Winter’s Tale – 5 (Jan 4)

Our 3rd Belgian city on the Jim plan was Ghent. By train, Ghent was just a quick hour away from Brussels. There was a train at the same time within every hour both to and from Ghent. All we had to do was note when within the hour this occurred and show up at the train station. Trains in Europe are so easy to use!

Ghent was the first city we visited where the “old town” was a bit of a distance from the train station. We figured out that there was a tram that would take you up to the “old town”, so we deposited our Euro coins into the ticket machine and boarded. We got off just a block or two away from the old Groete Markt (Great Market Place). Unfortunately, the beer destination of choice did not open til 4:30, and we were hungry! So we found a nice little place on the Groete Markt, where I once again had spaghetti (comfort food) and, of course, good beer. Because we were visiting Ghent on a Monday, most of the museums of interest were closed. But we had found a “History of Science” museum that was open. It was, alas, back down by the train station. So with our bellies refilled, we headed back down the hill. This time, we could not take the tram this time because we were running low on Euro coins – ticket machines only take coins. So we walked back down, the first of much walking for the day. I pass the blogging over to Jim for a description of this part of our trip…..

While in Ghent, we made a special pilgrimage (some called it a forced march) to visit the Museum of the History of Sciences at the University of Ghent.  As European universities go, U. Ghent is not really old, but its founding in 1817 puts it in an important century of scientific advances. The museum housed an impressive array of scientific instruments and artifacts.  For example, they had many, many microscopes ranging from the first one, built by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (fits in the palm of your hand — probably the one we saw was a facsimile) to a vintage 1950s Siemens electron microscope (much bigger than the palm of your hand).

Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope (1670s)

Siemens electron microscope (1950s)

Of interest to Jim was the fact that there were some impressive figures from the history of science (and chemistry, in particular) on the faculty at Ghent during the 1800s.  For example, Joseph Plateau, a scientist who used various frames to study soap films and how they form “minimal surfaces”. He taught there for many years.  He also developed what might be called the first motion picture. 

Leo Baekland was the inventor of Baeklite, the first commercial plastic. He taught and did research at the university, as did August Kekulé (pronounced “kek-you-lay”), the first chemist to conceive of the ring structure for the benzene molecule. That advance was a big deal for organic chemists in the 1860s!

One of the instruments housed in the museum was a spectrograph made by a scientist named Melloni.  The spectrograph was used to study the light and energy leaving a heated sample (think of what you see when you look at a light bulb).  With the instrument, Melloni came to the conclusion that the energy leaving the filament had characteristics of light waves.  Big deal?  Sure was.  At the time of his work (1840s), the scientific world did not think of heat energy as a form of radiation, much less that it was related to wave phenomena. But Melloni’s experiments pretty much showed that.  Problem was, he had no theoretical support for explaining his work at that time.  Those times would not come until about 1900 when Max Planck used the idea that energy is quantized to explain Melloni’s (and others’) findings about wavelengths of energy emitted from objects at different temperatures (for you science geeks: most sarcastically explained in the XKCD comic strip’s inimicable style).  Planck’s work was what Einstein used to develop his ideas and you probably know where things went from there….

Did we know all about this story ahead of time?  Heck no!  While looking at the instrument, a professor from the university, who was attending a reception hosted by the museum, noticed that Jim was really studying the case containing the instrument. He came by and began talking to us in Dutch. When we looked clueless, he said (in English) “oh, in English” and proceeded to chat with us in that language about the instrument, its history, and the fact that he had just finished working with a master-of-science student to prove that the instrument did really do what Melloni said it did.  The professor was very kind and very excited about the opportunity to share his knowledge.  For us, it was wonderful to learn about a bit a history in a special place and to enjoy the passion of a scientist for his work.  Well worth the pilgrimage (despite Dawn’s very sore feet)!

We return to our regularly scheduled blogging by Dawn…… Our next destination was to go back to the interesting beer destinations, which were, of course, back up the hill in the Groete Markt. At this point, I was categorically refusing to walk back up there. My feet were saying “enough!”. So Jim asked the very nice man at the museum to change a Euro note into coins and inquired what the best way was to get back to the Groete Markt by tram. The trip back up involved very little walking (making Dawn happy). We got off at a stop that was right near another of the destination beer pubs (making Jim happy). The first one we found was quite small and filled to the brim with folks relaxing after a busy day. So we went around the corner, back to the Groete Markt, to the place that had been closed earlier in the day. Thankfully this one, De Dulle Griet, was now open.

Groete Markt: looking to the left from the pub

Groete Markt: looking to the right from the pub

This pub was a wonderful place! Great atmosphere – see photo on the left below! And it had lots of interesting beer; in keeping with Belgian tradition, it also had the glassware for every one of those beers – see image on the right below! In this same photo, you can see a very large beer glass in a wooden stand. This is the “house” glass – it holds 1.2 liters (40 oz.) of the house golden ale! That is a lot of beer! And many were being sold! We opted for smaller quantities so we could taste several different beers! We spent a lovely hour or two people-watching, chatting, and sipping good beer!

Look at the ceiling, draped with neat textiles!

A wall and ceiling of glassware!

We decided, yet again, that our beer and the lovely cheese cubes, was a pretty sufficient amount of food; no dinner required. So we headed back down to the train station. We had made sure to save enough coins to take the tram back. I was still not up for another long walk!

Ghent’s main train station

Our train trip back to Brussels was uneventful, a relaxing time to sit after a busy day. I decided that, while a real “dinner” wasn’t really needed, I did need “a little something” (as Winnie the Pooh is want to say). So once back in Brussels, we went back to the lovely little café where we had had the raspberry tart a few days earlier, because the image of the other types of tarts there was still quite clear in my mind. It was raining pretty steadily by the time we got there, so I had a nice hot tea with the apple tart that we shared (though I confess to eating most of it) while Jim had a Chimay Blue (a brown ale). Then back to our luxurious accommodations for a bit of unwinding and then sleep.

