Photo

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Architecture, art., GDR, life, Saxony, war

Dresden is a city in Saxony, Germany we have often visited since 1998. This city was until 1989 in East Germany after the partition of 1945.  It survived the war unscathed because it was a city known for arts and culture with no military vocation. However all that changed on the nights of February 14 and 15, 1945 just 2 and a half months before the end of the war, when the British launched massive aerial fire bombing of the city.

The old Dresden was completely destroyed and tens of thousands died. After the war under the communist dictatorship of the GDR, the old city was left pretty much as it was with its pile of rubble. Since 1990 it has been rebuilt completely and now there are no traces of the destruction. This in itself presents a problem,  if visitors are told the story of the City they will think it odd that no visible sign remain. On the other hand it all looks pretty new though built in the same style as before the destruction of 1945.

This is the old public square by  the Frauenkirche, the lutheran church of our lady. None of the buildings in this photo including the church existed prior to 2010. It was all rebuilt to look and feel exactly as it use to be. Queen Elizabeth II gave the new cross atop the Church lantern in a gesture of reconciliation.

The most impressive reconstruction in Dresden is the lutheran church of our Lady ”Frauenkirche” built by Georg Bahr between 1726-43, measuring 90 meters in height and all made of stone. We saw it being rebuilt during 3 visits to the city. The interior is beautiful in its baroque decor. The original church like the reconstructed one was built with donations from Lutherans and others. Originally it was a protest by the people against their King August the Strong who had wild ambitions. He decided that he wanted to be King of Poland and of Saxony. The problem was that he would have to convert to the Roman Catholic Faith of the Poles to achieve his goal. He did and built a Catholic cathedral next to his palace. The population was not happy with his decision.

Photo of 1920 of the Frauenkirche

Photo from 1970 the Frauenkirche a ruin, we first saw it in this state prior to the start of the reconstruction. The building itself survived the fire bombing but on 16 February 1945 in the morning the Ministers of the Church went in to see about the damage and while inspecting it the cooling stone of the Church started to crack violently and crashed on top of them. In this photo you see a vast empty field compared with the reconstructed area today.

If you have a chance to visit Dresden, it is well worth it, located halfway between Berlin and Munich.

 

Marly

Tags

Archeology, Chateau, France, history, life, Louis XIV

I love to watch YouTube videos about historical places. There are quite a few made on French chateaux like Versailles and the numerous renovations it is going through, currently the roof of the Chapelle of the Palace is being rebuilt, it has never been done since the construction of the Palace as we know it today in 1668.

There was another Chateau called Marly, not very far by carriage or horse ride from Versailles. Louis XIV love going there, it was very small and simple if compared to Versailles. Marly was an hermitage or refuge for the King from the daily State Ceremonial of Versailles. Marly was abandoned or neglected after Louis XIV death in September 1715.  At the revolution it was sold to a merchant who dismantled it and sold off the stones and wood of the building. Today what remains is the beautiful gardens surrounding the footprint of Marly and the great water works.

Extensive archeological work has taken place on the foundation of Marly and what has been discovered gives an excellent idea of what life was like. Much details of the building exist thanks to archival material and extensive architectural drawings. Louis XIV came to Marly to relax and only 100 persons could come by INVITATION only. An even smaller number could stay overnight in the small pavilion built on either side of the palace. You can count 6 pavilion on either side. The closer the pavilion was to the main house where the King lived the closer that person was considered to be to the King.

To bring the water to Marly as shown above was a feat of engineering and a huge pumping machine had to be built so that each day the hydraulics would pump enough water to feed the pools and let the fountains play. The cost alone annually was by today’s standard in the millions of dollars.

To be invited to Marly was an honour anyone at Court was willing to fight viciously over. To suggest to the King that you wanted to be invited, if he looked at you or said a few words, you could exclaim; A Marly Sire! ( take me to Marly Sire) and maybe Louis would take the hint and then maybe not.

In the course of all the archeological investigation, even the latrines were examined. Medical pathologists were brought in to study the general health of people living at Marly at the time of Louis XIV. It turns out that it made no difference if you were the King, a great aristocrat or a minor one, or just a servant, everyone had worms. To such an extent that excrements were alive with them. Doctors of the period would examine feces and make detailed notes, even drawings of the various worms infecting a person. Some of the drawings are fanciful, like little dragons or creatures. It appears that people would live with the condition because it was a common situation in society in general, sanitation was not a concern.

