Bluette Matthey's Blog, page 2
January 21, 2017
Jewel in Catalonia: Ceret, France
Ceret, France is a wonderful small town in the Pyrenees-Oriental department of southern France fifteen minutes north of the Spanish border. Unlike many of the towns in the area that are affected by the various winds that blow up and down the Mediterranean Coast, Ceret is nestled in the foothills of the Pyrénées and protected from the Tramontane.
Once a part of Catalonia, Ceret still has the flavors of this culture in its architecture, foods, and language. It is common to see the Catalon flag displayed, and bullfighting is a big part of Ceret’s culture, as well. The feria, or running of the bulls and bullfight, takes place on the weekend nearest to Bastille Day.
The town has long been a beacon to the artistic community and was a safe harbor for the likes of Picasso, Soutine, Matisse, Chagall, and Modigliani. An excellent Museum of Modern Art in Ceret’s old town houses collections from many of Ceret’s visiting artists.
The old town is very charming, with the remnants of the ancient ramparts visible, and narrow, winding streets. Mornings are especially pleasant, with the residents going about their business in an amiable environment. Afternoons, with the warming sun, attract residents and visitors to the welcoming cafes for a coffee or glass of fortified wine.
Ceret is a big agricultural area famous for the cherries is produces. These cherries are the earliest of the season and for decades the tradition has been to send a crate of the delicious fruit to the French president. The ever-present vines also surround Ceret, since wine is almost as cheap as water, and the area is a microclimate that grows oranges, figs, pomegranates, and apples.
A big draw on Saturdays is the weekly market that snakes through the streets of Ceret’s old town. In addition to vegetables and fruit, vendors sell local cheeses and sausages, breads, seafood, meats, all manner of clothing, crafts, art work, sewing supplies, prepared paella and Catalan stews … anything and everything … in a festive, friendly environment. If you’re lucky, you might see Catalonians dancing the Sardana.
Once a part of Catalonia, Ceret still has the flavors of this culture in its architecture, foods, and language. It is common to see the Catalon flag displayed, and bullfighting is a big part of Ceret’s culture, as well. The feria, or running of the bulls and bullfight, takes place on the weekend nearest to Bastille Day.
The town has long been a beacon to the artistic community and was a safe harbor for the likes of Picasso, Soutine, Matisse, Chagall, and Modigliani. An excellent Museum of Modern Art in Ceret’s old town houses collections from many of Ceret’s visiting artists.
The old town is very charming, with the remnants of the ancient ramparts visible, and narrow, winding streets. Mornings are especially pleasant, with the residents going about their business in an amiable environment. Afternoons, with the warming sun, attract residents and visitors to the welcoming cafes for a coffee or glass of fortified wine.
Ceret is a big agricultural area famous for the cherries is produces. These cherries are the earliest of the season and for decades the tradition has been to send a crate of the delicious fruit to the French president. The ever-present vines also surround Ceret, since wine is almost as cheap as water, and the area is a microclimate that grows oranges, figs, pomegranates, and apples.
A big draw on Saturdays is the weekly market that snakes through the streets of Ceret’s old town. In addition to vegetables and fruit, vendors sell local cheeses and sausages, breads, seafood, meats, all manner of clothing, crafts, art work, sewing supplies, prepared paella and Catalan stews … anything and everything … in a festive, friendly environment. If you’re lucky, you might see Catalonians dancing the Sardana.
January 14, 2017
Cinque Terre, Italy's Other Riviera
Cinque Terre (five lands for the five villages encompassed) is a totally unique area in Italy’s Liguria region. Five fishing villages, their harbors full of colorful fishing boats, hug the mountain sides overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in a rugged part of the Italian Riviera. Mule paths, trains, and boats connect the picturesque villages: cars are almost taboo.
The five villages of Cinque Terre are Vernazza, Corniglia, Monterosso al Mare, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I took the train from where I was staying in Livorno to La Spezia, and changed for the stop to Riomaggiore. The walking paths that connect the pastel-hued villages wind through olive groves and vineyards that cling, literally, to the sides of cliffs that plummet into the aquamarine sea.