Winter’s Tale – 4 (Jan 2-3)

Our 2nd Belgian city was Brussels. The train trip down to Brussels from Antwerp was just about an hour long. So we were at our hotel (again, right next to the train station) by early afternoon. It was a much fancier hotel than we usually stay in. I had found a “special deal” on the internet and now this fancy place, the Royal Windsor Grand Place, was going to be our home for 4 nights. Cool! To pass the time until the room was ready, we walked down to the Grand Place of Brussels.

As we walked the little streets off the Grand Place, I spotted a place with the word “bécasse” in its name. This word is one that I have come to know through the translation work I am doing on a French clothing inventory. In this inventory, there is a word that appears to be spelled “velcasse” and I have been trying to figure out what the word could actually be. It turns out that “bécasse” is one of those words that it could be, except that a “bécasse” is a sandpiper-type of bird (see photo on right below), which doesn’t fit into the context of a clothing inventory very well….sigh! But, as it turned out, the place called “À la Bécasse” was a Belgian pub! And one that had its own sour ale (lambic) no less. And Jims really love Belgian lambic. So in we went for beer and lunch. I had a really wonderful spaghetti and Jim had a Belgian type of cheese sandwich: a thin smear of a white cheese on a large piece of toasted bread. And we had beer of course!

Well fortified with our beer and lunch, we headed off to the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (Belgian Center for Comic Art). We spent a lovely couple of hours learning about the amazing art that goes into “graphic art” comics. These are very popular in Europe! And the museum was housed in a beautiful art nouveau building designed by Victor Horta (see bottom photo below).

After the museum, I had the need for “a little something” and there was a little café we had passed earlier that had some lovely pastry tarts in its window. So we had our afternoon “hot beverage” (coffee for Jim; tea for Dawn) and shared a (generous) piece of raspberry tart. It was now late enough that our room would be ready so we headed back to the hotel to get settled in. The room was really nice: it had its own hot-water heater (so Jim and I could obtain “hot beverage” whenever we wanted) and even a fancy radio that allowed Jim to connect his iPhone to it and channel KCSM Jazz Radio (from the CA Bay Area) over the radio’s large speakers! Life was good indeed!

Our original motivation (excuse?) for this Europe trip was that one of Jim’s colleagues at Bucknell, Kat Wakabayashi, was on sabbatical with his family in Brussels. He really must, we were sure, want us to come visit. And this evening was the night we’d schedule to meet Kat and his wife Yoko for dinner. They took us to a wonderful restaurant called Belga Queen. Very modern furnishings inside what looked like a 19th-century train station. Lovely combination. I had a kir, of course, as an apéritif, followed by an appetizer of lightly-grilled scallops in a sauce of butter and Orval beer. For the meal, I had a small rack of lamb with two little pots of sauces: one mustard and the other cream. Delightful! It was served with a Dauphinois of vegetables: very thin slices of zucchini, carrots, and potatoes with fine layers of a light white cheese (ricotta?). We had a lovely Loire valley red wine with the meal. I couldn’t even finish all my lamb (excellent though it was). But Jim was more than happy to help a lady in “distress”. So for dessert, I opted for the lightness of sorbet (a personal favorite): a scoop each of framboise, cassis, and mint. A most excellent meal with the excellent companionship of Kat & Yoko. We thank them for their wonderful hospitality! As we all walked back to our hotel, we walked through the Grand Place again. This time it was all lit up, with a “light show” going on.

Our 2nd day in Brussels was divided between Dawn & Jim tasks. My task was to get to the Musée des Beaux Arts (Fine Arts Museum) in Brussels to study the Haneton Triptych by Bernard Van Orley. The images I had seen of it promised some interesting details of headdresses. Jim’s task was to get us to a particular beer pub he had picked out. So we started off to the museum, which turned out to be a fairly short walk from the hotel. Once again, we were met with a line (not as long as at the Louvre) because we had to pass through security: parcels & bags scanned, coats undone. And we were met with the news that the 16th-century French room was closed! I was a bit bummed but hoped that the paintings I was after would still be visible: they were Flemish, not French. We were directed to the 2nd floor for the Old Masters. This level provided a lovely view of the museum building.

As we walked through the rooms of mostly Flemish art, I was able to find several art works from the late-15th and early-16th centuries with useful headdress details. And, in the 3rd (4th?) room, there was the Haneton Triptych…..yaaa-hooo! I’ve provided the Wikipedia link of this work  so that you can get a good view of the whole triptych. My photos are pretty detailed and not capable of giving you a feel for the whole thing. Obviously, it’s the righthand panel that is of interest to me! So this work proved to be a very valuable find! Many photos and drawings were obtained! Once again, Jim was a very patient and helpful research assistant; and once again, he took photos of me at work.

There were also quite a few works by Brueghel here. It was very useful to be able to really study the figures in these works. Most reproductions I have seen concentrate more on the entire scene. But these scenes are usually very detailed. By standing in front of them, I was able to focus on the headdresses shown…a very educational task. Shown below (on the left) is a detail from “Festival with Theater and Procession” [translation mine] by Pieter Brueghel II. Also beautiful to see is the Flemish artists’ portrayal of the amazing textiles of the 15th and 16th centuries. The closeup below (on the right) from “Virgin Among the Virgins” (by the Master of the Legend of St. Lucy) shows an example: green & gold brocade in foreground, red satin w/ silver embroidery on right edge.

Festival with Theater and Procession (detail)

Virgin Among the Virgins (detail)

By the time we were out of the Fine Arts Museum, it was nearly dusk. Dawn’s task complete, it was now time for Jim’s task. He navigated us to a pub called Moeder Lambic (photo below on left). There was a pretty good rain going by the time we got there. So it was good to land somewhere warm and dry…and with a most excellent selection of beers as well! And to top it all off, they had a bit of a food menu too! I ordered a bacon & cheese quiche that came with a small salad. Jim ordered the…wait for it….meat and cheese plate; and this one was by far the nicest of any yet encountered! Lovely selection of excellent cheeses, 2 different types of salami, and two types of mustard! My self-assigned “beer mission” this trip was to sample a type of Belgian beer that I enjoy, called a triple (tripel). Here I tried two tripels that I had never heard of and that I really enjoyed. Jim also found some wonderful beer here. Cheers! 

