Plymouth, England - September 11, 2010

Plymouth, probably best known as the departure point for the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620, is a city on the coast of the county of Devon, about 190 miles south-west of London. It is located between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they flow into Plymouth Sound.
Plymouth's history goes back to the Bronze Age and it became a trading post for the Roman Empire a couple of thousand years ago. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Sudtone, Saxon for south farm, and in 1254 it was awarded the status of a town. It wasn't until October 1928 it was granted status as a city.
During the 16th century locally produced wool was the major export commodity and Plymouth became the home port for successful maritime traders, including Sir Francis Drake as well as Sir John Hawkins, who led England's first foray into the Atlantic slave trade.
Construction of the Royal Citadel began in 1665, after the Restoration; it was armed with cannon facing both out to sea and into the town. Throughout the Industrial Revolution Plymouth grew as a major shipping port, handling imports and passengers from the Americas.
During World War I, Plymouth was the port of entry for troops from around the Empire and also grew as a manufacturer of munitions. It was also an important embarkation point for US troops for D-Day in WWII. The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe, in a series of 59 raids known as the Plymouth Blitz.
Today the city is home to around 250,000 people, making it the 16th most populous city in England.  Plymouth has ferry links to France and Spain and an airport with European services. Check out more pictures here.

Whittington, Shropshire, England

The village of  Whittington had a population of 2,600 or so in 2011 and the area appears to have been inhabited since prehistoric times. We last visited there in September, 2009 and passed the night in a grody campground. 
Some remaining structures are worth a quick look here.

September 6, 2009 - Back to the Sixties...

Roydon, a village in the Epping Forest district of Essex county and lying along the River Stort, was selected as our next stopover for a couple of reasons. First, it has a close by railroad with frequent trains to and from London, and second, it is only a few miles from where we lived for six years in the sixties - more nostalgia on the way!
Roydon is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 CE as Ruindune while Saint Peters, the village church, dates from the middle ages. For such a small village, Roydon has boasted a cricket team, Roydon C.C., since 1839 and a soccer team, Roydon F.C., since 1901. The campsite, in Roydon Mill Leisure Park, had actually been closed prematurely for the season due to some badly behaved hooligan campers the previous weekend. Fortunately, the management honored our booking and it served as a great base for cycles rides around our old haunts as well as a launch pad for London.
Stanstead Abbotts, a much larger village of nearly 2000 souls, is only four or five miles from Roydon and was the closest community to where we had lived in the sixties. Recorded in the Domesday Book as Stanstede with the Abbotts tag being added in the 13th century after the property passed to the abbot of nearby Waltham Holy Cross. The Greenwich Meridian (longitude 0°) passes through the village and is marked by Meridian obelisks that were planted in 1984. The River Lee flows alongside the village on its way south to the east side of London. There are two churches and several pubs in the village. One pub, the Red Lion, was our "local" when we lived there and was a monastery when it was built in 1538.
Across the river Lee from Stanstead Abbotts is St Margarets - more precisely Stanstead St Margarets - another village, this one about 1300 people. There is a train station at St Margarets providing fast service to London and both of these villages have morphed into commuter communities over the last generation or so. Our home here was less than a mile from the station.
The closest large town (20,000 population) that provided shopping, library, banking etc., was Hoddesdon, a couple of miles to the south. This town developed as a coaching stop between Cambridge and London and, during the 18th century, as many as 35 coaches a day passed through. Hoddesdon is also mentioned in the Domesday Book and received a market charter in 1253. After WWII, Hoddesdon had also slowly transformed into a dormitory town for London commuters.
A large portion of the old town center was razed between 1965 an 1975 to be replaced by unsightly high-rise apartments with seedy ground floor retail spaces that have suffered extreme business turnover and attracted much graffiti. A profound disaster.
In 1974 a bypass was opened around the core of the town and much of the main street was pedestrianized. Parking remains difficult. What is left of the old town center is belatedly a conservation area with a few historic buildings scattered along the main street. The Clock Tower, a brick structure built in 1835 is built on the site of the Chapel of St Katherine which had been erected in 1336.
During the six years that we lived in the area we had never thought to explore Rye House, an historic oddity just a short distance off our beaten track. This omission was corrected during this visit and we discovered a fine pub along with one of the earliest brick structures known in England. We also learned of the infamous Rye House Plot to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother, James, Duke of York in 1682. Later, we visited Great Amwell and Little Amwell, a mile or so north of St Margarets. Here there is a church, St John the Baptist, and a pleasant pub named George IV. For more glimpses of these English backwaters, click here.

Barcelona, Spain

The ship left Cannes on Thursday evening and set sail for Barcelona, Spain. During the night, there were 8o knot winds and seas officially classified as "Rough". Our room was midships ("near the middle" for landlubbers) and remained fairly comfortable. Passengers close to the pointed end or those near the rear of the ship did not fare so well and had developed highly exaggerated tales of derring-do by breakfast the following day.


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December 8th was the following day. Unbeknownst to us latter-day pagans, this is the day for the celebration of the Immaculate Conception - a big deal in Spain and other western European countries. Building on my unchallenged ignorance and using powerful computational skills, it soon became apparent that there was nowhere near nine months between December 8th and December 25th - just 17 days in fact, so what gives? Turns out that the Immaculate Conception is nothing to do with the conception or the birth of Jesus but refers instead to the conception of Mary by her parents, Saints Joachim and Anne. This leads right away to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feast Day on September 8th. Another long cherished misconception dashed!

But what about Christmas Day? Just another gap in our education and another feast we have missed all these years - The Incarnation of Christ, also known as Annunciation Day, is March 25th, the day the magic deed occurred and, as fate would have it, exactly nine months before Christmas! So it all came out OK in the end.

Back to Barcelona. It was thronging with people enjoying the festival, the weather was excellent and there was a lot to see. We spent our time in the Gothic Quarter, the old town area comprising mainly medieval and some Roman buildings lining the narrow streets and numerous squares. Generally a great day.

