The Lady of Vix and Her Treasure

The star attraction of the museum at Chatillon sur Seine, in Burgundy, where we had such a great time recently, is the collection of archaeological finds from a hilltop at the nearby hamlet of Vix. Around 465 BCE a woman was buried on the site, laid out on a four wheeled open wagon and surrounded by unimaginable treasures made of metal. Her gold torc was stolen exactly a month before we got there, but the most outstanding piece, a huge bronze krater used for mixing wine and water, is totally worth the visit.

The Vix Krater.

The hilltop settlement at Vix is strategically positioned to overlook the valley of the upper Seine. It was a staging post for shipments of tin coming from Britain and being sent to Italy and the community here could control a wide territory. The Celtic culture in the 5th and 6th centuries BCE at Vix appears to have been matriarchal, and in possession of immense wealth from the collection of taxes related to the tin trade passing through their territory.

Detail of the Vix krater.

A local farmer and keen amateur archaeologist noticed a slight anomaly on the lower slopes of the hillside at Vix in 1953. He told another local self taught archaeologist and the latter began excavations. Although he recorded each object found he did not always record in what position those artefacts were discovered.

Detail of the Vix krater.

The tomb was dug into the earth, creating a chamber of 4 x 4 metres. It had been covered with a 6 metre high, 40 metre diameter tumulus, but this had more or less disappeared by the time of the dig. A skeleton of an approximately 30 year old woman was found laid out on a four wheeled parade wagon with bronze fittings. Numerous jewels, bracelets, torcs, and bronze fibulae brooches were associated with the deceased. As a consequence the finds became known as the Treasure of Vix.

Reconstructed wheel of the vehicle the Lady was laid out on, with the original bronze elements in place.

The French State Archaeology Agency (INRAP) conducted a dig in 2019 designed to contextualise the previous amateur dig of nearly 70 years ago. The head of INRAP likened the situation to being a bit like if you opened a book and kept the pictures but no longer have the text which went with them. This new dig has recovered missing fragments of the krater which completes the frieze of warriors.

The bronze elements of the parade wagon the Lady of Vix was laid out on.

The krater is the largest metal vessel from classical antiquity in the world. It was made in Greek workshops based in the south of Italy around 535 BCE, and probably shipped to France in seven main pieces to be put together once it arrived in Burgundy. Its dimensions are exceptional -- 1.64 metres high (that's the same height as me!), weighing 208 kilograms and having a capacity of 1100 litres. The decoration features gorgons as volute handles, a lid, and a frieze of horses, chariots and hoplites (soldiers) around the neck. It is masterpiece of antique bronze working.

View of the upper Seine valley from the archaeological site on the hill at Vix.

This was absolutely the highlight of our recent trip and it was on the first day of travel!!

Lean Times in Loches

The War years marked Loches, as they did the rest of the country, with deprivation and rationing. For buying staples, especially food, families were issued with ration cards. The quantities authorised, whether it be for bread, meat, pasta etc were dependent on gender, age and how physical your work was.

In the market in Loches prices soared. At the beginning of the War a dozen eggs cost 9 francs. Two years later they were 19 francs. It was the same for a kilo of butter, which went from 25 francs to 100 francs.

The statue of Alfred de Vigny today, back in his original location.

The restrictions didn't only affect food. Many products became difficult to obtain, such as coffee, heating fuel, shoes, tyres or clothes. To save electricity the opening hours of shops were limited. Lacking petrol, the vet did his rounds on horseback. Certain car and truck owners modified their vehicles to use charcoal gas.

France was suffering a severe lack of raw materials. In 1941 the authorities collected all the non-ferrous metal they could find (lead, copper, tin). The following year anyone who handed in 200g of copper was offered a litre of wine in recompense.

This lack of metal resulted in the loss of numerous works of art. In Tours, several statues, including a famous one of Balzac, were melted down. In 1943 it was announced that the statue of Alfred de Vigny in Loches must also be sacrificed. This news provoked an immediate emotional outburst by the general public. The locals decided to act, and in the early hours of 29 July the bronze sculpture by Sicard was discreetly lifted off its socle by workers from Deschamps Carpentry and transported to a troglodyte cave in rue de la Roche Appert, where, well hidden, it waited in total safety for the end of the War.