Needless to say, it was another evening to decide that we did not need a dinner meal. We had a wet walk back to the hotel for a quiet evening in our decadent splendor. We felt that we had become familiar enough with the Brussels train station and its schedules that tomorrow’s task was to venture out on a day-trip to Ghent….

Winter’s Tale – 3 (Dec 31 – Jan 1, 2016)

We were now starting the middle part of our trip: Jim’s part. Jim’s plan for this part consisted of 4 basic steps:

1. Go to Belgian city.
2. Find Belgian beer pub (if you perhaps see interesting things “en route”, that is fine).
3. Partake of Belgian beer that either: a) you’ve never had before; b) you’ve never had on tap before.
4. Find food as needed (if it cannot be procured in Belgian beer pub).

Our first Belgian city for this plan was Antwerp, a city that neither of us had been to before. From Gare du Nord (North Station) in Paris northward to Antwerp, it was an easy 2-hour train trip. We weren’t sure whether there would be any type of “border check” on the train trip. But it turned out that there was none. So on New Years Eve, around noonish, we arrived in Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch, Anvers in French).

Dawn at Antwerpen Centraal train station

New Years greetings from Antwerp (Antwerpen)

We had already identified the first Belgian beer pub to check out, Bier Central. So we dropped our stuff off at the hotel (which was right next to the train station) and headed out to the pub. Fortunately, this pub also had a restaurant. Many Belgian beer pubs, it turns out, have either no food at all or only plates of meat/cheese (Don’t get me wrong, meat/cheese plates can be a glorious thing). We had a lovely lunch. Jim had a Centraal burger. And I had a rich Belgian beef stew that used the Belgian brown beer, Bourgogne des Flandres, in its broth. Yum! Something that I will try to make back at home. Later in the trip, Jim had a glass of this beer at a different pub (see photo below). We each partook of 2 Belgian beers. And Jim began the “documentation” for his “research” by taking photos of each beer he had. For those of you not “into” Belgian beer, it is customary for every Belgian beer (and I mean every one) to have its own unique glass with its name (or logo) on it. So often (not always), the beer glass that Jim photographed was enough to identify the beer within. But Jim also kept a list on his iPhone (a careful researcher, that Jim).

We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to track down several other beer pubs. But it turned out that due to both the general holiday season and the fact that it was New Years Eve, they were all closed. We weren’t really up for a big meal anyway. And there were still food shops open so that the people could collect their New Years Eve feasts. We were able to pick up the makings of our own feast: loaf of bread, 2 cheeses, bottles of Belgian beer, apples, some pastries. We spent the evening in our room, grazing on the food, and watching TV. When it got late enough, we found a station that had the New Years Eve countdown (in Dutch). Once the countdown finished, we could hear all kinds of firecrackers, cheers, and car horns outside the hotel. Apparently, there was quite a celebration on the Grand Place (Great Square) and in other squares around town. It went on until around 3 or 4am! Our more modest celebration consisted of toasting one another with some Belgian beer. And we were able to send email to family in California wishing them Happy New Years 9 hours ahead of when it would reach them!

We spent New Years Day walking down to and around the Grand Place and the lovely cathedral right next to it. We even took our first (and only) “selfie” (no “selfie stick” used).

After much walking, we finally found that one of the beer bars that had been closed earlier was now open, so we headed there and had a lovely late afternoon “snack” of some beer and one of those meat/cheese plates…. oh yeah, and some fries. Again deciding that we really didn’t need a full meal, we headed back to the hotel for another lazy evening of reading, and then packing up for the next day’s trip down to Brussels….

Winter’s Tale – 2 (Dec 30, 2105)

For our next (and last) day in Paris, our task was to head for the Louvre, where I could check out 2 statues and a painting for my research. Due to our not yet being shifted to the French time zone (and to a long line at the museum), we didn’t get into the Louvre until early afternoon. During our walkabout the previous day (see previous blog entry), we had seen some heightened “police presence”, but not a great deal. At the Louvre, however, it was much more apparent. We had to wait in line for an hour to even get to the escalators (under the Pyramid) that take you down into the building. The weather there, as it has been on the East Coast, was very mild, so it was not an unpleasant wait. The line wound around the Louvre pyramid courtyard and back into the courtyard with more 16th-century architecture showing. So it was very pretty and not too cold.

This photo below was taken as we left the museum, looking back at the Louvre Pyramid and the courtyard. The line we stood in started back in the 16th-century courtyard, which is behind the far wall (the wall with the dome in the middle, behind the Pyramid), then it wound through the opening in the middle of the far wall, turned towards the wall on the right, went down this wall, turned back over in front of the Pyramid and then went through the back and forth of a “rope maze” until it finally spit us out at the museum opening at the Pyramid.

Louvre courtyard with Pyramid at the center

There were many soldiers walking about the courtyard, keeping an eye on folks. The main reason for the wait turned out to be that each person had to have any bags or parcels go through a scanner (like at the airport) and had to open up his/her coat. This security measure is new since the last time I had been to the Louvre. But it was good to see that so many people (foreigners and French alike) were out and about, undeterred by threats, and wanting to visit this incredible museum.

Once into the museum, the first order of business was to head for the Sculpture Gallery to find the two statues. As always in a museum, any attempt at a direct path to one’s goal is not possible, as there are always interesting things to be found along the way. It turned out to be a day of finding many “bits with a dog”, among them (User Note: if you move your cursor on top of these photos, captions appear), …. 

Faithful dugz at the foot of a 15thC statue

From château d’Anet: Bad doggie!

Same statue: Good doggie!