Joigny, France - visited July 15, 2012

Joigny, in the Yonne department of the Burgundy region, is on the banks of the Yonne River and is overlooked by the Chateau des Gondi. The surrounding countryside is considered scenic, so much so, that in 1802 the English painter J M W Turner stopped by for a while and recorded some sketches.
There are several churches and chapels in the town including the church of Saint Jean and the 16th century Gothic style Church of Saint-Thibault. Fragments of the medieval ramparts that once protected the town are extant and include one of the original arched stone doorways through the early castle walls at the Porte Saint Jean. Another imposing gateway at the north of the town called the Porte du Bois is also in good repair. The town was largely rebuilt in the 16th century after much of it was destroyed by fire.
Against expectations, the area around Joigny is renowned for its cider rather than wine and the nearby valleys are populated predominately with apple orchards, not vineyards. Joigny has a market each Wednesday and Saturday. Additional pictures here.

Charny, France - visited July 14, 2012

A quick overnight stop in Charny, a tiny commune in the Yonne department of Burgundy just 20 miles east of Montargis, provided a welcome break. While there is not much to this 1700 population town, reflecting on its turbulent and violent history one might conclude it has done well to survive at all.
Charny, known at the time as Caarnetum, first appears on a deed dated 1130 CE. Two hundred years later, with its population at around 2,000, the city appears to have been at its zenith. There was a quarantine facility for lepers, a new defensive wall had been built and, in 1309, King Philippe le Bel stopped by to meet and greet. C'est magnifique! 
In 1358 the town managed to stave off an attack by Sir Robert Knolles, an English knight, during his failed invasion of France. By the 15th century however, Charny's good fortune came to a complete stop. Between 1426 and 1443 (toward the end of the Hundred Years War) the town changed hands six times, bouncing back and forth between the Bourguignons and the Armagnacs. By the end of the war, in 1453, the town was wholly destroyed and was completely abandoned for about 50 years.
Following its eventual resuscitation another misfortune struck in 1706 when a fire razed everything to the ground except a barn and a few houses. Today, Charny continues as the head town of its canton, a distinction held since 1802, and has absorbed the village of “la Mothe aux Aulnaies” along the way.
In summary, another stagnant township of rural France just 75 miles from Paris. A few more pictures here.

Montargis, France - visited July 13, 2012

Montargis, with a population of 15,000, is the second largest town in the Loiret department after Orléans and is about 68 miles south of Paris. With numerous canals and bridges, it sometimes bills itself as the "Venice of the Gâtinais", Gâtinais being a former province of France prior to being absorbed into the Loiret department.
The town is known from ancient times and numerous Gallo-Roman artifacts have been found in the area, many of which are in the town's Gâtinais Museum. Later, the town became a stronghold of the Frankish king Clovis 1st before falling into the hands of the house of Courtenay, who fortified a château on a hill overlooking the town. The town was ceded to the king of France in 1188 and became a royal residence in the 14th and 15th centuries.
In 1427, during the Hundred Years' War, the Earl of Warwick besieged the town, beginning a bombardment on July 15 of that year. On September 5, a French force of 1600 men broke the siege, led by Jean de Dunois and La Hire, commanders who would go on to lead the army of Joan of Arc.
After the 100 Years War, Charles VII rewarded the town for its valor by granting it various privileges and, in 1490, Charles VIII officially declared Montargis Le Franc - tax-free. The acronym, MLF, appears in the official coat of arms and the town remained free of taxes for three centuries, until the French Revolution.
In the time of Louis XIII a local shop that is still in existence first produced what became known as praline, the crunchy candy made from almonds in cooked sugar. Less romantic is the rubber factory, built in the 1880s, in the Châlette district that today employs 2000 workers in the production of tires and parts for vehicles and appliances.
More pictures of this workaday town here.

Henrichemont, France - date visited July 12, 2012

Trundling north along the D12 on an overcast morning, we passed under an arch and emerged into the heart of the tiny town of Henrichemont, population 1800. Such a contrast to the usual string of houses along the roadside that form the typical small French community, this one was rigorously laid out around a grand central square. There had to be a reason...
Boisbelle, as the area had formerly been known, had been an allōd under Roman law, a sovereign freehold with none of the constraints of feudal tenure but one wherein the owner had the rights of a ruler and governed the territory in complete independence. Thus, the inhabitants of Boisbelle were free from any taxes or services and could not be conscripted into the armed forces. They were, however, subject to the requirements of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1605, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, a Protestant and a friend of King Henri IV for more than  30 years, bought Boisbelle from the Duke of Nevers. The French Treasury challenged the tax-exempt position of Boisbelle so Sully obtained letters patent from Henri IV in 1606 confirming its status and the immunity of its inhabitants. The dispute continued until 1608 when Henri IV issued further letters declaring the people of Boisbelle free of all tax in perpetuity. Apparently secure, Sully decided to build a new capital, Henrichemont, in honor of the king and the first stone was laid in April 1609.
Then, tragedy! On 14 May 1610, Henri IV was assassinated, Sully lost his friend and protector, his offices and his income. Construction slowed, contractors fell into dispute and lawsuits abounded. In 1624, Sully was ordered by the court to pay the contractors and in 1636 the owners of the few private houses that had been built, all sold at a loss. Ultimately, on 24 September 1766, the 7th Duke of Sully and last independent Prince, ceded the principality to the Crown. It was integrated into France and the inhabitants lost all their privileges. Too bad! Still, it was a nice coffee break and served to confirm that its not what you know but who you know, at least until they are assassinated - see pictures here.

