Friday, November 30, 2012

Visit to Lourdes

For those not familiar with the religious miracle at Lourdes, you might recall the Jennifer Jones movie "Song of Bernadette" about an illiterate French girl who encountered the image of a "lady" 18 times at or near the grotto at Lourdes.  The image said a church should be built on that spot, and so it came to pass.

In this photo you can see the image of the Madonna with a golden head in the grotto itself


This is a picture of the church built right on top of the grotto



These are the taps for the holy water that you just help yourself to in order to cure ailments


Two beautiful portals to the church



This is reserved seating for the sick who attend the outdoor mass


That evening there was a huge processional mass.  There are 6 million visitors a year.


Everyone was given a candle to carry as we all walked behind the lighted portable Madonna





A priest scurrying along with his backpack


The following videos are bits of the procession and mass


 

Here is the commercial side of the town that surrounds the shrine


Containers to carry away the holy water


Stores chock full of Madonna's of every size and all the other saints as well

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Monday, November 26, 2012

La Publicité

Well, it didn't take long, as some of you predicted.  I had an opportunity to meet the Mayor of Amboise at a reception and the next thing, I was interviewed by the local newspaper.

 LUNDI 26 NOVEMBRE 2012 | 10H01

Amboise –   24H  |  26/11/2012

Barbara Rom.
Amboise
Rencontre

Ils ont choisi Amboise pour y vivre leur vie

L’association AVF d’Amboise et la ville accueillaient samedi les nouveaux Amboisiens. Rencontre avec ceux qui ont choisi de vivre ici.





Barbara Rom.
suivanteprécédente
Barbara Rom.
L’association AVF d’Amboise et la ville accueillaient samedi les nouveaux Amboisiens. Rencontre avec ceux qui ont choisi de vivre ici.
Barbara Rom vient de plus loin. A la retraite, avec son époux, ils ont décidé de quitter Detroit pour venir en France à cause de « l'art, la nourriture, le vin, les paysages et l'histoire ». Ils ont visité la région pour choisir une ville. « Au moment où nous sommes arrivés sur le pont, j'ai dit : c'est ça ! L'architecture, l'atmosphère, la beauté, c'était exactement mon rêve. Quand mon mari a visité le musée de Léonard de Vinci, il a dit d'accord ». Depuis six mois ils louent une maison quai Tissard dans l'île d'or et retournent trois mois par an aux USA, mais l'objectif est bien « de rester ici pour toujours ».
I.R.
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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Les Célébrations Part 3


Continuing our fête, Alexis and Lotte came over for dinner and 




surprised us with a gift of a hot air balloon ride.





This is Nickolai, the pilot of the balloon, who has gone around the world in his "montgolfiere."


This is the island on which we reside in the middle of the Loire



The small white edifice in the middle of the photo below is actually a large chateau and surrounding woods occupied by Mick Jagger.
Twenty six years ago he and Jerry Hall his then wife purchased a beautiful 16th century chateau for a mere 2 million francs (roughly 200,000 pounds inflation aside) in a tiny village called Poce-sur-Cisse a few kilometres from Amboise on the north side of the Loire River. His chateau, La Fourchette was originally the property of the Duc de Choiseuil, Louis XVI's finance minister.His guests at La Fourchette have included Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Roman Polanski. The last Rolling Stones album was recorded at his chateau and the band members where all regulars in the village during this period.


A video of our view of Amboise





To finish off the festivities, we had a romantic dinner, of course what else in France, at Hèléne et François' restaurant






Amuse bouche of goat cheese mousse
 Snail soup
 Cheese tartine
 Sole with kidney beans
 Pork cheeks with grapes


Salted caramel ice cream and various dessert treats



All in all, une merveilleuse célébration.
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