Louis XIV lived to be 76 years old and died of diabetes and gangrene. Others Courtiers lived to be in their 80’s.

If Versailles with thousands of Courtiers living there had no toilets and no bathing facilities, you did your business under the great staircases or in a corner. Marly had latrines, the King used chamber pots, a special chair was designed for this purpose and he would perform this natural functions surrounded by Courtiers who were given special access to observe. The person of the King was viewed as State Property by all, so the King and Queen were on stage 24/7, what a life!

This being an age where messages from the most mundane to the very important had to be written and sent with your seal to the intended party you can imagine the message traffic. If today we have gmail and some of us get a lot of emails each day, imagine getting on average 50 letters per day or more. What to do with all those billets? Paper then was not like today and did not have the same stiffness or acidity we have in our paper. So it could be re-used and so it was as toilet paper. You only kept the most valuable or important letters or billet and the rest was put to good use. The remnants of letters were discovered by the archeologists in the latrines of Marly.

In old age Louis XIV suffered from numerous health problems, he had lost all his teeth, a common condition then for anyone over 35 years of age. His palate had been perforated by his doctors, a mishap while trying to cure something else. He had gout, he also had diabetes and the disease was so advanced that in July of 1715 his doctors suggested amputating his leg. His advisors rejected that idea, the King was brought back to Versailles, everyone knew he was condemned, he declined quickly and he died in September. Having lost all this children to various diseases, his great-grandson Louis XV became King. 

This photo shows a square area which is the footprint of the Chateau of Marly with the surrounding forest and gardens with statues. The last pair of statues were installed in the presence of the King only 2 months before his death.

The Sun rises again for us all

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art., Food, Friends, happiness, life, Music, New, year

The Sun appears as the Earth rotates for a new day. May 2020 bring you many good things in your life and that of your friends and family. Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. Though I may not know all of you, I know some and through this journey we have become friends.

I also look forward to reading the blogs of those I follow and those I will discover in time.

All the best to you all. BONNE ANNÉE!! Meilleurs Voeux!!

 

Bon voyage

Tags

Holland America, Norway, Sea, Ships, vacation, voyage

Well we will be on this new ship in just a few days, departing from Amsterdam and going to Norway, the theme of our cruise is Norse Legends.

Looking forward to it all, especially the scotch bar NOTES, the French Restaurant SEL DE MER and the DUTCH Café, all looks inviting. Lots to enjoy! Ciao.

First roll of the Summer

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Beach, lobster, PEI, Richard's, Summer, tourism, West Cove Head

Today finally we had some nice weather which was inviting enough for us to go to the beach at Cove Head. We are only 20 minutes away from the beach and the drive up is quiet usually alone on the road. The beach at Brackley is part of the National Park and so it is forested with maritime pines and sand dunes, marshy land and tall grass, beautiful and quiet. There are also some small harbours for lobster boats like Cove Head and a simple shack like restaurant called Richard’s which only serves seafood and lobster prepared very simply like you would have in your kitchen at home. You place your order and pay at the window then you are given an electronic device the size of a small phone and when it beeps your order is ready, you can sit at one of the simple wood tables looking out to the sea and beach or you can sit in your car to eat. The parking lot is small about 30 cars.  Richard’s has become very popular and it is best to go between 3 and 4pm to avoid crowds but still today we waited 20 minutes for our Lobster roll and fries.  It is a generous portion of lobster, I would say half to a full one pounder, chopped up and mixed with celery, salt and pepper and mayo on a hot dog bun. It was delicious. Having lunch late meant no dinner tonight, we are too full.

This being the long weekend of two in a row, June 24 Quebec St-Jean Baptiste Day and then 1 July Canada Day, schools are out for the Summer and so family vacations should start. But where are the tourists? Last night at the Summer Opening of the Art Gallery of the Confederation Centre, a person I know who is well connected to the business circles told me that tourism is down 50% so far this year. There are no tourist, I am not making this up, since May 15 we should have had droves of them all over the place, no what we have is lots of vacancies and half empty flights in and out of the Island. Cruise ships come but passengers do not get off. They are usually in port from 9am to 5pm. Last week only 20% got off a ship carrying 2600 people. The only reason I see so far has to do with the terrible weather we have had in April, May and June. Too many days of heavy rain and blustery winds with well below average in temperature. Even today with a lot of sunshine at the beach is was around 16C and in town it was around 19C not exactly Summer weather. The wind is still strong and cold.