The Great Flood

Because we are surrounded by rivers, including major ones like the Creuse, this area has been subject to some significant flooding over the centuries. One such was the flood of 23 June 1848, which prompted Charles Mourault to compose a poem and inscribe it on a stone in a wall overlooking the river at Baratière, a hamlet outside of Yzeures sur Creuse. Here's my rough translation.

 

The Creuse at Baratière.

 

"Here is where the dreaded scourge stopped that God made us go through in these deplorable days. The water rose without end and everyone left their refuge. Which in that moment look like islands. The fertile plain, the most precious treasure, offers us nothing more than the shadow of death. The people gather on this sad shore, lamenting their fate, saying what slavery. The river ressembled the foaming sea which in its expanse had become so threatening. Oh peoples who are the successors of this century may God protect you from such a great misfortune."

 

Flooding like this is relatively rare, but when it comes, causes significant damage. Nowadays the municipalities involved will declare a disaster (Fr. catastrophe) and everyone affected is guaranteed cover by their insurance.

Thanks to Bruno Guitton who showed me the inscription, and to Alain Chartier who sent me a transcription and details of the inscription's date and author.

First World War Memorial at Saint Flovier

 At Saint Flovier you get to see the human faces of the Great War.

Inside the church there is an unusual memorial. Put up sometime after 1918 thanks to Paul Gravier, a local benefactor, and designed by Lux Fournier, it showcases the faces of those locals that the War took away. Around a central painting representing Christ appearing to a fallen soldier, 54 photographs printed on enamel disks give a presence to these young men of Saint Flovier who died for France. Eleven other soldiers are identified just with a name plate but without a photo. Paul Gravier's grandson Patrick Chevalier de La Teillais was killed in 1918. His oldest daughter (and Patrick's aunt), Rosita, is said to have had a heart attack caused by the strong emotion produced when hearing the bells ring out to announce the end of the War. Paul Gravier had built a Renaissance Revival style chateau on the edge of the village in 1884 for a vast sum of money (a million and a half francs) and he and his wife Elisabeth Hugues had entertained lavishly. She died in 1905, and a few years after the War his other grandson died in an accident. On Paul Gravier's death the estate was divided and sold in relatively small parcels as farmland. The chateau was allowed to fall into ruin and has been demolished. 

Amongst the faces is Paul Désiré Brault, born in Saint Flovier in 1894. A soldier in the 113th Infantry Regiment, he was sent to the Front in the autumn of 1914. Some weeks later he went missing at Boureuilles in the Meuse, far away from his native village.

And there is Louis Jules Blin, born in Fléré la Rivière in 1892. He joined the 90th Infantry Regiment in Le Blanc in 1912 and died of his wounds in Poitiers hospital in September 1914.

Gustave Guinot was born in Douadic in 1878. He joined up in 1898 in Le Blanc, recruited into the 9th Transport and Logistics Squadron. He died after a short illness whilst in service in November 1916 in Hospital 76 in Cannes.

Joseph Eugene Bruneau was born in Mer sur l'Indre in 1893 and was a sergeant in the 160th Infantry Regiment. He had joined up in Chateauroux in 1913 and was killed by the enemy at Ripont in the Marne in September 1915.

Victor Raoul Chasselay was born in Saint Flovier in 1890 and was a sergeant second class in the 49th Artillery Regiment. He was recruited at Le Blanc in 1910 and killed by the enemy at Eherdinghe in Belgium in May 1915. The records seem to indicate that his family were not notified for a year after his death.

When you stand in front of a memorial like this you don't just read the names. You do a calculation of how many young men never came back, and how that affected a village as small as Saint Flovier (population around 750). You look at their faces and imagine being their mother, or their wife. You wonder what they might have achieved if their fate had not been to die in the mud of some First World War battlefield. This is not just a list of names, albeit tragically young men, but men with faces, which makes them that much more present.

The service records of these men are available online at https://www.memoiredeshommes.defense.gouv.fr/conflits-operations/premiere-guerre-mondiale.

A Descartes Memorial

There's a plaque in Descartes, in a slightly out of the way car park, that we have noticed, but never stopped to read.