Bourges, France - visited July 11, 2012

Bourges, a city with a population of around 70,000, is in Centre region on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the Cher department. A great walkabout city - off the beaten track, lots of locals and no intense crowds.
Following the siege of Avaricum, the commune name in Roman times, Julius Caesar's forces destroyed the city and killed all but 800 of its inhabitants in 52 BCE. A Christian center had developed on this site by the 3rd century when Saint Ursin is believed to have been the first bishop of the city of Bourges. In the 4th century a defensive stone wall, strengthened by some 50 towers and pierced by four gateways, was built and some vestiges of this can be seen along the Promenade des Remparts and at the foot of Jacques Coeur's Palace. The city, which has a walled market that opens once a week, actually served briefly as the capital of France during the "Hundred Years War".
The Gothic Cathedral of Saint Etienne, begun at the end of the twelfth century, is listed as a World Heritage Site and is second only to Paris' Nôtre-Dame cathedral in size. It contains some of France's best stained-glass windows representing Christ at the Last Judgement and the Apocalypse among others. The structure is essentially as it was when it was completed in the late 13th century, although many elements have been replaced over the centuries.
By 1487, Bourges boasted 15,000 inhabitants despite outbreaks of plague and general paucity but, in that year, a disasterous fire consumed more than a third of the city and precipitated a rapid decline. In 1562 the War of Religion reached Bourges with much pillaging by the Protestants leading to the flight of many of its bourgeois and intellectual elite. The Revolution further diminished the city's allure and it wasn't until 1851 when the railroad station was built that redevelopment began.
In 1860 Bourges was selected as the armament manufacturing center for France and by 1866 the population had doubled to 30,000 and peaked at 100,000 briefly during WWI. Since WWII, most housing expansion has been in the form of apartment blocks north of the city, leaving the old town fairly intact. Lots of things to see here.
And, as a total bonus, when we left town to get back to the canp ground, we stumbled across a French Carnival. See the Midway delights here!

St. Pourçain sur Sioule, France - visited July 9, 2012

Still in the Auvergne region, we headed north and shortly descended from the Massif Central, skirted Clermont Ferrand and eventually came to St. Pourçain sur Sioule.
In the Allier department of the Auvergne region, St. Pourçain sur Sioule sits along the river Sioule and is home to around 5,000 inhabitants. The city lies at the crossroads of the north-south Clermont-Ferrand to Paris road and the east-west Lyon to Limoges highway.
It is probable that a swineherd called Porcianus or Purcianus, sometime in the 5th century CE, was elevated to abbot of a monastery that was built on the hill overlooking the river Sioule. In the 14th century the village was fortified into a walled city. Around this time the it was known as St. Pourçain Arbors from the grapevines grown on trellises or arbors. Following the Revolution it was renamed Mont-sur-Sioule but after the revolutionary fervor died down it became known as St. Pourçain sur Sioule early in the 19th century.
The municipal campground, contained in a park on an island in the Sioule, is very comfortable and enjoys a lot of family friendly activities. See here for more pictures of this city.

Saint Flour, France - visited July 6, 2012

Nestled between two volcanic mountain regions in the Massif Central of the Haute Auvergne region, Saint Flour offers an insight into rural medieval France amid the grandeur of a volcanic landscape. The medieval town of 6,500 or so is on the top of the Auvergne's highest volcanic outcrops and is in the Cantal department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. The upper city is located on a volcanic dike, the lower city extends to the banks of the river Ander. There are a number of megalithic graves in the area known as dolmens that probably originated in the bronze age and there is ample evidence to confirm Roman occupation.
During the French Revolution Saint Flour took several successive names. De-Christianized first as Fort-Cantal then Fort-Libre then Mont-Flour before readopting its original name in 1793. The territory of the commune was never changed. Briefly, between 1790 and 1795 it served as the préfecture of the newly-created département, before Aurillac succeeded to that position. The population at the time was around 5,300, about 1200 less than today.
Proclaimed as religious capital of Haute-Auvergne in 1317, Saint-Flour didn't have its own cathedral until the following century. Built in the 15th century, on the ruins of the priory founded by Saint Odilo of Cluny, Abbot of Cluny, in the 11th century, the cathedral offers an foreboding exterior facade and a black Christ inside. More pictures here.

Mende, France - visited July 4, 2012

Mende (pronounced "Monder"), is the capital of the Lozère department in the mountainous area of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It is a small city of population about 12,000 and is dominated by an enormous 14th century Gothic cathedral. The basilica style cathedral is dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint-Privat and was built by Pope Urbain V who was born in the area. Although originally in the Gothic style, a radical makeover was undertaken in the first half of the seventeenth century. Mende is at the doorstep of the Cevennes National Forest close to the Gorges du Tarn, a massive 25-mile canyon.
The are records mentioning Mende dating back to the 3rd century although it wasn't until the Middle Ages that the city really began to thrive. Mende suffered during the Wars of Religion and also from visitations from the plague before finally settling to become the department capital while retaining a small-town feel. A few additional pictures are here.

Florac, France, visited July 3, 2012

Florac, in south central France, is in the Lozère department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It is a small town with a population of approximately 2,000 people.
Raymond of Anduze once held the barony of Florac and is recorded as using the castle there in the 13th Century. Later, in 1363, local born Pope Urbain V lent the town 300 florins for the construction of ramparts, defenses that were not unusual and offered desirable security and protection for the townspeople. These defenses remained in place until 1629 after the Treaty of Ales which insisted on the razing of fortifications as perceived "strongholds".
The Château passed through a number of feudal families before being entirely rebuilt in 1652 after the Wars of Religion.
During the French Revolution, it was turned into a "salt loft" and later was used as a prison in the 19th century. In the late 19th century, a then young Robert Louis Stevenson visited the area and featured the town in a chapter of his wry Victorian bestseller Travels through the Cevennes with a Donkey, published in 1879.
Since 1976, the castle has been the headquarters of the Cévennes National Park, who restored it and installed a permanent exhibition on the National Park.
Florac's Medieval Catholic Church was destroyed in 1561, during the Wars of Religion, and the first Protestant church was razed following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. In a rush to recapture the religious revenue stream after the revolution, two new churches were erected on the old sites - a Protestant church in 1832 followed by the Catholic Saint Martin's a year later. More pictures of this interesting town are here.