Going to the beach so close to our home is pure luxury, it is so quiet, all you hear is the wind, the surf and the birds.

 

So many things to talk about

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Archie, Canada., Jean Vanier, Maud Lewis, Meghan and Harry, Montreal, Politics, Royalty

There are so many things to blog about I feel like I should start one of the YouTube channels and talk endlessly about this and that, like so many people do. I have noticed though that they tend to attract the vacuous crowd who have angst about everything and nothing. It is also a way to make a lot of money easily. SO NO I won’t do that to you world wide readers.

In the last week we have had the demi-mondaine saga of Harry and Meghan, their lives remind me of La Traviata by Verdi.  They have been milking the baby story for all it’s worth. Can they now receed into the shadows and invent a life that has meaning. How about Harry going back to being a soldier and Meghan doing sit-com or reality shows. The whole affair about the baby was beyond ridiculous and now the name Archie? Really? First thing I thought was Archie Bunker or Archie and Jughead, as for Harrison ok, it’s Star Wars and Harrison Ford, was he not a boyfriend of Meghan at one point? No title for the kid but will he be on the family payroll? I also found showing off the baby in the Great Hall of Windsor castle a trifle dramatic, a bit Downton Abbey like and Meghan saying she had just bumped into Prince Philip as if… I wondered why not meet the Press at their little servants cottage at Frogmore, more genuine if you want to play how simple and down to earth you are. The two of them, phoney baloney.

A book I have been reading is the life of Maud Lewis the folk art painter. Not really a biography as much as a chronicle of a very sad life and an even sadder married life with a parasite of a husband who exploited here and barely noticed her existence. Her own brother Charles cut off all ties after her unwed pregnancy and she in turn living in shame denied the existence of her own daughter. Severely handicapped she led the life of a recluse. In spite of it all was able to produce those incredible paintings. The author of the book is a relative, Lance Woolaver, he paints a picture of Nova Scotia and the Digby area, not pretty,  a lot of grinding poverty, ignorance, lack of social services, isolation, racism, bigotry, the place appears pleasant to Summer tourists who have money and travel around, but that is a mirage, all very third world. Nova Scotia today still has deep pockets of poverty and scenic beauty and a rich history. It only makes her work even more wonderful when all these elements are taken in.

In Canada politically speaking the Government of Justin Trudeau is seen by pollsters of all stripes to be sinking and we could be headed in October for a Conservative majority with Andrew Scheer as PM. God help us, this is a man who has made lying his main political plank, has no policies on anything, he is a multi-millionaire, money all made from his political activities. Copies word for word Trump’s ideology, associates himself with hate groups and neo-nazis calling for the Prime Minister to be killed. Is a religious zealot and of course attracts basically the white supremacist vote. The popularity of his party right now stems from the political troubles of PM Trudeau. Conservative Senators in our Canadian Senate have been blocking through procedures crucial votes on bills knowing that the Parliamentary clock is ticking down to the end of the Session in June.

The Green Party in Canada is hoping for big gains, which is quite possible, but will not be able to form a government. Trudeau may still get re-elected simply because of the loathing Scheer inspires but if Scheer and his cronies get elected we will be in big trouble like Ontario is with former dope peddler Doug Ford (FordNation). Populism in Canada is making big strides, there is an evil wind blowing.

 

And on another topic all together and quite different.

Yesterday Jean Vanier died in Paris at the age of 90, he was a doctor of Philosophy and an Canadian Navy Officer who horrified by the Holocaust and the Atomic Bomb decided to dedicate his life to Peace. He is known as the founder of L’Arche which is a world wide organization which as Vanier described it as establishing the unique value of the intellectually disabled. The principle he established is very simple, he said; ”The most important thing is not to do things for people who are poor and in distress, but to enter into relationship with them, to be with them and help them find confidence in themselves and discover their own gifts.”

Jean Vanier (1928-2019) was the son of eminent Canadians, his father was General Georges Vanier, a Canadian World War One hero, a diplomat and Governor General of Canada. His mother Pauline Archer Vanier of Montreal, a lady of great distinction who came from a celebrated family in the history of Canada. Both his parents were nominated for Beatification in the Roman Catholic Church for their Piety, Faith and humanitarian work.

