Paris1972-Versailles2003

Well this is one of those towns/places you go thru almost every week at least and little written on it or pictures taken. It is so natural been about 14 km (less 9 mi)  from home; even if one of sons traveled by here to work. Anway, let me update for you and me this older post on Baud and the post cards!!

This is the story of a very small town but dear to me, my neighbor Baud. It is up the alley from me on the road D768 and also the D779 and we have been in it several times. Let me give them credit and show you what they have, it will surprise you.  Here is Baud, many times buying sweets at the bakery in front of the Church St Pierre, where one of my sons took his bus to go to work. Of course, it is in my beautiful Morbihan Dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne. The town is bordered in large part by the Blavet river, and its tributaries the Ével and the Tarun , a bit hilly  going into city center than flat in its center and then up again once going towards the expressway N24.

The Church of Saint Pierre (St Peter) , originally, the chapel that was adjacent to the parish church , destroyed in 1922. In 1927, the reconstruction project of the Church, decided, rather than rebuild it, to adapt a new nave to the northern façade of the nearby Chapel of Clarity or Chapelle de la Clarté, which then loses its initial function to serve as transept. Thus the Choir of the new Church is oriented to the south. It is to this complex history that the chapel owes its present composite aspect and its double tutelary as the Chapel of Our Lady of Clarity becomes Parish Church of St. Peter. The connection of the two buildings creates a breakthrough in the nave of the chapel. The Chapelle Notre Dame de la Clarté was from the 15C renovated in the 16C and 17C.   It now opens in the nave of the parish church since 1927 and houses the statue of Notre-Dame-de-la-Clarté.

St. Peter’s Church restored in the 20C. The false transept of the present Church is the ancient chapel of Notre-Dame de la Clarity which was completed in the south by a choir and, in the north, by a nave. In 1687, the choir was built. In 1793, the nave was extended to the west and a new façade was rebuilt. The beautiful, flamboyant decoration portals of the chapel were re-used. The large square tower of the Chapel, at the northwest corner, was preserved but diminished in height. The old apse, three-sided, topped with pine nuts, whose crawlers are adorned with kale, remains remarkable. Many elements come from the old Notre-Dame-de-la-Clarity Chapel. Some of the old carved pits of the frame, dated 1625, have been preserved: The dated sand pits represent fabulous animals, phylactery angels and musicians.  The organ was built in 1878 brought back in September 1929 and reassembled, it was inaugurated on Sunday of the Rosary, 6 October 1929. After the drought of 1976, it became difficult to play, many faults were heard. It will therefore no longer accompany the offices for 14 years. The organ was inaugurated again fully renovated on 8 June 1991.  The blessing of the present Church took place on March 27, 1927.

The city of Baud on its heritage/history: https://www.mairie-baud.fr/culture-et-patrimoine/histoire-et-patrimoine/histoire-de-baud/

However, for us the best to come here and see is the post cards museum!  The Le Carton Voyageur (formerly, the Cartopole) (see post on new) is a municipal museum dedicated to the postcard, labelled Musée de France since 2017, it presents the most important public Heritage Fund of France in the matter with a collection of more than 120 000 post cards. Illustrating all aspects of daily life in Brittany, France or abroad, the collections cover the 20C and the 21C, with a predilection for the years 1900-1920. It includes a collection of postcards that belonged to the folklorist Bernard de Parades, another of the publisher Hamonic as well as the preparatory drawings of Charles Homualk, given by the latter.

A bit of history I like

In 1995, the Mayor of Baud, Yves Le Roy, a couple of postcards collectors, the Leclère, and the Librarian of the town, James Éveillard,decided to build a Heritage Fund of ancient postcards dedicated to Brittany. Using the regional library acquisition fund, the town gathers a collection of 12 000 postcards dating from the years 1900-1920; and created the Regional Conservatory of the Postcard. In order to make documents accessible to as many people as possible and to develop the tourist attractiveness of the town, a museum was founded the following year, in June 1996: the Cartopole; located on Rue d’Auray (road D768).

The Cartopole integrates, in September 2015, the premises of the Quatro, the new cultural hub of the town. This move brings the Museum to change its name, it becomes the Le Carton Voyageur-Postcard Museum. The property occupies an area of 310 m2 of which 220 m2 of exhibition spaces, in addition to the 20 m2 of reserve in 2017, the museum receives the name Musée de France or Museum of France designation.  The Postcard museum or Le Carton Voyageur ,also accepts donations and made available, to as many individuals as possible. Among the most important, we find the Funds Salaün of the municipal library of Saint-Brieuc (more than 13 600 pc), the Funds of the publisher Hamonic (nearly 6 700 pc) or the postcards of the public library of Brest (more than 1 700 pc).