In the 1930s, André Goupille was a veterinarian living with his family in La Haye-Descartes (now Descartes). When France was divided during the Second World War, the German demarcation line passed close to their home. Because of his profession, André held a permanent pass allowing him to cross the line. From 1940 onward, he organized a clandestine network to help people cross, involving his wife Jeanne, their four teenage children, and their housekeeper, Odette Metais. Together, they assisted approximately 2,000 individuals, including Jews fleeing persecution, escaped prisoners of war, Allied pilots, and members of the Resistance. They also transported messages and intelligence to London and sometimes sheltered refugees for several days.

Their courage is documented by letters of gratitude from those they helped, including Jewish refugees who had escaped from Drancy. In January 1942, André was arrested for carrying incriminating documents but managed to secure his release by claiming they were linked to black-market activities. He then continued his work from the southern zone, joined later by Jeanne. After the German invasion of the southern zone, their resistance activities expanded to include receiving parachute drops.

In February 1944, the entire group was arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps. Remarkably, all survived. In 2000, Yad Vashem honored André and Jeanne Goupille, their children, and Odette Metais as Righteous Among the Nations.

Pierre and Denise Renard also lived in La Haye-Descartes during the Second World War. Pierre was involved in the French Resistance and helped escaped prisoners of war and downed Allied airmen cross into the southern zone. His actions expanded when a local hotel owner informed him that the Freudman family, Belgian Jews seeking refuge in France, had been abandoned by smugglers after being robbed of their money.

Pierre rescued the family—two parents and their two-year-old twin daughters—and brought them to his home, where they were temporarily hidden in a small hut in the courtyard. Denise, a schoolteacher, cared for them and ensured they had food and basic necessities. One morning before dawn, she provided the family with supplies and forged identity papers before bidding them farewell. Pierre then guided them by indirect routes across the demarcation line and placed them on a bus bound for Vichy. The following day, he visited them to make sure they were safe.

Pierre Renard sought no reward for his actions, motivated solely by resistance to the occupation and compassion for the persecuted. In 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Dachau. Though he survived the camp, he died shortly after the war due to illness and suffering. In 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Pierre and Denise Renard as Righteous Among the Nations.

The House at the Sign of the Rose

In rue de la Cathédrale in Poitiers there is a rather grand looking student residence at Number 49. It is popularly known as the Hôtel de l'enseigne de la Rose (the House at the Sign of the Rose). It has a plaque on one side of its grand gateway saying Joan of Arc stayed there in 1429. But in fact, it turns out that not only did she not stay there, as the building is not old enough, it is not even actually on the site of the building she did stay in. That's two doors up, and has a different plaque. 

 

Student residence, known as the  Hôtel de l'enseigne de la Rose, but not the building by that name, nor on the site, of where Joan of Arc stayed.

Joan had come to Poitiers to see the King, Charles VII. She was interrogated by a group of theologians, who established that her divine mission was legitimate. 

 

The building on the site of the original Hôtel de l'enseigne de la Rose, where Joan stayed.

The English and their Burgundian allies had taken control of Paris, so Poitiers had become one of the the capitals of the 'Kingdom of Bourges'. The Royal Parliament was operating from the current Courthouse. Joan (Fr. Jeanne d'Arc) stayed in the home of Jean Rabateau, President of the Parliament, for a month in March and April of 1429, before she went off to break the seige of Orléans. 

What Flags Should Fly?

There has been a bit of chuntering in the past few years about French town halls' right to fly foreign nations flags alongside the uncontroversial French, European Union or regional ones.

Ukrainian flags went up on the majority of town halls as soon as the full scale invasion started. More recently and more controversially, Palestinian flags have been appearing, and occasionally, Israeli flags, albeit on a more limited scale.

 

 Loches Town Hall (Fr. Hôtel de Ville) flying the Ukrainian and French flags.

But town halls are supposed to abide by a principle of neutrality when providing public services. Several times individual local authorities have been challenged in the courts over the flags they've chosen to fly. These challenges are always treated on a case by case basis, and don't always result in similar outcomes.

There is no law requiring any flag at all be displayed, not even the French flag. So any flag must pass the test of being considered politically and religiously neutral if it is being displayed by a public body. Everyone's freedom of conscience and dignity must be respected, all citizens must be treated equally no matter what their convictions.