Saint Pierre d'Albigny, France - June 25, 2012

Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny, a small rural town of 3700 souls is in the Savoie department of the Rhône-Alpes region. It is 290 miles from Paris and about 420 miles from Calais. A market is held in the town each Wednesday morning.
This fairly featureless farming town still supports an Office de Tourisme, a Mairie, a rundown hotel and the obligatory church. Certainly not a place to go out of one's way for but there is a reasonable campsite down by the river with a substantial grocery store nearby. See here for a few pictures.

Annecy, France - June 23, 2012

Modern Annecy is an agglomeration of 13 small municipalities producing a total population of more than 50,000. It is the capital of the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhone-Alpes region of France and is located on the northern shore of lake Annecy.
The lake is about 9 miles long and 1/2 to 2 miles across and is fed by the river Thiou that runs through the city. The Thiou, at about 2 miles in length, is one of the shortest rivers in France. The area in the vicinity of Annecy has been occupied since at least 3,100 BCE and was home to an industrious community up through the collapse of the Roman Empire, after which the population declined precipitously.
A mild resurgence occurred in the 12th century which supported the construction of the medieval fortifications but, it wasn't until the late seventeenth century, that the city really began to prosper again. This latter comeback was fueled by the industrial revolution and enabled by the hydraulic power of the river.
In 1860, after the annexation of Savoy to France, Annecy became the capital of the new department of Haute Savoie. Annecy is host to several annual and bi-annual film festivals and, for the casual explorer, offers something for everyone.
More pictures are here.

Lons le Saunier, France - June 21, 2012

Leaving the Alsace region, we headed south into the Franche-Comté region and visited Lons le Saunier in the Jura department. In one travel guide Lons le Saunier is decribed as the sort of place you would stop by for a coffee if you were really thirsty. It is actually an old Roman salt city nowadays known as a spa city where visitors can sample the therapeutic effects of the salt water. In the heart of the Jura vineyards, Lons le Saunier is a picturesque and historic city. For our purposes, it was on the route we were following and had an adequate campsite nearby for a couple of nights R&R. We did make an incursion into town and confirmed the guide book's assessment.
Lons le Saunier is a sprawling, ill-defined town, home to about 19,000 people and seems to be struggling to develop an identity. The Place de la Liberté with its theater and Grand Cafe are the focal point of cultural and social activities. Geographically, the town is at the foot of the Jura massif and, although the River Vallière runs through it, the river has been enclosed since the 1960s due to contamination. Just one small section remains open where it is crossed by the Pont de la Guiche, the solitary bridge. See here for a few more images.

Breisach am Rhein, Germany - June 17, 2012

Breisach am Rhein, a town of approximately 16,500, is on the right bank of the river Rhine in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Germany. Before 1820 the hill on which Breisach stands became an island during flood season. Johann Gottfried Tulla, a German engineer, put a stop to this when he straightened the river - actually reducing the river's length between Basle and Worms from 220 miles to 170 miles - in the space of a few years. Navigation and flooding problems were greatly alleviated along the upper reaches of the Rhine although the middle and lower Rhine suffered serious flooding thereafter. So much for unintended consequences.
The Breisach cathedral - Saint Stephansmünster - was begun in the early 13th century and, by the early 16th century, the town had become a significant stronghold of the Holy Roman Empire. In December 1638, Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, aided and abetted by the French, conquered the city and attempted to establish a new territory. Bernhard died the following year and the town somehow slipped into French hands. Hmm.
The ownership changed several times more over the next 150 years finally ending up a part of Germany and the general instability of the area moved France to build its own fortress, Neuf-Brisach, on the left bank of the river. During WWII, 85% of Breisach was destroyed by Allied artillery as the Allies crossed the Rhine and Saint Stephansmünster was also heavily damaged. See more views around town here.

Neuf Brisach, France - June 16, 2012

Still in the Haut-Rhin department of the Alsace we stopped at an odd little town called Neuf Brisach, population 2,200 or so, its name taken from the town of Breisach just three miles away across the Rhine in Germany. After Breisach was lost to the Habsburgs in 1697, this fortified town was built by the French to guard the border. Louis XIV had his vaunted military engineer Vauban design the project and work started in 1698.
This turned out to be Vauban's last work - he died in 1707 and construction was actually completed by Louis de Cormontaigne. The layout represented the then current "ideal city" with a regular square grid street pattern inside an octagonal fortification.

A 4 block by 4 block area was set aside at the center for the central square. Elsewhere, individual blocks were offered for private development for expensive houses in private gardens or as properties for commercial rent. Simpler housing was provided in long tenement blocks, built inside each curtain wall, which also had the effect of shielding the better houses from the risk of cannon fire. Access was provided by large gateways in the four principal curtain walls.
The outer earthworks were deep and occupied a greater area than the city itself. Although the city suffered some damage in WWII, it still represents a very clear example of the latest in fortification work at the beginning of the eighteenth century and Neuf-Brisach was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Fortified or not, this "new" town has changed hands five times in the 300 years or so of its existence. More images here.

Eguisheim, France, June 15, 2012

Eguisheim is a tiny fairy tale town in the Haut-Rhin department of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. The Romans conquered the area, pushing out the Gaul tribe and, during their tenure, the Romans introduced the cultivation of wine. Numerous high quality wines are produced there to this day.
In the early Middle Ages, the Dukes of Alsace built a castle (11th century) around which the current settlement developed. The village is on the Alsace "Wine Route" and is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France"), both of which draw many visitors each year.
The name of the city comes from "home of Egino or Egeno," the Count of Eguisheim and the first official mention of the city dates back to 720. At the center of Eguisheim, which was fortified in 1257, are the remains of the castle that was constructed in the 13th century by the Count Eberhard.
If you ever get to this region of eastern France, do take a while and checkout this treasure. More pictures here.