Since 2003, the website of the Le Carton Voyageur Museum has presented a database called Cartolis, allowing a search by places or keywords, the zoom on maps, the ordering of reproductions, the creation of personal albums, the annotation of maps and the sending of virtual postcards. In 2019, more than 87 000 documents are available on Cartolis which is regularly updated. webpage: https://www.cartolis.org/index.php

Since 2015, the Le Carton Voyageur Museum has a room of 170 m2 for its main exhibition “Brittany double-sided”. It is a very nice interesting museum ,and if you are into postcards as I was it is a must to visit.

The official Le Carton Voyageur museum webpage: https://www.lecartonvoyageur.fr/le-musee-et-ses-collections/

The Morbihan dept 56 Tourist board on the Baud , le Carton Voyageur museum: https://www.morbihan.com/baud/le-carton-voyageur-musee-de-la-carte-postale/tabid/12562/offreid/8f3d05fa-84d5-4025-b342-0a8559bfc473

It is a nice town small peaceful, the real France for me. Great memories of getting the petit cochon pastry in Baud at the Le Fournil Baldivien bakery just across from the Church when picking up my son there from his bus ride.  Hope you enjoy this little town ride into deep Morbihan in land or en terre as we say here at its best.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

And well now getting hotter or closer to home and in my continuing saga of updating older posts for the enjoyment of all. This is Auray a historical town of many countries and wonderful architecture we love. This one for some unknown reason every time by it is closed. Even going out of the Auray train station on my business trips tried to see inside but always closed. It is very meaningful to the folks here. Let me tell you a bit more of the Church Charles de Blois of Auray!

Here I am on a nice cool sunny Sunday afternoon and just did a round of my area again. So much to see and sometimes spaces in between makes you forget what you see lol! Well I like to bring you back to lovely historical Auray (historical from the point of view of France, Canada, and the USA) ,and its wonderful monuments on the off the beaten path routine. The town is basically divided into upper and lower towns and the most popular from a tourist point of view is the lower town and the port of St Goustan. However, in the upper town there are marvels to be seen, a lot more shops and quant architecturally nice buildings. One of them would tell you a bit more now is the Church of Charles de Blois near the train station of Auray!

The Church Charles de Blois  began to be built in 1929, and consecrated in 1939. Built according to a centered plan, the Church consists of a first nave that opens onto a wider square space where the cult takes place. The wrong side is adjacent to the west.   Access to the Church is done in the east. It is a gabled façade adorned with Lombard strips.

It consists of a portal in full hanger topped with a rose, and has to its left a small steeple. The main steeple is to the west of the building, it is a Cornish steeple. The roof of the building is polygonal on its central part and double slope for the remainder. The side walls are pierced with berries. The district of the train station quickly populated at the beginning of the 20C, a Church Charles de Blois became necessary. Léon Chevassu, rector of the parish, decides to built it with private donations. And it is done very nice you can see from the train station of Auray. Located at Place Léon Chevassu.

So who was  Charles de Blois, and a name like that in Brittany!!

Charles of Blois was the son of Marguerite de Valois, sister of the king of France Philip VI, great-granddaughter, therefore, of Saint Louis (Louis IX), who had just been placed on the altars. His father, Guy de Châtillon, Count of Blois, was as good a Christian as a brave Knight. The old chronicles point out that everything was serious, almost severe in his castle. One could have believed in a monastery rather than in the abode of a lord. The right of representation was law in Brittany, Jeanne de Penthièvre, daughter of the elder brother of Jean III, inherited from her uncle by him, Charles of Blois was Duke of Brittany!!! The opposing Jean de Montfort did not wish to submit to this sentence, and the war of succession was declared and lasted for more than twenty years!

The death in combat at the Battle of Auray of Charles de Blois ended it. He is buried at the Church Notre Dame de Grâces near Guingamp. On December 14, 1904, Pope Pius X solemnly recognized that the cult of blessed Charles of Blois had been maintained throughout the centuries. He was beatified then. To commemorate this battle, a high cross was erected on a rounded pedestal bearing the inscription “in memory of the battle of Jean de Montfort and Charles de Blois in 1364”. This was done in 1842. Carrefour des 5 chemins, lieu-dit Toulbahadeu, Brech.