The views are beyond breath-taking, and walking the trails trodden for centuries by villagers and mules is an experience that feeds the soul. Just take lots of bottled water for the hike, and stop in the distinctive towns for an honest feast from one of the little shops that sells sausages, cheeses, a hard roll, and piece of fruit, or stop in a trattoria for some of the freshest seafood available.
Check before you go to see that hiking paths are open, since the area is pre-disposed to trail mudslides. And please, leave the pristine paradise like you found it: it’s just that special!
The five villages of Cinque Terre are Vernazza, Corniglia, Monterosso al Mare, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I took the train from where I was staying in Livorno to La Spezia, and changed for the stop to Riomaggiore. The walking paths that connect the pastel-hued villages wind through olive groves and vineyards that cling, literally, to the sides of cliffs that plummet into the aquamarine sea.
The views are beyond breath-taking, and walking the trails trodden for centuries by villagers and mules is an experience that feeds the soul. Just take lots of bottled water for the hike, and stop in the distinctive towns for an honest feast from one of the little shops that sells sausages, cheeses, a hard roll, and piece of fruit, or stop in a trattoria for some of the freshest seafood available.
Check before you go to see that hiking paths are open, since the area is pre-disposed to trail mudslides. And please, leave the pristine paradise like you found it: it’s just that special!
January 10, 2017
Dubrovnik, Pearl of the Adriatic
It’s not without merit that the Croatian city of Dubrovnik is called the ‘pearl of the Adriatic.’ Perched along the Dalmatian Coast, Dubrovnik is one of the hottest tourist destinations on the Adriatic Sea and one of the most perfectly maintained medieval walled cities anywhere. Its stunning architecture, topped by red-tiled roofs set against an aquamarine backdrop, lure tourists the world over, and during sailing season the protected harbor is a beacon and sanctuary for the yachting crowd.
Dubrovnik’s main street, Stradun, is a limestone-paved esplanade that runs the length of Old Town Dubrovnik, with fifteenth century fountains at each end. The Stradun is lined with specialty shops, restaurants, banks, and historical buildings, and the narrow side streets contain more bars, shops, restaurants, and living quarters. Dubrovnik’s Old Town is not just a tourist attraction: people actually live and work there.
Designated a UNESCO site, Dubrovnik’s old town maintains beautiful churches, monasteries, and palaces built in Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance traditions. Monuments and statues record the city’s lengthy history. Walk the fort’s perimeter atop its massive walls, with the gorgeous Adriatic Sea all round. Or, for an aerial view, take a cable car from just outside the fortified walls to the top of Mount Srd for a breathtaking panorama.
P.S. The Bosnian restaurant, Taj Mahal (not Indian!) located on Nikole Guchetica, serves really good food. If the weather is pleasant, you can eat on the narrow sidewalk. Hardin Durkin and I give this place a big thumb’s up.
Dubrovnik’s main street, Stradun, is a limestone-paved esplanade that runs the length of Old Town Dubrovnik, with fifteenth century fountains at each end. The Stradun is lined with specialty shops, restaurants, banks, and historical buildings, and the narrow side streets contain more bars, shops, restaurants, and living quarters. Dubrovnik’s Old Town is not just a tourist attraction: people actually live and work there.
Designated a UNESCO site, Dubrovnik’s old town maintains beautiful churches, monasteries, and palaces built in Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance traditions. Monuments and statues record the city’s lengthy history. Walk the fort’s perimeter atop its massive walls, with the gorgeous Adriatic Sea all round. Or, for an aerial view, take a cable car from just outside the fortified walls to the top of Mount Srd for a breathtaking panorama.
P.S. The Bosnian restaurant, Taj Mahal (not Indian!) located on Nikole Guchetica, serves really good food. If the weather is pleasant, you can eat on the narrow sidewalk. Hardin Durkin and I give this place a big thumb’s up.
January 7, 2017
Austria's Winter Wonderland
Altenmarkt, Austria is a great place to visit if you are a winter sports enthusiast. Located just forty miles southeast of Salzburg, the small village of less than four thousand people is a winter wonderland when it snows.