1540 stained glass: tussling dugz

16thC tapestry: hunting dugz

I did finally reach my first statue, Robine Le Gendre. I spent a lot of time taking detailed photos and drawings of her headdress. Jim was the very soul of patience, taking charge of my coat, scouting for any other 16th-century items, and, it turns out, snapping photos of me. He took several of me “worshiping at the alter of my muse”.

Dawn “worshiping at the feet” of Robine Le Gendre

I was not able to get as close to the 2nd statue, Hélène de Chambes-Montsoreau. But that wasn’t too great a loss, as that statue was much less detailed than the 1st one. Getting to the painting I was interested in was quite an effort, as it involved following the great pilgrimage path of all those wanting to see the Mona Lisa! When we finally passed their “exit”, the path emptied considerably! This painting was moderately useful (pictures taken, drawings made). We then headed off to the 16th-century “objets d’art” section. Much other beautiful art was viewed and some other interesting items for the research found: several interesting paintings, some enamel pieces by Léonard Limousin …..

King François I

Dauphin, future François II

and medals (always a good source of headdress details).

Dauphin François and Marie Stuart

Catherine de Medici

Historical Notes: François 1 (1st enamel above) is king of France from 1515 – 1547. Upon his death, his son Henri becomes King Henri II. Henri is married to Catherine de Medici (2nd medal above). Henri II dies in 1559. His (and Catherine’s) oldest surviving son is the Dauphin (heir to the throne), François, who becomes King François II (2nd enamel). François II is married to Marie Stuart (aka Mary Queen of Scots) (shown in 1st medal).

As the darkness in the photo of the Louvre courtyard (above) shows, we spent a long time in there and had not had lunch. We already had a dinner destination picked out. But although it was late, it was not yet late enough for the restaurant to be open. With empty tummies and tired feet, we decided to stop at a café  along the way to the restaurant. Some hot beverages and sitting down did much to restore us. So we then headed to Chez Fernard, one of my favorite places to eat. And we had yet another lovely meal. I started with my usual apéritif of kir (white wine + crème de cassis) while Jim had a Belgian beer. As an appetizer, I had what I have almost every time I go there: a “salad” of cooked green beans (I love green beans!). As it was winter and really prime green beans are at a premium, they had served them this time with a light vinaigrette dressing, some pumpkin seeds and…. little cubes of foie gras! For dinner, I had a lovely duck breast with a ginger demi-glace sauce, served with a pile of sautéed mushrooms. Jim had the steak “au poivre” (black pepper sauce) and dauphinois (scalloped) potatoes, which is one of the restaurant’s “spécialités de la maison”. We had a lovely half bottle of Haut Medoc red wine to go with it. For dessert, I had what was basically a rice pudding that was served with a sauce of salted caramel. Boy do I love rice pudding and boy do I love salted caramel. So together, they were “magnifique”! We toddled back to our hotel room and packed in preparation for the next day’s travel to Belgium……

A Winter’s Tale in France & Belgium – 1

Just after Christmas, Team Maneval undertook its latest trip to Europe, this time to Belgium and France. Basically, it was a two-pronged attack: I had several “surgical strikes” of particular things related to my research on the French “French hood” (a headdress of the female nobility in the 16th century); and Jim had a more general goal of partaking of his beloved Belgian beer, especially those types not easily (or not at all) found in the US.

My research goals for this trip were to examine several “primary sources” to see if I could find more details that will help me in my current project of reconstructing the 16th-century headdress called, in England, the “French hood”. Obviously, it’s not called that in France, as they don’t call fried potatoes “French fries” either. We started our trip (as many wonderful trips begin) in Paris. Here, my first research task was to head for the Musée Carnavalet, which is the museum that explores the history of Paris. I was interested in getting a close look at a painting there, to examine headdresses. We decided to walk, because walking in Paris is such a lovely pastime. Even sights seen many times hit you with their incredible beauty. As we headed north and east from our hotel on the Left Bank, we approached the Île de la Cité (an island in the middle of the Seine River, at the heart of Paris). On this island sits the amazing Notre Dame cathedral, which is always breathtaking…

…as well as the recently cleaned (and eternally beautiful) Sainte-Chapelle.

I love looking at architecture in Paris because you never know what you are going to find. This building has some mythological help to hold up its balcony roof.

The Musée Carnavalet is housed in a 16th-century “hôtel” (house in town). When you walk in the front entrance, you are in a beautiful courtyard.

After standing in a slowly-moving line (because they were scanning all bags at the entrance), I started trying to find out where my desired painting was housed….and learned that it was not currently on display (despite the website indicating the “room number” it was in). Sigh! I caught Jim just as he was about to buy tickets. We decided instead to just head to the “boutique” (gift shop), where I hoped to find at least a post card of the painting. No such luck, but I did find a nice little book about the architecture of the Marais region of Paris. So we spent the afternoon taking a walking tour of the architecture in that area. We started with the Place des Vosges, with its lovely late-16th/early-17th-century architecture on four sides of a square and a lovely park in the middle.

East side of Place des Vosges

North side of Place des Vosges

The best find on this walk was the Hôtel de Sens. I had seen this beautiful late-15th-century building on one of my first trips to Paris, but had forgotten its name or location. It was so wonderful to find it again. It is really an excellent example of what a “house in town” would have looked like.

Roof creature

Inner courtyard

Back garden

It was very exciting to learn that this building is being renovated and will be open to the public in the fall! And who knew that you could find 14th-century timbered houses in Paris!

At this point, we were losing most of the daylight, so we headed back across the Île de la Cité towards the hotel (and our dinner reservation).

We ended the day with a wonderful meal at a favorite restaurant, Boullion Racine. For an appetizer, I had an asparagus soup. For the meal, a lovely tuna steak in a ginger sauce, sitting on a little bed of seaweed, and accompanied by saffron rice. For dessert, strawberry sorbet. Jim had a braised chicken with a roasted red-pepper sauce and risotto. And for his dessert, one of his personal favorites: a cheese plate. Of course, there was a lovely bottle of wine to accompany it all.