Bergheim, France - June 14, 2012

Bergheim is a little town of 1800 souls in the Haut-Rhin department of the Alsace which, since the beginning of the 11th century, has been pretty much confined within a 330 yard by 550 yard walled area. The fortified walls comprise a double rampart, originally separated by a moat (now filled in and converted to gardens) and serviced via four gates. There were nine flanking towers all of which are still visible. Three of the four gates were demolished in the 19th century to make more room for carts.
Over the centuries, Bergheim has undergone several name changes since it was first built on a former Roman camp. In 465 CE it was known as Berchem, morphing to Bercheim in 1302, then Berckheim in 1510, Bercken in 1576 to eventually become Bergheim.
Ownership changes were even more frequent. In the 7th century Hagio donated the settlement to the Moyenmoutier Abbey in Lorraine. Later, Otto I gave the town to Hermann, Duke of Alsace. The Moyenmoutier Abbey regained possession in 964 aided by Gerhard, the bishop of Toul, until Duke Hermann seized it back in 978.

Under Emperor Henry II, Bergheim became the property of the bishops of Toul and, in 1132, this was confirmed by no one less than Pope Innocent II himself. In 1225, bishop Otto conferred all rights of Bergheim to Mathias, Duke of Lorraine and, in 1246, Mathias gave Bergheim to Philip Gilbeviller. On his death it passed to Hugh, Earl of Lützelstein.
By 1287, Bergheim had come into the hands of Rappolstein before falling to Albert I, King of the Romans in 1301. A few years later, Henri de Ribeaupierre gained control, surrounded the town with the fortifications (better late than never I suppose) and offered it to the Emperor Henry VII who gratefully received it in 1312.
Bergheim was finally elevated to a free city under the tutelage of Henri de Ribeaupierre . and in 1313 received the privilege to mint money and the right of levying of customs. Thirteen ownership changes in the space of 700 years - what confusion!
More pictures of this tidily organized town are here.

Thanksgiving 2012 - New Members Welcome ;o)

Today is Thanksgiving. We have fun on Thanksgiving. Here we are having fun.
Since last November, two additions have been made to the tribe, further outcome of a frighteningly fecund gene pool. The newbies appeared in the form of great grandchildren, each one the product of a different grandchild with of course, assistance from appropriate mates.
Amber, daughter of Martine, daughter of we dorks dropped Charlie back in May and Traci, wife of Matthew, son of Martine, still daughter of we dorks produced Alivia just a couple of weeks ago.
Click here for see more pictures including the new anklebiters.

Riquewihr, France - June 13, 2012

While we were holed up in Ribeauville we checked out some adjacent villages on the map that were close enough to cycle to and selected several of them to visit. South of where we were there are four villages all ending in wihr, Hunawihr, Riquewihr, Mittelwihr and Bennwihr. Thus, bicycles primed, we set off to see what these tiny towns had to offer.
Riquewihr was where we hit pay dirt. Another one street attraction but a street loaded with everything gawkers like - towers, arches, portes, fairy tale houses, eclectic retail, bustling restaurants and last but not least, thronging tourists! The other hamlets were pleasant enough but were slowing fading communities struggling to cope in a changing world.
On the other hand, Riquewihr had the critical mass and good fortune to have tapped into tourism and seemed to be surviving if not thriving. The town is also known for Riesling and other great wines produced in the village and, having escaped serious damage from WWII, claims to look more or less as it did in the 16th century. A bit of a stretch but still a very enjoyable excursion. More pictures here.

Ribeauville, France - June 10, 2012

Ribeauvillé is in the Haut-Rhin department of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. The picturesque town is located around 10 miles north of Colmar and 47 miles south of Strasbourg. The first known mention of the town was in 768 CE as Rathaldovilare, roughly translated as "Villa of Ratbold" where, in old German "Ratbold" signified "the boldest man of the counsel".
Over time, the town passed from the bishops of Basle to the lord of Rappoltstein the king, or protector, of the wandering minstrels who purchased his protection by payment of a tax.
The Rappoltstein family died out in 1673 and the Pfeiferkonig office (king of the pipers)  passed to the palatine counts of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. The minstrels had a pilgrimage chapel near Rappoltsweiler, dedicated to their patron saint, Maria von Dusenbach, and here they held an annual feast on 8 September. The Counts of Ribeaupierre were the last lords of the town before the Revolution.
Essentially a one street town, Ribeauvillé is still partly surrounded by defensive walls, contains many well maintained medieval houses and two excellent Gothic churches. On the hill to the west of the town stand the ruins of three famous castles, Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut-Ribeaupierre, which formerly belonged to the lords of Ribeaupierre.
Overall, a well managed and nicely presented tourist attraction in which to while away an interesting day or two. More pictures here.

Colmar, France - June 9, 2012

Colmar (Kolmar in German) is the capital of the Haut-Rhin department in the Alsace region of France. It is situated at the foot of the Massif des Vosges and, at 65,000 population is the third largest city in the region. Colmar is the driest city in France with average annual rainfall less than 21", a result of its location at the foot of the highest part of the Vosges. 

Originally an ancient free city of the Holy Roman Empire, Colmar became French in 1648 following the Treaty of Westphalia and, by 1789, boasted about 11,000 inhabitants. After forced annexation to the German Empire in 1871 it became the district capital of the Upper Alsace in the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine and remained so until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that ended WWI. The city then remained French until February 1940 when it was again annexed by the Third Reich in WWII. In February 1945 the city was the last to be liberated from German occupation.

Colmar has many well preserved historical buildings and numerous pedestrian areas making a leisurely walk about especially enjoyable. Outside of tourism, the city has a burgeoning electronic and electro-mechanical components industry along with pharmaceutics production.

Lots more views of this photogenic city are here.

Goxwiller, France - June 8, 2012

After leaving Obernai we had a light driving day to our next port of call which was Colmar. Between the two, there were three small towns all ending in ...willer so we decided to investigate.
First up was Gertwiller. Probably something to see here but  almost every street was torn up (probably for cobbling) raising the expected parking difficulty from exasperating to impossible. We moved on.
Zelwiller was next. Less than a one-horse town, there appeared to be no compelling reason for anyone to stop here even had there been a convenient parking spot. So onto number three - Goxwiller.
First mentioned in 920 CE as Getenesvillare, then as Gokesvilre, Gotesviller and finally as Goxwiller it just about makes a one-horse town but is nicely maintained and we found convenient parking adjacent to the fire station.
With a population near 800 souls the town is known for its viticulture and for traditional artisan trades such as carpentry, clogs, leather tanning and book binding. In recent decades efforts have been made to renovate the village to encourage tourists
A relaxing place to spend an hour or so. More pictures here.