Skiing is big business in and around Altenmarkt, and there are many venues for Alpine and cross country ski aficionados. Altenmarkt is part of the Ski Amadé (think Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, its namesake) ski area, which is a network of twenty-eight ski areas and villages, making it the second largest ski destination in Europe. Buses run regularly through the small towns, transporting skiers to the various ski locales, many of which are world class. If you’re staying at one of the welcoming hotels or guest houses the buses are usually free.
If you’d rather not ski, Altenmarkt has an amazing spa facility that features several large, lovely saunas of varying temperatures, including one sauna that offers a special salt rub and herbal steam treatment. There is also a steam room, several plunge pools (pick your temperature), showers, a large wave pool, and a heated indoor pool that passes through to the outdoors where you can swim as it snows while looking at the mountains. The facility also has a room for sunbathing, a quiet room if you just need a nap, or you can also get a professional massage ranging from deep-tissue, hot-stone, or a light balancing massage.
Whatever your pleasure in Altenmarkt, you will also find the people who live there a warm, welcoming bunch. They are in the hospitality business, and will make your stay a pleasant one you’ll want to repeat.
https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Aus...
Skiing is big business in and around Altenmarkt, and there are many venues for Alpine and cross country ski aficionados. Altenmarkt is part of the Ski Amadé (think Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, its namesake) ski area, which is a network of twenty-eight ski areas and villages, making it the second largest ski destination in Europe. Buses run regularly through the small towns, transporting skiers to the various ski locales, many of which are world class. If you’re staying at one of the welcoming hotels or guest houses the buses are usually free.
If you’d rather not ski, Altenmarkt has an amazing spa facility that features several large, lovely saunas of varying temperatures, including one sauna that offers a special salt rub and herbal steam treatment. There is also a steam room, several plunge pools (pick your temperature), showers, a large wave pool, and a heated indoor pool that passes through to the outdoors where you can swim as it snows while looking at the mountains. The facility also has a room for sunbathing, a quiet room if you just need a nap, or you can also get a professional massage ranging from deep-tissue, hot-stone, or a light balancing massage.
Whatever your pleasure in Altenmarkt, you will also find the people who live there a warm, welcoming bunch. They are in the hospitality business, and will make your stay a pleasant one you’ll want to repeat.
https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Aus...
December 11, 2016
The Capital of Christmas: Strasbourg, France
We just got back from Christkindelsmärik, the Christmas Market in Strasbourg, France. The ‘Market of the Child Jesus’ in Strasbourg is the oldest in France (started in 1570) and one of the largest in Europe. The market opens the last week of November and ends on Christmas Eve.
The downtown area of Strasbourg is closed to all but pedestrian traffic, with the exception of light rail trams that continue running through the city, although some of the stops have been eliminated during Christmas Market for security reasons
The various plazas and squares in this part of Strasbourg host different themes of small wooden houses set up in these locations. This year’s guest country is Portugal, so one of the plazas is filled with huts selling Portuguese crafts, clothing, and edibles. Another square is taken over by non-profit organizations selling wares, while yet another, crafts, decorations, and foods from the Alsace region, where the city of Strasbourg is located. Small wooden huts selling foods and crafts are also located around the magnificent Strasbourg Cathedral. Concerts of Christmas music are scheduled frequently in the cathedral for the public to attend, as well as enjoy the enormous nativity set up there.
The area in the streets and shops are hung with masses of Christmas lights and decorations, with an eye-popping Christmas tree at one end of Kleber Square that stands just over ninety-eight feet tall. A spectrum of street performers from many different cultures are around every corner, busking for money from appreciative shoppers. A multitude of vendors add to the ambience, selling concoctions of hot wine with honey and spices, hot, spiced apple juice, orange juice with honey, and Christmas beer. It’s a big, festive party, with people coming from all over Europe and beyond to attend.