In cases that have gone to court over the flying of Ukranian flags the judgements have been that it is not an infringement of neutrality, but a demonstration of solidarity, with a nation that has been the victim of agression. Palestinian flags are allowed in situations where the flag is flown for a short time, also to express humanitarian solidarity with the victims in Gaza. These temporary flags, and those on town halls where there are no complaints, are tolerated. Some town halls habitually fly flags for specific occasions eg the Olympics, Pride Week.

Memorial to the Rafle de Loches

This memorial plaque has been a long time coming. It says:

"Remember the French arrested by the Gestapo on 27 July 1944 in the canton of Loches dead for their country in the German camps.

In this school, 58 men and 6 women lived their first day of suffering with calm, courage and dignity.

49 of them gave their life for your future, your happiness and your freedom."

 

The new memorial.

"27 July 1944:  Loches roundup.

On 27 July 1944, at dawn, Gestapo agents, accompanied by militiamen and German soldiers, came from Tours and took over the town. More than 200 people were arrested, at home and in the street. Suspected of helping the Resistance, they were gathered in the courtyard of the girls' school, on the corner of rue Alfred de Vigny and rue des Jeux.

Civilians, members of the police force, the Loches sub-préfet, gendarmes from Loches and the surrounding area, who had been ordered into town several days earlier, were taken captive. They were interrogated for part of the day.

The courtyard of the girls' school was turned into a prison. By the evening, 58 men and 6 women had not been released. They were taken to the detention centre in Tours then deported to the Nazi camps of Neuengamme and Ravensbrück, where the majority of them would meet their death.

This stele is a place of memory and recollection. It's also the last memorial grave of these victims of Nazism condemned to disappear in the 'Night and Fog' (Nacht und Nebel decree) in the deportation and extermination camps.

We must remember and never forget."

 

This side street is now called rue des Déportés.

The subsequent list of names and their professions shows first those who died, and then those who returned. 

Further Reading: Link to my previous blog post about the Rafle de Loches  https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2024/08/le-rafle-de-loches.html

Montresor in May

Recently I spent an afternoon in Montrésor with clients. I suggested it as part of their itinerary because it is one of the 'plus beaux villages de France' ('most beautiful villages of France').

 

A village cat making itself comfortable. No doubt the stone was warm from the sun, and the railing provided a handy 'box'.

A 19th century hydraulic ram (Fr. bélier hydraulique), to pump water from the river up to the chateau.

View of the chateau from the river Indrois.

View of the chateau from the river.

Looking up a street towards the church.

Looking at the natural rock that the chateau sits on.

One of many lovely roses in the village.

Statue of a young Polish soldier, Mieczislaw Kamienski by Jules Franceschi. Kamienski was killed in the Battle of Magenta in June 1859, at the side of Count Branicki, the owner of the chateau. The same bronze is on his tomb in Montmartre Cemetery.

The small sitting room, full of portraits of the women in the family, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

Outside the entrance to the chateau, looking towards the church.

White marble tomb of the Bastarnay family, with three effigies. They are Imbert de Bastarnay (lord of Montrésor in the 15th century), his wife Georgette de Montchenu and their son François. The couple are the maternal grandparents of Diane de Poitiers.

The Nancy Wake Memorial Ride

Meeting the cyclists at the stadium in Chateauroux. Later this year this will be where a stage of the Tour de France finishes.

More than a year ago the Nancy Wake Memorial Ride came to my attention on Facebook [ https://www.facebook.com/people/Nancy-Wake-Memorial-Ride/61555790881536/ ]. Led by Australian Armed Forces veteran Liz Wheeler a group of fellow female veterans planned to recreate the epic cycle ride made by Franco-Australian Resistance heroine, Nancy Wake. Working with them was the Franco-Australian cycle tour company Velotours, based in the Pyrenees [ https://velotours.com.au/].

  

The cyclists with the Velotours support vehicle at the stadium.

Nancy is not as well known as one might think. She was an Australian living the good life in the south of France, married to a French industrialist, when the Second World War broke out. Both she and her husband were active members of the Resistance. He was captured and killed but she survived, known as the White Mouse, despite the price put on her head by the Nazis. 

 

Riding into town between Sylvie in the white car and Claudette.

