Saturday May 14 - Thursday May 19 ....Warning: Lots of history stuff!
If history tends to make you drowsy, don't read this blog while driving, or using heavy machinery.
Saturday May 14th
We've done a lot of walking, socializing and sightseeing this past week, so today was a stay home day. Up to the Saturday market for our vegetables.
Leisurely lunch outside in the garden, and I cooked a bolognese sauce for supper.
Crosswalks are good but not if there's no sidewalk on the other side.
And there was a bit more excitement on the local Castelnau history front, following on from my discovery of the fossil on the patio!
I believe I might have been, (with my friend Hubert), responsible for highlighting, a piece of Roman road in Castelnau.
This is going to take a bit of explanation but I'll try to be brief.
Hubert and Christine live by the tram stop Via Domitia named after the Roman road. On our visit Three years ago we were talking about Roman history and the road, and Hubert mentioned that when he first moved into his house, about 30 years ago, a neighbour pointed out a piece of the via domitia behind their houses.
So naturally, we had to go out and try and find it again, and we did. The area behind the house is what we'd call scrubland, and locally it's called the garrigue. There was clear evidence of a path, and at one point stones laid evenly enough to qualify as paving stones. As you can guess I took a bunch of photos
The Montpellier tourist web site also had a page on the Via Domitia with nothing on it except gps coordinates claiming to be a section of road. Lynda and I walked up to the location last visit, but could not not see any thing resembling a possible Roman road.
So I ( very politely!) wrote to the tourist bureau and told them there was nothing at those gps coordinates, but told them about our finding close to the tram stop and sent them some of my photos. I heard nothing back but didn't expect to.
Last week, I was googling via domitia again to learn more history (I know, I know, but it interests me!) and found the Montpellier tourist site now had a full page but also had posted my photos , and had given me credit for them.
Here's the link,and also, all the photos I took three years ago.
The street we walk down to H & Ç
The start of the trail through the garrigue (not the via domitia necessarily but maybe)
Sunday May 15
We visited the jardin des plantes this afternoon, then walked to PDLC for our Sunday afternoon carafe of red. Here's a brief description from the tourist site.
The Montpellier Botanical Garden is one of the oldest in Europe. It was created by order of Henri IV in 1593 for Pierre Richer de Belleval (1564- 1632). At the time it served as a model for designing all the botanical gardens in France, including the one in Paris 40 years later. Originally of limited size, the garden occupied around one hectare with one main butte - the "mountain" - plus space for a plant collection. Over the years the garden area grew to include a systems school, an arboretum, and a landscaped park. Now the property of the University of Montpellier I, the garden is classified as a Historical Monument and Protected Site.
We picnic'd in this small park across the street
Monday May 16th
Today we got to meet my correspondent Gwendo/Françoise who lives just south of Montpellier in a resort town called Palavas Les Flot.
I've been talking to her for over a year now, as Gwendo, and just discovered her real name is Françoise. She chose Gwendo because Françoise was such a common name in France, and people would not find her on Skype .
Gwendo apparently was the name of her dog 🐩 when she was a child. If I tried that, my name would be Dinky Crawford. Fortunately colin is rare enough.
She drove us to a cathédrale on what she called a près q'ile, in an étang or salt water lagoon.
You pay $5 and a train takes you along a causeway to the cathédrale but it also serves the beaches along the way, including a nude beach. Clothing is required on the little train, so dispel that image in your mind of naked people bouncing up and down on a red train...
Here's more detail from Wikipedia on just the early history of the cathedrale. Dates back to the Etruscan's, who preceded the Roman's and subsequently the Visigoth's who came down south
Maguelone Cathedral[1] (French: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Maguelone ; Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Maguelone) is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral located around 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Montpellier in the Hérault department of southern France. The building stands on an isthmus between the Étang de l'Arnel lake and the Mediterranean Sea in the Gulf of Lion, which was once the site of the original city of Maguelone, opposite the present-day town of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone.