In 2000, Al-Qaeda plotted to plant a bomb during Christkindelsmärik. Thankfully, the plot failed, but the result is intense security measures taken to insure the safety of the public during the market. In addition to not allowing vehicles into the city center, pedestrians are also questioned and possibly searched at checkpoints by the police before being allowed passage into the city center. Throughout the large market area police (municipal police, gendarmes, and even para troopers) are out in force, with many carrying machine guns. They are fairly unobtrusive, and actually quite friendly.
Strasbourg takes its designation as ‘The Capital of Christmas’ seriously; come see for yourself.
http://noel.tourisme-alsace.com/en/ch...
The downtown area of Strasbourg is closed to all but pedestrian traffic, with the exception of light rail trams that continue running through the city, although some of the stops have been eliminated during Christmas Market for security reasons
The various plazas and squares in this part of Strasbourg host different themes of small wooden houses set up in these locations. This year’s guest country is Portugal, so one of the plazas is filled with huts selling Portuguese crafts, clothing, and edibles. Another square is taken over by non-profit organizations selling wares, while yet another, crafts, decorations, and foods from the Alsace region, where the city of Strasbourg is located. Small wooden huts selling foods and crafts are also located around the magnificent Strasbourg Cathedral. Concerts of Christmas music are scheduled frequently in the cathedral for the public to attend, as well as enjoy the enormous nativity set up there.
The area in the streets and shops are hung with masses of Christmas lights and decorations, with an eye-popping Christmas tree at one end of Kleber Square that stands just over ninety-eight feet tall. A spectrum of street performers from many different cultures are around every corner, busking for money from appreciative shoppers. A multitude of vendors add to the ambience, selling concoctions of hot wine with honey and spices, hot, spiced apple juice, orange juice with honey, and Christmas beer. It’s a big, festive party, with people coming from all over Europe and beyond to attend.
In 2000, Al-Qaeda plotted to plant a bomb during Christkindelsmärik. Thankfully, the plot failed, but the result is intense security measures taken to insure the safety of the public during the market. In addition to not allowing vehicles into the city center, pedestrians are also questioned and possibly searched at checkpoints by the police before being allowed passage into the city center. Throughout the large market area police (municipal police, gendarmes, and even para troopers) are out in force, with many carrying machine guns. They are fairly unobtrusive, and actually quite friendly.
Strasbourg takes its designation as ‘The Capital of Christmas’ seriously; come see for yourself.
http://noel.tourisme-alsace.com/en/ch...
December 3, 2016
The Hermitage in the Galamus Gorge
Pilgrimages are popular in Europe, particularly around Easter and Pentecost, and the Hermitage of St.-Antoine de Galamus in the Languedoc-Rousillon area of France is a favorite destination. Nestled in a cavity overhung by limestone cliffs in the Galamus Gorge, the hermitage dates back to the fourteenth century and the area is often referred to as ‘Holy Mountain’. There is evidence that the area was visited as early as the seventh century by other recluses, perhaps of Celtic origin, seeking solitude.
Monks from the order of St. Francis of Assissi created the chapel in one of the original caves of the hermitage in the fifteenth century, and it is the chapel that draws pilgrims from this area in the south of France. The hermitage contains relics of the Holy Cross and other treasured relics, such as the remains of beatified Father Francisco Palau y Quer, a Carmelite monk.
The nearby town of Saint Paul-de-Fenouillet was plagued by the ‘sweating sickness’ in 1792. The origin of this affliction is not known, but it was a disease that caused its victims to sweat profusely and progress rapidly to death in just a matter of hours. After fourteen members of this community died from the sickness the town was placed under the protection of St. Anthony and, miraculously, the affliction left the village.
The gorge, which extends for over two kilometers, was cut out over a great period of time by the Agly River, which flows to the Mediterranean Sea. There is a suitable parking lot near the beginning of the path which descends to the hermitage. A twenty minute walk through wild, spectacular scenery brings you to the hermitage.
The corniche road winding up to the gorge is increasingly narrow and not for the faint of heart, but the views of the mountains and gorge are amazing. In the summer time during high tourist season the road to the gorge becomes very hazardous; you would do well to stop in one of the nearby villages and catch the shuttle bus (Saint Paul-de-Fenouillet or Cubières-sur-Cinoble).
http://www.france-voyage.com/tourism/...