The parishes of the Auray country has a writing on the 700 years of his birth in French: https://paroisses-pays-auray.fr/annee-jubilaire-bienheureux-charles-de-blois/

The city of Auray and its heritage: https://auray.fr/Culture-Loisirs/Archives-et-Patrimoine/Le-patrimoine-d-Auray

There you go folks, so if passing by train, it is easy couple minutes walk to the Church and why not include it and day visit to lovely Auray lower and upper town! Enjoy the Church Charles de Blois that almost tilded the history as he favored the union with France meaning Brittany could  have been early in the kingdom and no story for Anne ! Maybe why there is not much written on this Church and not on the online tourist office!!! My information comes from outside panels, brochures and Breton religious sites. Call ahead the tourist office to see inside will be my next move.

And remember, happy travels, good healh, and many cheers to all!!!

And let’s go to the tip of Finistére dept 29 in my lovely Bretagne! The wonders of nature with a nice historical monument in Camaret sur Mer. Let me update this older post for you and me, and hope you enjoy it as I do.

This is the sea at its best and traditions that still holds strong. I ,again, written bits of pieces on it before in my blog but feels deserves more. Therefore, here is my take on the Chapelle Notre Dame de Rocamadour in pretty Camaret sur Mer.  The Notre-Dame-de-Rocamadour Chapel is located near the Vauban Tower, on the Sillon.

A bit of history I like

The first Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Rocamadour was built in 1183. The oldest part of the present Chapel dates from 1527. Rocamadour means the rock in the middle of the waters. The Chapel, like the Vauban Tower, is located on a rock connected to the Esplanade Jim Sévellec by the “Sillon.  In particular, even difficult to pinpoints its beginnings ,it is mentioned of a Notre Dame of Rocamadour in a brief of Pope Gregory XI, dated 1372 and granting indulgences to the faithful who would contribute to the reconstruction of the monument. Which suggests that before there would have been a chapel. It seems, however, that the construction can be dated, given the inscription on the west gable in abbreviation of use at the time: “the year 1527 was founded the Chapel of Notre-Dame du ROC”.  The steeple was beheaded during the battle of Trez-Rouz  in 1694, by an Anglo-Dutch canonball. A legend tells us that Notre-Dame-de-Rocamadour took revenge by returning the canonball to the guilty ship, which sank it was probably for this reason that it was never rebuilt. The arms of the Lords of Crozon, successors of the Rohan and represented by the Goulaine family, remained intact despite the decrees of the Convention(tribunal of the French revolution), ordering to stripped them. They are still  visible below the clocheton.

The present Chapel of Notre Dame de Rocamadour was built in a Breton Renaissance style from 1610 to 1683, when an arc of discharge was added that isolates the choir and the sacristy.

Inside, all the antique furniture disappeared during the fire of 1910. The chapel was rebuilt in 1911. In the past, the roof was held by beams of the 16C, adorned with dragon heads in wood. The pulpit is from 1914-1915. The statue of the Virgin is modern. The Cross in front of the pulpit is the former cross of the cemetery. Today, you can see ex-votos hanging in the nave. Likewise, a set of old photographs representing the forgiveness and life of Camaret in the early 20C. The Baroque-style high altar is that of the old church of St. Rémi. The Notre Dame pardon of Rocamadour takes place on the first Sunday of September.

A bit on the meaning of this Virgin.  Our Lady of Rocamadour (Notre Dame de Rocamadour)  is a black Virgin, with her eyes closed and with the child Jesus sitting on her left knee. It is a Virgin maiestas Mariae, with hieratic expression and like absent. The Mother and the Son seem crowned. The Virgin of Rocamadour is linked to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela,(the Way of St James in Spain)  which contributed to her devotion in Spain and Portugal, where she is known as Nuestra Senora de Rocamador. On the Breton coast she is revered as the patron Saint of sailors and fishermen.

A nice place to visit all around the Chapel worth the detour into the peninsula of Crozon to reach pretty Camaret sur Mer. Some webpages to help you plan your trip here are:

The city of Camaret sur Mer on things to see/history: https://www.camaret-sur-mer.fr/fr/decouvrir-camaret

The Crozon peninsula tourist office on Camaret sur Mer heritage: https://www.crozon-tourisme.bzh/decouvrir/actualites/camaret-un-quartier-des-artistes-au-bord-des-quais-4725

The private Crozon-Bretagne webpage on the chapel: https://www.crozon-bretagne.com/tourisme/decouverte/camaret/chapelle-notre-dame-de-rocamadour.php

The private presqu’Ïle de Crozon on the  Chapel: https://www.presqu-ile-de-crozon.com/camaret-sur-mer/chapelle-de-rocamadour-001.php

Hope you enjoy the sights of pretty Camaret sur Mer, worth a detour to this off the beaten path of the Finistére, Bretagne, France!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!