As a member of SOE she participated in many acts of sabotage and hand to hand combat. Her most remarkable feat was to ride from a village in Puy de Dome, through Montlucon, Bourges and Issoudun to Chateauroux and back, a distance of nearly 500 kilometres in 72 hours, in order to get a radio message through to London.

 

Outside the public library and theatre, posing for the newspaper photo.

The Australian veterans took it a bit more leisurely, but they made stops along the way to meet locals and spread Nancy's story. Our meeting in Chateauroux was no exception. I was able to put them in touch with a local journalist and members of the local Friends of the Resistance Museum (ACRDI), including Michel Fouassier, the secretary of the association, and Jean-Louis Cirès, the Chateauroux town archivist [ https://www.helloasso.com/associations/amis-du-centre-d-histoire-et-de-memoire-de-la-resistance-et-de-la-deportation-dans-l-indre-acrdi ].

Storing the bikes in the theatre café.

Chateauroux does not in fact currently have a Resistance Museum. It is a project 'de longue haleine' as Michel put it ie it has long been in the planning, but funding has been elusive. Consequently he was very pleased to have reason to collar a journalist and get some publicity showing how interested people are in Resistance history and how important it is to keep these memories alive and honour the brave people involved.

The cyclists posing outside the building where Nancy Wake arrived hoping to meet 'Samuel' the radio operator.

The cyclists arrived spot on time and we met them at the sports stadium on the edge of town. Then Sylvie, a colleague of Michel's, led us all in convoy into the centre to town to meet the journalist outside the public library. After parking the bikes in the adjacent theatre café (closed because it was a public holiday, but Michel had a key!) we walked the short distance to the building Nancy came to meet with a radio operator code named Samuel (real name Amédée Maingard). At the time it was the Café du Cygne, now abandoned and with a name change, but the building still exists. Unfortunately for Nancy, Samuel had fled for his life the day before, and she had to move on. 

Having lunch in the Italian restaurant.

Sylvie had booked us a table at an Italian restaurant nearby, so we enjoyed a well-deserved and agreeable lunch. After lunch there was time for a bit more sightseeing and we encountered the American Army reenactors in the main square. They were offering rides in their vintage trucks and jeeps. We went to see the house where the very first radio message was sent by the Resistance to the Allies in London, and then the War Memorial and the memorial to the Righteous among Nations.

Second World War American Army re-enactors, offering free rides to the public in their vintage vehicles as part of the Victory in Europe activities on 8 May. 

After that our doughty cyclists needed a rest and a freshen up, so we parted company. They went to their hotel, we came home. It was quite a special day and we've made some great new friends, both French and Australian.

At the house where Georges Bégué sent the first radio message from the Resistance to London. All subsequent SOE radio operators were known as 'Georges', and referred to as 'pianists'.

Further reading: Article in the Nouvelle République (in French, behind paywall) https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/chateauroux/cinq-australiennes-dans-la-roue-de-la-resistante-nancy-wake-dans-l-indre-1746727637

Wikipedia page on Nancy Wake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Wake

The War Memorial, which honours not just combatants, but those civilians who were deported to concentration camps.

The nearby memorial to the Righteous Among Nations, with Michel indicating his cousin's name at the bottom.

A Symbol of a Past Life

On Saturday 28 December we went out with friends, just for a little jaunt, and with the intention of visiting the Chateau of Chenonceau to see their spectacular Christmas decorations. I'd already seen them, so I could assure our friends that they were worth seeing. But Chenonceau turned out to be absolutely packed, with no tickets for the chateau interior until late afternoon. So we opted to go to Amboise and treat ourselves to a hot chocolate at Bigot.

 

Maison Bigot, patissier, chocolatier, Amboise.

Bigot is an institution in Amboise. Situated on the corner diagonally opposite the Chateau Royal entrance, it has been run by the Bigot family for over a hundred years. They make cakes, pastries and chocolates, and have a café where you can get light meals, ice cream sundaes and of course, hot chocolate. It too was packed when we got there, but we managed to get a table in the cosy back room.

 

 The brooch, pinned to my winter coat, which also comes from this time in my life, and is much loved.

