also very much aware that his time in Suffolk must have influenced some of those stories - Whistle and I'll Come to Thee My Lad, and A Warning to the Curious come immediately to my mind.

His short stories were published in a series of collections, the first one, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, was published in 1904.  The second, More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, followed in 1911 and a third book, A Thin Ghost and Others, was published in 1919.  My battered copy is in the pic above.  A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories was released in 1925.  These tales were mostly written for the benefit of friends and, it is said, some were read on Christmas Eve as entertainment.  Perhaps that is what inspired the idea for the dramatisation of M R James' stories for TV at Christmas.  And I never miss those stories.  Ever!

But in true James style, he couldn’t just write good old ghost stories, could he?  He perfected his own style of story-telling which has become known as ‘Jamesian.’  The key elements of which are :

1. a small but characterful setting

2. a gentleman scholar/protagonist with a reserved nature

3. the discovery of an antiquarian object that brings the unwelcome attention of some menace from beyond the grave. 

And if that doesn’t make you want to go out and read his stuff, then I’ve failed in my mission. So, the best I can do is exort you to look out for the dramatisation of an M R James story in a few months time.  December 24th is the usual date for these to appear on our TV screens.  And be prepared to be afraid … very afraid!

If you enjoyed this post you may wish to read about Virginia Woolf  or Rumer Godden