FrenchKate

July 10: Glowing in the dark

We were at the Island for the past several days, and, despite many photo opps, I took only one photo which didn't turn out. Its subject was remarkable. After dark, my husband discovered a phosphorescent branch in one of the brush piles, distinctly glowing! As I write this, I wish I had investigated the phenomena more thoroughly. What chemistry would cause something as organic as a branch to glow in the dark?

But back to France...I have already mentioned l'Abbaye de Jumièges  the first of three former monasteries that we saw in close succession. The second, Abbaye St George de Boscherville, managed to retain at least its Romanesque church, and based on an old document, someone had the brilliant idea of recreating its monastic gardens as they were in the 18th century.

The first photo shows the view from the upper garden today and the second is a reproduction of the document from 1723 that was used to recreate the gardens.

The day we were there the light was amazing. The sun, behind clouds, was luminous.

 

Mystery solved

I have long been curious about a building on rue de Perigord, across the street from the Chapel of the Carmelite nuns and the city library. You can see it from google maps, from the air and from the street. The building is obviously a church, but until today, I couldn't identify it. I couldn't find it on old maps; it wasn't labelled on new maps. What could it be? I have often wondered.

So I was thrilled to find a new resource yesterday, a site for the urban history of Toulouse which contains links to all the major buildings in Toulouse, street by street. All one has to do is click on a link to discover the history of this building or that.

Thus I was able to learn today that this chapel was built in the neo-gothic style by architect Henri Bach in 1860, one of the buildings for a private high school, Sainte-Marie-de-Nevers, founded by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers in 1842. From its website, it appears that the school is still going strong.

It didn't show up on the old maps because it isn't that old, and I couldn't find it listed on the new maps because it is still private.

Friday pretty scene blogging

At the foot of the monument to General du Puy, hometown boy, one finds griffins, symbolizing Napoleon's conquest of Egypt.