Obernai, France - July 7, 2012

Moving further east through France, we left the Champagne-Ardenne region, enjoyed a serene but spectacular drive over the Vosges mountains as we crossed the Lorraine region before finally entering the Bas-Rihn department of the Alsace region, bordering on Germany. Our target was Obernai, a vibrant city bucking the trend of small French cities in that it is growing and has almost doubled its population to around 12,000 inhabitants over the last forty years.
The area where Obernai developed was the property of the dukes of Alsace in the 7th century and where, legend has it, St. Odile, daughter of the Duke, was born subsequently to become the Patron Saint of Alsace. The name Obernai first appears in 1240, around the time that the village acquired the status of town and began to prosper. It reached its economic peak in the 15th and 16th centuries and in 1562 Emperor Ferdinand I saw fit to visit the town.
Obernai was significant;y damaged, both physically and economically, during the Thirty Years War in the 17th century. It fell under foreign occupation at least twice in this period and, after being ransomed, was ceded to France in 1679. Although its fortunes improved as a result of this it never fully regained its earlier luster. In 1871 the whole of Alsace, including Obernai, was summarily annexed by Germany and was not returned to France until the end of WWI, nearly forty years later.

In much earlier days, Obernai was a double-walled city with defensive ramparts separated by a roadway and both walls were replete with towers and gates. While there still is a "rampart walk" around the town, much of the structure was removed in the 19th century and the facilities put to other uses. Small sections of defensive walls have been retained however.
Obernai is a center of wine and beer production as well as a significant tourist destination second only to Strasbourg in the entire Bas-Rhin department. Just 25 miles from Strasbourg and 15 from the international airport, Obernai is well situated for easy access. For views of this picturesque town on Market Day, click here.

Langres, France - June 4, 2012

Langres, in north-eastern France, is in the Haute-Marne department of the Champagne-Ardenne region. The original settlement occupied a limestone promontory, a natural stronghold in turn occupied by the Celtic tribe known as the Lingones then the Gauls and later fortified by the Romans. The 1st century Triumphal Gate and other artifacts preserved in the museums bear testament to the Gallo-Roman town.
The city's most remarkable feature are 2.4 miles of ramparts that surround the town, including seven fortified towers and seven gateways, all of which has been kept in excellent repair. Parts of the ramparts date back 2000 years, most of the gates and towers stem from the 15th and 16th centuries while the more recent citadel dates from the 19th century.
The turbulent 14th and 15th centuries gave cause for the town to strengthen its fortifications which imbue the old part of the city with its fortified character today. The Renaissance, which returned prosperity to the town, saw the construction of many fine civil, religious and military buildings that today make this town of 8,500 souls a rich piece of French history.
For more pictures of this historical treasure trove, see here for a tour around the wonderfully intact ramparts and check this link out for a look around the town inside the walls.

Châtillon-sur-Seine, France - June 2, 2012

Châtillon-sur-Seine, with a declining population of about 5,500, is an unremarkable city in the Côte-d'Or department of the Bourgogne region. Around 150 miles from Paris, about 2-3/4 hours away by road or 1-3/4 hours by the TGV, Châtillon is favored by its proximity to the A6 motorway. The city is criss-crossed by the upper reaches of the Seine whose source is about 25 miles away.
Early in WWI Châtillon's Marmont Castle was the headquarters of General Joffre who launched the first battle of the Marne from there on September 5, 1914.
At the end of WWII Châtillon was liberated by a joint effort of the 1st Regiment of Marines and the 1st Regiment of Moroccan Spahis on September 12, 1944.
The local economy is predominantly agricultural although there is a small industrial base comprising a metal packaging company and a plywood manufacturer jointly employing a little over 300 people.
There are a number of sights around town, some of which can be seen here.

Auxerre, France - May 31, 2012

Auxerre is the capital of the Yonne department in the Bourgogne region of north-central France. With a population in the order of 45,000 it is a commercial and industrial center, with industries including food production, woodworking and batteries in addition to world-famous Burgundy wines including the renowned Chablis.
In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE the city was a vibrant Gallo-Roman center and by the 3rd century it had become the seat of a bishop and a provincial capital of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century it received a Cathedral and by the late 11th-early 12th century the area was included inside a new line of defensive walls built by the Counts of Auxerre.
The city actually became part of France under King Louis XI but went on to suffer significantly during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. Today, Auxerre maintains a clearly delineated "old town" with all the juice in a compact area on a prominence on the right bank of the river Yonne while modern Auxerre is spread out all around and is relatively bustling.
More images here.

Timber Framed Churches - May 28, 2012

After leaving Chalons we overnighted at a quaint little campsite in Arcis-sur-Aube that was run by Dutch folk. To attest to their Dutchness, there were several little windmills (run by electric motors) scattered around the grounds, some connected by cute little purposeless bridges. What it is to be Dutch!
Our destination from here was Troyes, a whopping 18 miles away, where we had a prearranged lunch appointment for the following day. We felt unhurried.
Somewhere along the way, Marian had picked up a little tourist booklet about the Aube department that we would be driving through, and had noticed a number of half-timbered churches being promoted. We decided, having never seen such an edifice, that we would wander off track and visit a couple of these on our way.
Check out what we found here.

Châlons-en-Champagne - May 27, 2012

Ninety miles due east of Paris is the modest town of Châlons-en-Champagne, population 47,000. Known as Châlons-sur-Marne until it seemingly suffered an identity crisis in 1998, Châlons-en-Champagne is not only the capital of the Marne department but also the entire Champagne-Ardenne region despite being far from the region's largest city.