Jean Vanier had siblings and they too distinguished themselves in their respected fields.

I had the opportunity to meet him in 1996 in Amman, Jordan, he came to visit his cousin who was my Ambassador at the time and a little get together was organized at the Residence. I was immensely impressed with his quiet dignity and is words which gave another look at what the world could be like. What he proposed was not utopia, he proved it by the success of L’Arche around the world and the legacy he leaves. The World today needs more like Jean Vanier, we lost a great humanitarian.

“The fundamental principle of peace is a belief that each person is important. Do you believe you are important? Do you believe that we can do something to make this world a better place?”

– Jean Vanier –

 

 

 

Setting Day in PEI

Tags

life, lobster, PEI, traps

Today May 3, 2019 is Setting Day in all ports in PEI, everyone really is talking about it and it is annually a very big affair. This year due to poor weather and very high winds the captains of the Lobster boats and the Canadian Dept of Fisheries delayed Setting Day by several days. But finally the weather has improved and the wind died down and off they go to start setting their lobster traps, this means that by Saturday people in PEI will eat PEI Lobster. The job of setting traps and catching lobster is dangerous and difficult, anyone who has ever work on a lobster boat will tell you so, but it is also exciting. No where else in Canada do we have such a tradition which is so typical of the life on PEI.

To work on a lobster boat you need good sea legs and a good amount of physical strenght. You go to sea early in the morning just at dawn and return during the afternoon. The traps must be numbered and set according to an exact pattern, no haphazard work here, it is very important that each captain know which traps are his and in what designated area he is setting them. Each trap comes also with a buoy, in the photo you can see the buoy in blue with red tips.

Everyone wishes them luck and happy Setting Day, friends, families and onlookers line the dock and the wharfs to see them off. Now let’s see what the price per pound will be this year. Of course the best prices are set at the dock, so if you go down to the dock chances are you will pay a lot less than what you would pay in a grocery store or at the Fish store or worse what the tourists pay in restaurants, but the tourists are all rich so hey they can pay.

Election results in PEI

Tags

Green, Legislature, party, PEI, Vote

An historic night in PEI,  the Liberal government of Premier Wade MacLaughlan was reduced to minority third party in the Legislature, Wade lost his seat in his District.

We now have a new Minority Conservative Government with Dennis King as Premier designate. He just became the Conservative party Leader 2 months ago. His government will have 12 seats in the Legislature.

The big news is the victory of the Green Party who in a matter of 4 years went from having just one member to having now 9 members, of those 5 are women. The Green Party is now the Official Opposition, a first in Canadian Political History. Peter Bevan-Baker is a charismatic leader and this evening his speech was unlike any other I had ever heard from a political leader, he was gracious and he started first my recalling the memory of the late Josh Underhay and his little son Oliver who died on Good Friday in a tragic accident. The election in District 9 where Josh was a candidate was suspended and will take place in 3 months time. It was an emotional speech but also that of a gentleman avoiding the usual phraseology so common in speeches today. The Green party has a strong position now in the PEI Legislature and many hope that the minority government of Dennis King will work in cooperation with the Greens. King as Premier designate gave the indication that he would pursue a path of cooperation with other parties.

There are only 27 seats in our Island Legislature so getting along is important for good government, something our out going Premier forgot too often.

In my own District 12 Green Party candidate Karla Bernard was elected as our MLA. She is a very good person and I have confidence that she will be good for us.

Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the Official Opposition in the House and Green Party Leader.

Unfortunately the referendum to change the way we vote did not get the necessary votes to pass. Only 15 out of a mandatory 17 District votes Yes for a change or 49%.

The number of people who voted was also down from the usual 82% to 76% this election, difficult to understand what actually happened.

Gone

What a day and who can imagine such a tragedy. Very sad indeed to see such a great building which just celebrated 850 years go up in smoke in 3 hours. Of course it can be repaired but the old is gone. Just goes to show how life and all things in this world are temporary.

Notre Dame de Paris built between 1163 to 1345, destroyed by fire 15 April 2019.

Paris 1948

Gratuitous Puppy Celebrations

The story of Our Nicky and Nora on their Birthdays.

Click below

via Gratuitous Puppy Celebrations