Thus ended our first 2 days in Paris, one more day to go in Paris before heading up to Belgium for Jim’s part of the trip. To be continued….

Une Maistresse est née – a Mistress is born

Saturday, September 5th, at the esteemed Shire of Nithgaard, I was granted the honor of becoming a Mistress – a member of the Order of the Laurel. I want to thank all those that helped me sew, prepared the vigil (food & tent), made the regalia, hosted the event, and shared the wonderful day with me.  Special thanks go to……

1. My amazing and inspiring mother, for the day named Lewela (sp?), who attended the event as a Celtic princess. She researched and made her Celtic clothing:
   

   Marguerite and her Celtic warrior Princess (Mom)

2. The Sewing Coven support team, Mistress Elizabeth (my erstwhile Laurel) and Mistress Caterina (my ghost Laurel). You two are so gifted! Merci beaucoup pour tous…. for sharing your gifts and for just being you…..
   

   My dearest leaders of the Sewing Coven….Mistress Elizabeth (on the right) and Mistress Caterina (to the left of me)

   …and Lady Vika Grigina z Praha, who made my incredible banner. It is soooo beautiful, Vika. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift! And thank you for being the amazingly funny and kind person that you are.

   

   My new banner, with its creatrice, Lady Vika, and her handsome beau, Simon

3. That wonderful duo, Mistress² Alicia Langland and her beloved, Master Gille MacDonhuill. Alicia, you handled the organization of the Vigil with the usual smoothness and aplomb. You are a special person, the sister I never had. And Gille, your cooking and competence are a wonder to behold. Thank you both for luring me to the SCA and, most importantly, for being such wonderful friends (and travel partners in France!).
4. And last, but most certainly not least, my beloved, Jean d’Honfleur (Sir not-appearing-in-this-film: because he is the one who took these photos, I do not have a picture of him; I hope to have photos of him soon).  He looked so fabulous in his 16th-century wear, created by the wondrous Mistress Filipia. You are so dear to me, Jean. Thank you for being part of my world these 32+ years!

 

First court, the Laurel-Apprentice contract is broken. I may no longer be your apprentice, but I hope always to be your friend, Mistress Elizabeth Talbot….I love you, man!

Contract between Laurel and Apprentice is broken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On to Vigil. The tent was a beautiful place to spend the afternoon, listening to the wise words of my fellow peers and friends. The incredible food was most ably coordinated by Master Gille MacDonhuill. Food selections were drawn from recipes based on food mentioned in the words of the 16th-century novelist, François Rabelais. Thank you, Gille, for implementing my idea. And thank you to all the cooks for contributing to this wonderful spread! Of the food I was able to sample, I especially liked the darioles (little custard tarts, most beautifully presented in daisy-shaped crusts), the fig “compote” (thank you, Elizabetta – I am so sorry that I do not know your full SCA name & title), and the carbonade (the cooked-onion paste was a marvel to the taste buds).

Vigil tent, with (from left to right): (the back of) Lady Vega, Mistress Briony, Mistress Filipia, and Mistress Antoinette

The incredible vigil food, based on 16th-century recipes, and most ably managed my Master Gille MacDonhuill (Lady Elizabetta in the foreground)

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

I am so glad that the Vigil food and companionship was able to be shared with our esteemed Majesties of Aethelmearc, King Timothy II and Queen Gabrielle:

His Majesty, King Timothy II (on the left), Mistress Alicia (on the right, dressed in red) attending.

Her Majesty, Queen Gabrielle (in background on the left, dressed in green), with Lady Mairin O’Cadlah (background, on the right, dressed in light green) and Lady Elyes la Bref (foreground)

After the solemn contemplation of Vigil, it was time to prepare for the elevation ceremony. Over the last 3 weeks, I had spent most of my waking time sewing the new gown….still way too short time to create one of these outfits! It does give me an incredible appreciation of the skills possessed by the 16th-century tailors and their support staff.

The cotte (kirtle): the undergown, which shapes the upper body, because the corps (corset) was not yet in use

The robe: the overgown, with its very wide neckline and (very French) simple decoration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My deep thanks to Countess Genevieve, Mistress Briony, and Lady Vika for their help with the gown on Friday night (into Saturday morning) and to the unknown seamtresses who attached its sleeves sometime during the day on Saturday.
This gown is based on my own research, both on the 1532 French Inventory that I have been translating, as well as French woman’s clothing in general. I plan to create a future blog entry (hopefully within the next few days) on the details of the gown design.

Side view of the 1532 gown: gotta love that black silk satin breathing in the light and selectively bouncing it back!

Embellished panels for the front openings of the overgown: hand embroidered by Nicole & Mistress Caterina

 

I would like to call special attention to the spectacular embellishment panels (photo on right), created by my Sewing Coven members skilled in the embroidery arts: Nicole of the East Kingdom (whose SCA name & title I do not know) & Mistress Caterina. You ladies are fabulous!

 

 

Afternoon court: the elevation. My thanks to Their Majesties, King Timothy II and Queen Gabrielle (photo on the left below) for granting me this distinction upon the recommendation of the most noble Order of the Laurel.

Called into court…my much-heralded Herald, Master Gilles de Beauchamps (photo on the right below, dressed in red, standing in front of my banner) organized my retinue and introduced me to Court. Merci, cher Gilles: you are such a kind, calm, and inspiring person.

THM Timothy II and Gabrielle

Called into court for the elevation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attired in regalia, the Laurel wreath (thank you, Mistress Filipia) and the cloak (thank you, Caterina), I gave my oath of fealty in French (photo on left). Master Gilles provided the English translation (photo on right). Her Majesty Queen Gabrielle provided the royal response in French (you go, girl!), with His Majesty providing the populace with the English translation.