The city is however, a significant transport hub being located close to the intersection of a major road link connecting Paris and Strasbourg and another joining Lille to Lyon. Châlons is also home to the third ranked international freight airport in France and is further served by the TGV - Train Grande Vitesse or high speed train - connecting it to Paris, Reims and Verdun among others.

Our leisurely walkabout in the genteel decay of Châlons filled a pleasant few hours on a sunny spring Sunday. See here for more pictures. 

Laon, France - May 24, 2012

Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in the Picardy region of northern France. We had visited Laon a few years back on a cold gray day and caught a couple of pictures of the cathedral. This visit was to explore the city in more detail.
Topographically, Picardy is a fairly flat plain with few exceptions. Laon is built on one of these exceptions - a 330 foot flat topped prominence providing a natural command over the surrounding area.
The strategic importance of this was not lost on the Romans and Julius Ceaser fortified the existing Gallic village that existed when he arrived and successfully warded off invasions by the Franks, Burgundians, Vandals, Alans and Huns over the following years. 
Remegius, the archbishop of Reims, was born in Laon and instituted the bishopric of Laon at the end of the fifth century, elevating it to one of the principal towns of the kingdom of the Franks. During the Hundred Years' War Laon was attacked and taken by the Burgundians, who subsequently lost it to the English only to be retaken by the French after the consecration of Charles VII.
Following the Revolution in 1789, Laon permanently lost its rank as a bishopric as religion throughout the country was snuffed out. The city was next caught up in the Napoleonic Wars when, in 1814, Napoleon unsuccessfully laid siege to it. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, the cathedral and the old episcopal palace were damaged before the city surrendered to the Germans in September 9. 
In 1914, during World War I, German forces captured the town again and held it until the Allied offensive in the summer of 1918. The city still contains a number of medieval buildings, some of which are detailed in the pictures here.

Cambrai, France - May 23, 2012

In the late middle ages and early rennaisance, Cambrai was a significant religious center and one of the significant and powerful cities of northern France. It is situated on the Escaut river in the Nord department of the Nord Pas de Calais region and was at one time a walled city with a typical complement of access gates or portes.
In 1543, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor of the time, conquered the city and added it to his already significant possessions. After having Saint Sépulchre, the medieval monastery, demolished he built a citadel in its place.
A century and a quarter later in 1677, with Louis XIV in control of the fortunes of France, he determined to "safeguard the tranquility of his borders for ever" part of which included the re-capture of Cambrai and restoring it to France. Louis supervised the siege personally and the city fell to him in April of that year.
One hundred and twelve years later, in 1789, came the end of the French Royals with the Revolution. The Revolution was not kind to Cambrai. The Comité de Salut Public sent Joseph Le Bon to the city in 1794 to begin the era of "terror" and he sent many citizens to the guillotine. Le Bon himself was tried in 1795 and promptly executed. Most of the religious buildings of the city were demolished following the revolution and the old cathedral, apparently an exquisite building, was sold to a merchant who operated it as a stone quarry. By 1809 everything was gone except the main tower which collapsed in a storm during that year.
More recently, Cambrai became the Duke of Wellington's headquarters for the British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818 following the Napoleonic drama. From November 20 to December 7, 1917, the WWI Battle of Cambrai took place in the area. This battle is sometimes noted erroneously for the first mass use of tanks in a combined arms operation however there had been several earlier deployments April, May, June, July and October of that year. Mark IV tanks were used at Cambrai but were still found wanting and became mostly ineffective after the first day.
Today, with a decling population of 32,000, Cambrai is like many erstwhile northern French cities: unkempt, dirty, poorly laid out for use in the 21st century and burdened with a hodge-podge of architectural styles. Another example of the avid conservation relegating the city to a museum piece.
Click here for picture show.

Vimy Ridge, a Canadian Baptism by Fire - May 22, 2012

On a cold and extremely windy Tuesday, having stocked Penny Pilote for the road and completed our other chores, we visited the Canadian WWI Vimy Ridge Memorial, a few miles from Arras. The Battle of Vimy Ridge in fact, was part of the First World War Battle of Arras in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. In essence it pitched four divisions of Canadian Corps against three divisions of the German Sixth Army and the engagement raged from April 9 to April 12 1917.
Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day of the attack, the town of Thélus on the second day before the final objective, a fortified knoll located outside the town of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to them on April 12. By nightfall the Canadian Corps was in firm control of the ridge which had fallen under German control in October 1914 during the "Race to the Sea" across northeastern France.
There were approximately 97,000 Canadians in the Corps which suffered 10,602 casualties during the battle: 3,598 deaths and 7,004 wounded. The German Sixth Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with approximately 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war. At the time, the Vimy Ridge force was the largest assembly of Canadian Corps to be engaged in a single action and is regarded by some as one of the defining events in the forging of the Canadian armed services.
In the weeks leading up to the battle, the British discovered that German tunneling companies had built an extensive network of tunnels and deep mines from which they would attack French positions, setting off explosive charges beneath their trenches. The Royal Engineers quickly deployed their own specialist tunneling companies to combat the German mining operations. The grounds of the memorial  site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches, craters and unexploded munitions, and are largely closed off for public safety.
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial itself is Canada's largest and principal overseas war memorial. Located on the highest point of the Vimy Ridge, the memorial is dedicated to the commemoration of the battle and to Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. France granted Canada perpetual use of a section of land at Vimy Ridge in 1922 for the purpose of a battlefield park and memorial and the 250-acre portion of the former battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park that surrounds the monument.
The memorial took eleven years to build and was finally unveiled on 26 July 1936 by King Edward VIII of England, in the presence of President Albert Lebrun of France and 50,000 plus Canadian and French veterans and their families. By this time of course, inept and crooked politicians on three continents were within three years of steering the world toward the disaster that was WWII. Sure makes one wish that politicians had to take their turn in being shot at. Pictures here.