Maguelone Cathedral was once the episcopal seat of the former Bishop of Maguelone until 1563, when the see was transferred to the newly created Bishopric of Montpellier. The cathedral, constructed when the see was returned here in the 11th century from Substantion by Bishop Arnaud (1030-1060), is a Romanesque fortified building. Although parts, such as the towers, have been demolished, the main body of the building remains functional and is a registered national monument. It is run by a dedicated preservation society, les Compagnons de Maguelone, and is used for both religious and secular purposes.
Origins of the diocese
During archaeological excavations in 1967, Roman and Etruscanremains and a number of Visigothic sarcophagi were discovered on this ancient island. The foundations of a church destroyed in the 7th century were also found.
At the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, the Visigoths took over part of the region of Melgueil, the island of Maguelone. Christianitygradually imposed its rule on the area. From 533, a bishopric was established on the island. The first bishops were Boethius (until 589), Genies (or Genesius, 597-633?) and a church-cathedral existed on the island. The bishopric of Maguelone appears in the texts at the end of the 6th century, on an island which was said to have been inhabited in antiquity.[2]
The reasons for the establishment of the bishopric of Maguelone on this island away from the Via Domitia road and far from any urban area (the city of Montpellier did not yet exist) are not clear, but the island location meant that the bishopric was accessible only by sea, offering some protection. As well as being the episcopal seat, Maguelone was also the seat of Gothic Counts, which ensured the presence of temporal power.[3]
Although Maguelone was well protected on the inland side, its strategic position meant that it was very vulnerable to invasions from the sea; in 673, the Visigoth King Wamba was besieged here during his campaign of reconquest of Narbonne.
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After the cathédrale, Françoise drove us to the Mediterranean, then the town of Palavas, where the River Lez (the river next to our apartment) meets the sea, and then to their delightfully eclectic French house, a large property with the river lez at their back gate. Which is perfect, her husband was in the French navy and they have a large sailboat they moor at the back door and sail out to the Mediterranean.
Also, By coincidence, her husband was on duty on a French frigate stationed in Montreal in 1967, when Charles De Gaulle gave his famous speech that concluded with Vive Quebec Libre. De Gaulle arrived on the ship, was due to visit Ottawa the day after, but with the controversy his speech caused, sailed back to France
Vineyards on the cathedrale property.
Tuesday May 17th
Laundry day, and out for Chinese food for supper with H and C. But before that we walked to a park near their house just to see a milestone marker that was on the via domitia but relocated. It marks just the towns on the road, in the vicinity. Lynda is pointing to Castelnau, which was called sextantio back then. It's just amazing it's survived 2000 years wars, invasions, vandals, religious purges, the elements and kids kicking soccer balls at it, and other such indignities and it's still standing , in the open, close to where it would have been before, and not behind glass in a museum.
For those following the story of our new Ukrainian friend looking to relocate to Canada, some excellent news. She flew to Toronto today, and magically, on Sunday, after about 6 interviews in the last few weeks, she had received a job offer with a company in Toronto and has accepted with a start date next week, so she is ready to start a new chapter in her life.
Wednesday May 19
Hot. Very hot.
We visited an (air conditioned) archeological museum with H and C.
Thursday May 19
An absolute do nothing, go no where day didn't venture beyond the patio, reading and talking and thinking.
We have been so fortunate having friends in France willing to drive us around to see everything, but for anyone who has not driven in France, within a town or region, there is no straight road to anywhere. The Roman's built straight roads between towns but within towns all bets are off. Roads just evolved around geography, farms, canals and the immediate need to move things with horse and cart for A to B, whuch nay nit have any relevance to todays route.
. A 20 minute drive can include 20 to 30 roundabouts, sometimes 2 or 3 in a row, and when your brain is not acclimatized to going round and around it's a bit exhausting. And many, many speed bumps. And crossings, much more than were used to. And then, the traffic jams. Trams, buses, bikes, pedestrians, all seem to have right of way over cars. Imagine that.
Trams on the other hand, go mainly straight and..through the roundabouts, and are very pleasant to ride in with air conditioning and Interesting locals to watch coming on and off with bikes, scooters, babies, bags, or their newspaper. And I can eavesdrop on long conversations.
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