The oath of fealty: given in French…

Master Gilles reading the English translation of my fealty oath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the oath, the scroll was read. The scroll (in progress) is the work of Mistress Alicia Langland (wording), Master Eustace (translation to French), Mistress Rafna (calligraphy), and Mistress Antionette (illumination). In court, Simon (beloved of Lady Vika – shown beside her in the photo above of my banner) provided the French reading (merci beaucoup, Simon, pour votre superbe présentation) and Master Brandoug (sp?) providing the English translation. My thanks to all of you for your skill….and for humoring my need for French in the ceremony!

Court is over…. je vous présente (I present to you), Maistresse Marguerite d’Honfleur:

La nouvelle Maistresse (the new Mistress)!

Maistresse Marguerite and Mistress Caterina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avec mes sincères remerciements à tous (with my deepest thanks to all),

A votre service,
Marguerite d’Honfleur

P.S. More pictures to come…as they come in.

Lyon – Days 3 & 4 (Musée des Tissus)

It is now time to go to the Musée des Tissus! The travel schedule being what it was, this was the very last thing I planned to see, and yet it is one of the highlights of my trip!

The Promised Land – and what a great sign: the warp and weft of fabric

I’ve spent the last two days (Sept 23rd & 24th) at the library of the Musée des Tissus. My mission has been to get an idea of what information is in the library here. Getting information written in French (or on a French topic) can be somewhat difficult when in the U.S. The inter-library loan system there is a wonderful thing, but it can only get things that are held by libraries in its access network. Often, works written in French are not in too many U.S. libraries. The Bibliothèque Nationale (national library of France) has a lovely on-line catalog. But that library is a bit complicated to get into (a trip in the future, no doubt). However, I knew that this library at the Musée des Tissus existed (from a previous trip to the museum), and I knew that it was open to the public. What I did not know was what they had (or did not have) with respect to my research. This seemed especially important as some of my research now involves figuring out 16thC textiles. As I had not been able to access their library on-line, a visit seemed the best solution. Here’s the reading room of the library, where I’ve spent a good bit of the last two days….

A font of great textile knowledge

This has been a wonderful experience! I have been able to check various works that I have wanted to see, found one or two new ones, and gained what I think will be useful information for various aspects of my research. I was even able to purchase a textile vocabulary book published by CIETA (Centre International d’Étude des Textiles Anciens). I had found a copy of this at Cornell’s library, but I have needed to look up other things since then. So I am very happy to have my own copy! Anyway, much to work on when I get back home! And best of all…..Several weeks before I left, I initiated contact with the library to let them know I was coming. At that time, I recognized that their website had undergone a radical redesign. All I really thought then was “I’m glad the website is so much easier to use”. What I didn’t realize was that this new website now provides some on-line access to their library holdings…and I didn’t even know this until today, when a class of students was in getting some sort of orientation. While I was sitting there doing work, I could hear their professor telling them how they could access the library’s holdings on-line….what? on-line? really? How cool is that? When I got back to my hotel room (and internet access), I checked it out, and, lo and behold, I did find a place to search the catalog. Whether this search facility is going to be useful remains to be seen. But it is wonderful that it exists (and boy am I glad I didn’t know this until after I got here 😉

Because I’ve just spent my time sitting in that chair by the little yellow purse (in the previous photo), I don’t have much in the way of photos to share. Instead, my research notebook is bulging with new information to process and I have some photocopies from a magazine that I’ve tried several ways to get my hands on. Life is good. On my walk to the library this morning, however, I did come across today’s “bit with the dog”: these faithful canines waiting for their human to come out of a store…the boucherie (butcher store). You can’t tell in this still photo, but the black dog’s tail was wagging…in anticipation, I suspect.

Human, remember to get some ground sirloin for your faithful dogs!

On the food front, I have just been eating the hotel breakfast and lunch. The museum library closes from 12:30 to 2pm for lunch. So I have been exploring lunch places nearby. Yesterday’s lunch was a lovely crêpe filled with lots of spinach and two fried eggs, accompanied, of course, by a boule of cidre brut (hard cider). Today, I had a lovely salad that had, over a huge pile of greens, 2 halves of a potato (in its skin), each with a slab of goat cheese on top. I only got through one of the halves! And I think those potatoes were cooked in some kind of broth (butter?)…or maybe potatoes just taste better here? My lovely green mint tea ended the meal because then it was time to get back to work!

Tomorrow morning (Thursday) I will spend a bit more time in the library. And then I’ll begin my trek back to Paris. Whether I am heading for a plane flight, is, however, still up for debate. Air France is in the midst of a pilot’s strike. So at this point, I don’t know if I’ll have a return flight to get onto on Friday. And it’s still to far in the future to find out whether my flight has been cancelled. So the next day or so might be kinda interesting as I figure out how to get home….oh no, do I have to stay in France? Though I must admit, I am ready to get home, see my beloved and my dogs, and process all the information that I’ve gathered on this wonderful trip. I don’t know whether I’ll have more blog entries for you or not…depends on how long I end up staying here. If all goes according to the current plan (an unlikely possibility), I will only be here for one more day. Whether I get the chance to do another entry is unknown. But in any case, it’s been a great trip…..Thanks, Jim, for making this trip possible. And thanks to you all for following along! Au revoir!

Lyon – Day 2 (Museum of Fine Arts)

My main purpose for being in Lyon is to go to the library at the Musée des Tissus (Cloth or Textile Museum). However, it is closed on Monday’s. The Fine Arts Museum, however, turned out to be open on Monday’s but not Tuesday’s. So the Fine Arts Museum was just the thing to plan for this day (Monday, Sept 22nd). The trip to this museum involved me learning the use of Lyon’s metro (underground). But that proved to be pretty easy. One French metro is, in many ways, like another. The trick is to have collected euro coins (not bills) so that you can use the ticket machines.

Turns out, this museum had a whole lot of 18th and 19th century art. So not too many 16thC treasures were found. One doesn’t know this until one goes there. A few interesting things, though…a lovely early-16thC gown (Flemish), and some wonderful bronze sculptures by Honoré Daumier of politicians of the time (mid 1800s):

Work attributed to that world-renowned painter, Adriaen Isenbrant

Honoré Daumier busts (1831/1832) – great faces!