Monks from the order of St. Francis of Assissi created the chapel in one of the original caves of the hermitage in the fifteenth century, and it is the chapel that draws pilgrims from this area in the south of France. The hermitage contains relics of the Holy Cross and other treasured relics, such as the remains of beatified Father Francisco Palau y Quer, a Carmelite monk.
The nearby town of Saint Paul-de-Fenouillet was plagued by the ‘sweating sickness’ in 1792. The origin of this affliction is not known, but it was a disease that caused its victims to sweat profusely and progress rapidly to death in just a matter of hours. After fourteen members of this community died from the sickness the town was placed under the protection of St. Anthony and, miraculously, the affliction left the village.
The gorge, which extends for over two kilometers, was cut out over a great period of time by the Agly River, which flows to the Mediterranean Sea. There is a suitable parking lot near the beginning of the path which descends to the hermitage. A twenty minute walk through wild, spectacular scenery brings you to the hermitage.
The corniche road winding up to the gorge is increasingly narrow and not for the faint of heart, but the views of the mountains and gorge are amazing. In the summer time during high tourist season the road to the gorge becomes very hazardous; you would do well to stop in one of the nearby villages and catch the shuttle bus (Saint Paul-de-Fenouillet or Cubières-sur-Cinoble).
http://www.france-voyage.com/tourism/...
November 28, 2016
Cathars Put to the Flame
On the trail of the Cathars, I visited the fortified, medieval village of Minerve, France, in the Herault department in southern France. Minerve is perched on top of the gorge of the river Cesse at the confluence of the rivers Briant and Cesse. A pedestrian village to visitors, Minerve was a sanctuary village for Cathars who fled the massacre of Beziers during the Albigensian Crusade to wipe out the Cathars as a heretic religion in 1210.
The butcher of Beziers, Simon de Montfort, besieged the village, demanding it give up the Cathars being given refuge. Simon de Montfort had earlier led the razing of Beziers, France in his quest to kill Cathars. The citizens of Beziers refused to reveal who the Cathars were living among them so Montfort instructed his troops to ‘kill them all; God will recognize his own’; hence, 20,000 men, women, and children were put to the sword in Beziers.
After besieging Minerve for six weeks and cutting off the town’s water supply using catapults, the Commander of the village garrison negotiated a surrender sparing him, his troops, and the villagers. The 140 Cathars who had been given refuge in Minerve refused to recant their Cathar beliefs and so were burned at the stake at the confluence of the two rivers.
The memorial to the martyred Cathars stands on the main street in the upper village. Minerve is listed as one of ‘The Most Beautiful Villages of France’ and is the capital of the Minervois wine region.
http://www.francethisway.com/places/m...
The butcher of Beziers, Simon de Montfort, besieged the village, demanding it give up the Cathars being given refuge. Simon de Montfort had earlier led the razing of Beziers, France in his quest to kill Cathars. The citizens of Beziers refused to reveal who the Cathars were living among them so Montfort instructed his troops to ‘kill them all; God will recognize his own’; hence, 20,000 men, women, and children were put to the sword in Beziers.
After besieging Minerve for six weeks and cutting off the town’s water supply using catapults, the Commander of the village garrison negotiated a surrender sparing him, his troops, and the villagers. The 140 Cathars who had been given refuge in Minerve refused to recant their Cathar beliefs and so were burned at the stake at the confluence of the two rivers.
The memorial to the martyred Cathars stands on the main street in the upper village. Minerve is listed as one of ‘The Most Beautiful Villages of France’ and is the capital of the Minervois wine region.
http://www.francethisway.com/places/m...
November 26, 2016
Salvador Dali's Ultimate Dream
Long an admirer of Salvador Dali, I recently visited the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain, one of the most unique art museums I’ve ever seen. The museum was, as Dali intended, a “great surrealist object.”
The museum houses the largest, most diverse collection of Dali’s works, the bulk of which is from his own personal collection. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, works in gold, exquisitely created jewels, 3-D collages … all in a custom-designed setting as unique as the artist himself.