Dover, England - May 19, 2012

We had visited Dover several times in the fifties - one of our cycling haunts. We have also visited from cruise ships and various RV vacations. We did need can English version of an English-French dictionary however and also a pot of beautifying potion for Marian that had been confiscated at Fort Wayne Airport a couple of weeks earlier. Thus we took a walk into town on a warm and sunny Saturday morning.
A visit to W H Smith and then to Boots drugstore met our shopping needs after which we sought out a Fish and Chip emporium. Found one - it was awful! Nothing much else to report so here, in case you ever find yourself in this town, is a note about Dover Castle.
Dover Castle is the largest castle in England and is a medieval castle founded in the 12th century. It is sometimes referred to as the "Key to England" due to its strategic defensive location atop the cliffs at the narrowest part of the English Channel.

Earlier, there might have been an earthworks fortification here and certainly, after the coming of the Romans in 43 CE the location was extensively developed. One of the 80 foot high Pharoses - Roman lighthouses - still stands at the site.
During the reign of Henry II the castle began to take on the shape seen today with Maurice the Engineer being responsible for building the keep, one of the last rectangular keeps ever built.
By the Tudor age, the original defences had been obsoleted by gunpowder and armaments development and they were substantially updated during the reign of Henry VIII. Further massive rebuilding took place at the end of the 18th century at the time of the Napoleonic Wars and it was during this period that the tunnel system was developed. By 1803 2,000 troops could be housed 40 or 50 feet below the cliff top.
At the beginning of the WWII in 1939 the tunnels were reopened following a century of abandonment and were used for a variety of purposes throughout the remainder of that conflict. A few images are here.

Lisbon, Portugal - May 15, 2012

Lisbon, Europe's westernmost major city, is the capital of Portugal and the greater Lisbon area is home to nearly 3 million people - more than 25% of the entire population of the country. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, predating other European capitals including London, Paris and Rome by hundreds of years. From the 5th century CE, after the Romans had faded away, the area was controlled by a series of Germanic tribes until it was captured by the Moors in the eighth century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city since then it has been the de facto political, economic, and cultural centre of Portugal. Most of the important Portuguese expeditions during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries left from Lisbon. The 16th century was Lisbon's zenith, the European hub of commerce between Africa, India, the Far East and, later, Brazil, Lisbon acquired great riches exploiting the trade in spices, slaves, sugar and textiles and it was during this period that the two World Heritage Sites, the Belem Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery were built. Late in the 16th century, Portugal fell into the hands of the Spanish where it remained for sixty years until a coup restored its independence in 1640. Lisbon has been prone to earthquakes and suffered almost 20 significant temblors from the 14th to 17th centuries. The "Big One" in 1755 damaged 85% of the structures and killed 30 to 40,000 people - 15% to 20% of the city's population. Subsequent to this catastrophe the city was rebuilt slightly to the west on a flat area along the lines of modern urban design with rectangular street layout and two large open space squares. The old town did survive and today is known as Alfama.
We had visited Lisbon several years ago and took a brief tour of items that were in maintenance at that time and also reprised parts of Alfama, the most interesting part of the city. The visit around the town is detailed here and the journey up the river Targus on our arrival is here.

Ponta Delgado, Azores - May 13, 2012

The Azores, that exotic sounding faraway retreat, is, in reality, a little archipelago of volcanic islands sticking up in the Atlantic ocean about 930 miles west of portugal and 1200 miles southeast of Newfoundland. The island group is approximately 370 miles in length, comprises nine major islands and a bunch of smaller ones and is home to about one quarter million people. Not much else is around the neighborhood.
Ponta Delgada is on São Miguel, the largest of the islands, which with its population of around 45,000 has been the administrative capital of this autonomous region of Portugal since 1976. The area has been populated since its discovery in the 15th century and although agriculture has always been a source of income the benefits issuing from its obvious strategic value as a more or less self-supporting mid-atlantic outpost was took precedence. The region's heyday was in the 19th century as a supplier of citrus exports to United Kingdom and a burgeoning center for foreign-owned businesses. 
During this period, Ponta Delgada became the third largest town in Portugal both by economic measure and by number of residents. By the start of the 20th Century, with shifting trade patterns and advances in transportation, Ponta Delgada's rank had fallen to number eight and thereafter continued a slow decline until it was granted autonomy in 1976.
Today, with the value of a mid-Atlantic port much diminished the Azores, like the Madiera archipeligo, has become a commercial backwater. Both locations however, have found favor as cruise ship ports, providing a means of breaking the trans-Alantic journey for  passengers while providing a welcome source of income for the indiginants. The Azores' climate is influenced by the Gulf Stream with a modest year round temperature range of 57F to 77F, albeit with subtropical humidity levels.
After a few stormy days at sea we were fortunate to have Ponta Delgada turn on the sunshine and provide a  day of discovery on terra-firma. Pictures here.

On the Boat to the Old Country - May 2012

To visit Europe it is first necessary to get there. This is one reason that cruise ships were invented. As a result of schedule conflicts, this year we ended up with our second choice itinerary on a cruise line we had not previously tried. The ship was the Constellation, one of the Celebrity Cruise Line fleet, and our journey took us from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
For our needs and wants the Constellation is probably equal second in our personal ranking, alongside Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Check out the boat here.

Planes and Boats and Camping Cars

A clunky segue from previous European trips to our 2012 outing. The theme of the pictures is getting there or getting back while reconciling the constraints of airline regulations with the practicalities of life.

Making the transitiion from the European continent to England as a pedestrian, motorist, RV enthusiast or trucker is pretty straightfoward and not outrageously expensive. The shortest trip, just a couple of hours, is the ferry from Dover to Calais with other routes taking up to six hours or so. The routine is always the same. Ship docks; traffic jam is released from several decks and swarms into the general melee; new traffic jam is guided on board; drivers are herded up to the passenger decks for the duration of the trip; ship leaves.
The passenger decks are what one might imagine a Soviet bloc cruise ship to be - not a place in which one would choose to spend much time. They do get the job done however and have an excellent safety record.

A few pictures are here.