Other 16thC finds included a lovely room of medals and coins, many of which have images of 16thC royalty (most notably Anne de Bretagne, France’s queen from 1488 to 1514]. I’d seen several of these in a book, so it was great to see them in person. Unfortunately, the light in the room and the fact that they were under glass meant that my photos really didn’t turn out. I wasn’t too stressed because I do have images at home for most of these from the book. And, speaking of book, I saw a wonderful book in the museum’s book store that hase even more lovely images of these medals. It cost a worthy sum, so I just took down the title and will try to borrow it through inter-library loan. The most interesting find was a set of Limoges plates by Pierre Reymond. These had images in the center depicting different months of the year. Several of these images had ladies in French Hoods! My photos came out OK, which was good, because of course that wasn’t something the gift store deemed worthy of reproducing (in book or postcard…sigh, again). But I have the artist’s name and a potential book title to track down…

Month of September: Limoges plate (1562) by Pierre Reymond

And then there was the classic example of how 19thC painters have left us with a grossly permuted idea of what people in the 16thC (and other centuries as well) wore. Here is a painting of Thomas More (for more info on Thomas More, click on this link), in prison just before being executed for not changing spiritual allegiance from the Pope to Henry VIII (sorry the picture is so fuzzy).

Thomas More by Claudius Jacquand (1827)

Now this event occurred in 1535. I can definitely tell you that the gowns that these ladies are wearing are more in line with the 1550s or 60s, that the chemise that is filling in the neckline of the woman in red is more from the 1570s, and that the headdress on the woman in yellow is pure invention (the one for the woman in red isn’t too bad but isn’t from 1535!) !! Sigh….

Woman in red (detail – Thomas More painting)

Woman in yellow (detail – Thomas More painting)

But the museum did provide an excellent specimen for today’s “bit with the dog”:

Sculpted by Georges Gardet around 1894

For dinner, I chose a restaurant that was listed in my Michelin Guide as being run by the same family for 3 generations….and it was close by the hotel. I have a lovely wine that I’d never had before, from Côte de Brouilly, which is in the southern part of Beaujolais, just a bit north of Lyon. My meal consisted of: AMUSE-BOUCHE – 2 little pieces of smoked salmon with a tiny dollop of cream that had dill mixed into it; ENTRÉE – “ballotine de lapin et noisette, coeur de foie gras”, which was a slice of rabbit “boxed” in (ballotine=box) with its “coeur” (heart) of foie gras, kinda like a terrine, but the rabbit was not minced, and served with an apricot coulis…Yummy…and not as overly rich as foie gras can sometimes be; PLAT – slices of Albacore tuna that had a lovely pesto sauce around them and were served with a package that was “wrapped” with lengthwise slices of zucchini and whose filling was cooked eggplant; FROMAGE – a lovely mix of some robuchon, chèvre, rochefort, and a 4th one whose name I forget; DESSERT – Opéra of pistachios (layers of chocolate, pistachio cream, and cherry jam) served with a small scoop of cherry sorbet; it was lovely, but I confess, it was too chocolately for me to really enjoy). HOT BEVERAGE: a lovely green gunpowder tea. I was really, really full, causing not such a great night of sleep. Such sacrifices I make, huh? But I am almost caught up with the blog…..!

Lyon – Day 1 (Vieux Lyon)

Sunday (Sept 21) was my first full day in Lyon. The plan was to take a guided tour of a 16thC house in Vieux Lyon, called Musée Gadagne. When I checked in the U.S., I did not see a way to make a reservation for the tour. However, when I checked here in France, it did appear that reservations needed to be made and that, probably, none were left for this day. Since the tour wasn’t scheduled until 3pm, I decided to get myself to the museum well before the tour to see if I could weasel into it. Well, let me tell you about the Journées du Patrimoine….this translates roughly to “Days of our Patrimony”. It is a weekend every year when France emphasizes its “patrimoine” by providing special tours of buildings and historic sights and opens up some historic sites not usually open to the public. The word “patrimoine” is one with much more depth of meaning than its English translation. The “patrimoine” is the history of France, not just history in a “dates and places” sort of way, but also in the “how things were done in the past” way too. Here, “history” is so visible and covers much a long period of time. The French are very proud of this history and feel that it is very important to learn about it so that it can be passed to future generations. For them, keeping the past known is an important part of moving into the future.  It is a difficult concept to describe, one that I am not completely sure of myself.

Anyway, the weekend of September 20th/21st were this year’s Journées du Patrimoine. The bad news was that of course I wasn’t going to find room on the tour on the 21st because everyone was out enjoying the Journées and had booked the tour. The good news was that the museum (which describes the history of Lyon) had waived its admission for the Journées, so since I now had some time on my hands, I decided to check it out (and to at least see the inside of the 16thC building). The museum was very interesting! When we were in London last year, I was surprised how much I enjoyed learning about the history of London in the History of London museum. So too did I now enjoy learning about the history of Lyon. And, thank goodness, they did have some information about the lovely (16thC) rooms too. Here is a picture of the wonderful spiral staircase (called the l’Escalier d’Honneur) and the “Salle Renaissance”. A 16thC guest to the house would have walked up the spiral staircase and entered into this room.

L’Escalier d’Honneur

The “grand salle” of the house: note the beautiful fireplace at the end and the lovely windows – on both sides

Whilst investigating the museum’s book shop, I found a tour book of Vieux Lyon and decided to use the rest of my afternoon in the exploration of this architecture (a lot of which is 16thC). This is where the 2nd benefit of it being the Journées weekend came in. Many of these old buildings have beautiful courtyards, entered through a passage behind their front door. In the guidebook, it mentions when a given door is open, so that you can walk through (some only in morning, others in afternoons, etc.). But because it was the Journées weekend, almost all of these doors were open all day and had people going through them pretty constantly (a benefit when the doors are be somewhat obscure). So I got to see quite a few of these lovely courtyards on my walk through Vieux Lyon! Oh, and did I forget to add that after walking through the museum, my feet were tired and my tummy empty. So I stopped at a café for some lovely hot mint tea and a crêpe – lightly filled with honey and with two little steamed figs on top! Now onto the walk through Vieux Lyon….