An inner courtyard, open to the sky, displays Dali’s 1941 Cadillac, supposedly once owned by Al Capone. By inserting a coin in a slot you can make it rain inside the car. A large boat hanging above the patio has a multitude of blue condoms hanging from its hull. The condoms symbolize tears
One of the exhibits, which takes up an entire room, is a 3-D set on a stage hosting individual components of a face which, when seen from a peephole on an elevated viewpoint atop a stairs, looks like Mae West’s face. Who figures something like that out?
One of Surrealism’s best-known founders, Dali’s life and art juxtaposed objects and concepts of reality in combinations that shocked, outraged, confused, and stretched one’s perception. Trying to see and think like Dali, a genius or a madmen, is like living in the theater of the absurd.
Dali died in 1989, after living his last years in the museum. He is buried in a crypt below the stage of the theater that is part of the museum.
http://www.salvador-dali.org/en_index/
The museum houses the largest, most diverse collection of Dali’s works, the bulk of which is from his own personal collection. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, works in gold, exquisitely created jewels, 3-D collages … all in a custom-designed setting as unique as the artist himself.
An inner courtyard, open to the sky, displays Dali’s 1941 Cadillac, supposedly once owned by Al Capone. By inserting a coin in a slot you can make it rain inside the car. A large boat hanging above the patio has a multitude of blue condoms hanging from its hull. The condoms symbolize tears
One of the exhibits, which takes up an entire room, is a 3-D set on a stage hosting individual components of a face which, when seen from a peephole on an elevated viewpoint atop a stairs, looks like Mae West’s face. Who figures something like that out?
One of Surrealism’s best-known founders, Dali’s life and art juxtaposed objects and concepts of reality in combinations that shocked, outraged, confused, and stretched one’s perception. Trying to see and think like Dali, a genius or a madmen, is like living in the theater of the absurd.
Dali died in 1989, after living his last years in the museum. He is buried in a crypt below the stage of the theater that is part of the museum.
http://www.salvador-dali.org/en_index/
November 13, 2016
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
On a recent trip to the south of France I stopped in Avignon to check out the town’s renowned bridge. The Saint-Bénézet Bridge was built in the latter part of the 12th century to span the Rhône River in southern France. It was the only fixed river crossing between Lyon and the Mediterranean at this time, which meant that the river could only be crossed by boat. Tolls to use the bridge filled the coffers of the local council, and the bridge increased Avignon’s importance and development as a city.
Enormous oak tree trunks a yard in diameter were sharpened on one end, reinforced with metal bands, and driven into the river bed as the basis of support for the bridge’s structure. The bridge was destroyed forty years later when Avignon was under siege by Louis XIII during the crusade to rid that area of France of the Cathars. The original structure was thought to have been built of wood on the massive stone piers; when it was rebuilt entirely of stone it had twenty-two stone arches. Only four of the arches remain today, since periodic flooding of the Rhône caused the arches to collapse.
Saint Bénézet was a shepherd boy who, so the story goes, heard the voice of Jesus asking him to build a bridge across the river. The shepherd was mocked until he displayed supernatural strength by lifting an immense rock, thereby proving his divine calling and garnering support for his project. His remains used to be buried in a small chapel on one of the sections of the bridge but were moved to protect them from vandalism and damage should the structure suffer more erosion.
In recent years ago it cost nothing to walk the remainder of the bridge; now there is a fee … the city fathers are making money from the bridge, once again. The bridge was made famous by the diddy, “Sur le Pont d’Avignon …” (On the bridge of Avignon)
Enormous oak tree trunks a yard in diameter were sharpened on one end, reinforced with metal bands, and driven into the river bed as the basis of support for the bridge’s structure. The bridge was destroyed forty years later when Avignon was under siege by Louis XIII during the crusade to rid that area of France of the Cathars. The original structure was thought to have been built of wood on the massive stone piers; when it was rebuilt entirely of stone it had twenty-two stone arches. Only four of the arches remain today, since periodic flooding of the Rhône caused the arches to collapse.
Saint Bénézet was a shepherd boy who, so the story goes, heard the voice of Jesus asking him to build a bridge across the river. The shepherd was mocked until he displayed supernatural strength by lifting an immense rock, thereby proving his divine calling and garnering support for his project. His remains used to be buried in a small chapel on one of the sections of the bridge but were moved to protect them from vandalism and damage should the structure suffer more erosion.
In recent years ago it cost nothing to walk the remainder of the bridge; now there is a fee … the city fathers are making money from the bridge, once again. The bridge was made famous by the diddy, “Sur le Pont d’Avignon …” (On the bridge of Avignon)
September 15, 2016
Lest We Forget
I visited the Museum of the French Resistance and Deportation yesterday in Besançon, France while gathering research for my next Hardy Durkin novel, to be set in the Franche-Comte region of eastern France.
The Franche-Comte was an area of active resistance against the conquest of Nazi Germany during WWII, and the epicenter of this resistance was Besançon.
The museum, founded in 1971 by a concentration camp survivor, is quartered in the Citadel, a wonderfully preserved military defense designed by master military engineer Vauban. The massive fort sits atop one of Besançon’s seven hills, overlooking the entire city and its surroundings.
Much has been said and written about the French patriots who, poorly armed, barely trained, and often living in deprivation, carried out sting operations of all shapes and sizes against the brutal Nazi regime who lacked for nothing. Rag-tag groups of men and women lived as outcasts in their own country, hunted by the hated Milice (French militia) and the Germans, determined to fight the evil which had engulfed them.
The Museum of the French Resistance and Deportation is superb in its content and organization, and brings the plight of the Free French into focus as an historical narrative, as well as introducing, on a human level, those who were betrayed, tortured, and killed by the enemy. The original documents, photographs, and texts used make a stunning presentation of this dark period in history.
The portion of the exhibit dedicated to the extermination of the Jewish people and other minorities targeted for deportation and extinction is overwhelming. I found myself looking through the many photographs and displays and stopped, reminding myself that they were all people who had once hoped, dreamed, and loved. Men. Women. Children. It was soul crushing.
Exiting the museum, across the courtyard, stands a simple memorial to the more than one hundred resistance fighters who were executed by firing squad in the Citadel during the Occupation. The four upright wooden beams are stark reminders of the sacrifice these freedom fighters paid in the defense of their country and the cause of Justice. They helped rid the world of one of the greatest threats to our humanity.
The Franche-Comte was an area of active resistance against the conquest of Nazi Germany during WWII, and the epicenter of this resistance was Besançon.
The museum, founded in 1971 by a concentration camp survivor, is quartered in the Citadel, a wonderfully preserved military defense designed by master military engineer Vauban. The massive fort sits atop one of Besançon’s seven hills, overlooking the entire city and its surroundings.
Much has been said and written about the French patriots who, poorly armed, barely trained, and often living in deprivation, carried out sting operations of all shapes and sizes against the brutal Nazi regime who lacked for nothing. Rag-tag groups of men and women lived as outcasts in their own country, hunted by the hated Milice (French militia) and the Germans, determined to fight the evil which had engulfed them.
The Museum of the French Resistance and Deportation is superb in its content and organization, and brings the plight of the Free French into focus as an historical narrative, as well as introducing, on a human level, those who were betrayed, tortured, and killed by the enemy. The original documents, photographs, and texts used make a stunning presentation of this dark period in history.
The portion of the exhibit dedicated to the extermination of the Jewish people and other minorities targeted for deportation and extinction is overwhelming. I found myself looking through the many photographs and displays and stopped, reminding myself that they were all people who had once hoped, dreamed, and loved. Men. Women. Children. It was soul crushing.
Exiting the museum, across the courtyard, stands a simple memorial to the more than one hundred resistance fighters who were executed by firing squad in the Citadel during the Occupation. The four upright wooden beams are stark reminders of the sacrifice these freedom fighters paid in the defense of their country and the cause of Justice. They helped rid the world of one of the greatest threats to our humanity.