I thought I’d try to give you a (quick) summary. The fronts of the houses come in many varieties (first 2 photos). I, of course, am especially fond of the very Renaissance-y ones (3rd photo).

Pink tower on the corner of 22, rue Juiverie

Lovely galleries of 60, rue Saint Jean

Now that’s Renaissance influence…14, rue Lainerie

To start your journey, you go through a fairly innocuous-looking door, and often down a fairly dark corridor…..

Door to 52, rue Saint Jean

But once you enter back into the light, you are standing in a beautiful little Renaissance courtyard. Around you, you might see a gallery, a spiral staircase, tiered hallways…..

Gallery in courtyard of 8, rue Juiverie

Spiral staircase in courtyard of 23, rue Juiverie

Tiered hallways with vaulted ceilings in courtyard of 28, rue Saint Jean 

And if that wasn’t enough, there is one with its staircase in a beautiful pink tower:

Tower in courtyard of 16, rue de Boeuf 

There were many other lovely sights…too many to show. I arrived back at the hotel foot sore and hungry. It turned out that on Sunday evening, many of the interesting restaurants that I had scouted out the night before were closed. So I went back to the Tunisian one again. This time, I had a the “brik” was filled with a fried egg and tuna; followed by couscous (bowl 1), veggies in broth (bowl 2) and a platter with a bit of lamb & chicken; finally, sorbet for dessert: two flavors I’d never had – one scoop of fig and 2nd of lemon with thyme! First day in Lyon “est fini”!

P.S. I forgot to include today’s “bit with the dog”: a sign for a bar/café in Vieux Lyon:

Sign for the “Smoking Dog”

Traveling to Lyon

The goal of Saturday (Sept 20) was to get myself from Avignon to Lyon via regular (non-TGV) train. The train did not leave until 12:30, so my morning task was to take myself off to the Musée du Petit Palais. The research-related “excuse” for including Avignon in this trip was that in the 1990s, the Musée du Petit Palais put on a exhibition about silk brocades. I have seen the exhibition catalog, called “Les Brocarts Célestes”, and it has some truly lovely photos of 15th & 16thC brocades in it. Unfortunately (as I said in my introduction to the trip), neither my attempts to take photos of the book images, nor attempts to find the book itself, were a resounding success. Hence, my desire to see if arriving at the source of the exhibit would yield a copy of the book. Alas, this turned out not to be the case. As the woman at the museum stated “Il n’existe plus” (it doesn’t exist anymore). So I will have to continue my quest to located a used copy. Because this quest was unsuccessful and the cathedral there was closed for restoration, I was done with my morning tasks sooner than expected. So I just took myself off to the train station to wait (got a good bit of knitting done).

The train ride to Lyon basically followed the Rhône River. The Rhône passes through Avignon on its way to the Mediterranean Ocean. Its course is basically a straight north/south line from Avignon, forming the Rhône Valley in the process. At Lyon, the Rhône bends 90 degrees to the east and the much smaller Sâone River comes in from the north. So Lyon is at the confluence of these two rivers. (In fact, my hotel here is located in the Presqu’île section of Lyon, which means “peninsula”, but which literally translates to “nearly an island”. Here is a photo of a 1575 map of Lyon’s presqu’île. You can see a big road cutting north/south across it…a little less than halfway down this road, on its righthand side are 3 blue-roofed buildings….that’s about where my hotel is.

Map of Lyon’s Presqu’Île around 1575

Anyway, on the trip up the Rhône Valley was quite beautiful. The train is running up the east side of the Rhône River. This is an area that I would like to see with a car at some future trip. It is fascinating to watch the landscape change as you head north. First there are weird rocky “mountains” to the east. I haven’t found the name of these yet. Just north of Valence, the terrain changes to bluffs on the east side of the river. These bluff are quite rocky and they hold lots and lots of grape vines. This could be one of the sources of Côte de Rhone wine, a wine I have been enjoying frequently during my meals in the south. As one continues north, the soil seems to become less rocky and the vegetation more agricultural (stuff other than grapes). South of Vienne, the low hills on the west side of the river become covered with vines. One can see barges pulled by tugboats, kinda like the semi truck as it pulls its trailer. These barges are moving freight up the river, much as it would have been done throughout time.

Once in Lyon, I managed to get myself and baggage off the train. Next task was to figure out the transit system enough to get to my hotel. Lyon has a complicated network of trams (above ground) and metro (underground) and, of course, no straight path to the hotel. But I got that figured out too. So by the time I got me and my bags to the hotel, it was time to just sit, cool off, and unwind. I did discover the wonderful Internet service and got some of the blogging backlog worked on.

I walked around the hotel area a bit, looking for a place to eat. In the process, I discovered the Café Tricot (the Knit Café), which was closed, but seemed to have tables, chairs (so presumably some sort of food or beverage) and lots of yarn. What a great idea! I stopped close by at a Tunisian restaurant for dinner and had a lovely meal of brik (basiically a quesadilla cooked in a skillet with hot oil; this one had goat cheese and minced mint leaves in it), followed by a tajine of chicken with lemon confit (which is a whole lemon that is cooked so that you can eat the whole thing – I gotta figure out how to do this!), and, for dessert, a “sablé aux amends et la cannelle”, which was a many-layered confection (bottom layer=thin white flour sablé cookie; next, a circular “cookie” of ground almonds – not as fine as flour but not paste either – and cinnamon, it tasted kinda like gingerbread), served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I ended the meal with, you guessed it, Moroccan/Tunisian mint tea.

I decided on an early bedtime to recover from the day! And now I only have two more days to blog until I am caught up…..