Two days later when I came to put my coat on I noticed that the brooch that has been pinned to the left shoulder for many years was not there. I've had that brooch a long time and I was sad to lose it. I spent that day contacting anyone I could think of who might have found the brooch. The bakery in Preuilly hadn't seen it, but the pharmacy said someone had found a brooch in the street near them. I went to the mairie (town hall) to see if someone had handed it in, but they didn't have it. I put a message on Facebook and I phoned three chateaux and a restaurant, in case it had been missing longer than I realised. Finally, that evening, Mme Bigot sent me a text message, and all was well. They had my brooch, and Simon and I went up the next day to pick it up.

 

Me wearing the brooch in 2023, in the Cobra Café in Amsterdam.

I bought the brooch at the V&A in London in the late 1990s. It's made of a bronzey looking metal and a green glass bead with a foil back, and is a copy of a piece of medieval jewellery. It represents a time when I lived in London and was in and out of the V&A on a nearly weekly basis for one reason or another. I was a member of the Costume Society, I worked for the National Trust, I went to exhibitions, lectures, book launches and private tours of the V&A, Hampton Court Palace and other marvellous historic places. I was hanging out with some of the most charismatic and knowledgeable people in the heritage industry, and learning a lot. The brooch is a symbol of all that and more. I would hate to lose it and am very grateful to Bigot for having kept it safe and returned it to me.

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

At first glance this print hanging in the reconstruction of the World War I hospital at the Chateau of Chenonceau looks like a satirical print. But nothing could be further from the truth. It's not even really caricature, but rather a familiar gentle spoof depicting a group of mates. The men shown are some of the great French flying aces of the First World War, drawn by one of their own number, who was a professional illustrator.

The print, a lithograph, is by Jean de Moulignon, and the subjects have signed their portraits. Only 13 prints were produced, being one for each of the airmen, some for the Air Force and one for the artist. Jean de Moulignon had been a student of Edouard Detaille, a well known illustrator and painter specialising in military scenes.

Combat Group 12, especially Squadron 3, nicknamed the Escadrille des Cigognes (Stork Squadron), was legendary, and many of the most famous war aces, such as Roland Garros and Georges Guynemer, flew in this combat group.

The pilots in this drawing are Antonin Brocard, Georges Guynemer, René 'Pere' Dorme, Alfred Heurtaux, Albert Deullin (with his dog Parasol), and Mathieu Tenant de la Tour. Leading the parade is a stork, wearing a Lewis machine gun on its head. At its peak the squadron flew SPAD planes with powerful Hispano-Suiza engines and armed with Lewis machine guns. After the War Hispano-Suiza adopted the stork as their own emblem, in tribute to Guynemer.

The drawing was commissioned by Brocard for Pierre Delage in 1916, and subsequently he gave one of the prints to Capitaine Colcomb, with a dedication which translates as 'To Captain Aviator Colcomb observer and fighter pilot during the Great War in memory of his comrades and of the Stork's Reconnaissance Patrol. With all the esteem and admiration of his boss and his friendship. Commander Brocard.'

At auction the prints go for around 300 to 800 euros each.

Who were these rather gawky looking men, slouching along with their hands in their pockets?

Antonin Brocard, the Commander, became a politician between the Wars. During the Second World War he was put in charge of training the Polish Air Force. He died in 1950.

Georges Guynemer, 54 aerial victories, killed in action September 1917 aged 22. The circumstances of his death and subsequent burial remain somewhat mysterious. There is a memorial to him in the town of Poelkapelle in Belgium, near where it is presumed he came down. His original SPAD S.VII, nicknamed "Vieux Charles", is in the collection of the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Paris-le Bourget airport. He is considered the most brilliant of the Storks and was the hero of the popular press during his career, much to his own discomfort. Rather frail he was rejected for military service four times before his persistance led to him being accepted to train as a pilot.

René Dorme, 23 aerial victories, nicknamed 'le Père', and easily recognisable because of the cane, which he was never seen without. Killed in action in May 1917, aged 23. Greatly admired by his colleagues.

Alfred Heurtaux, 21 aerial victories, survived to become a politician between the Wars then joined the senior management teams of leading automobile manufacturers (Ford in the US, General Motors in Europe, then finally Renault). He was an active member of the Resistance in the Second World War and died in 1985 aged 92.

Albert Deullin, 20 aerial victories, killed working as a test pilot in 1923 aged 32.

Mathieu Tenant de la Tour, 9 aerial victories, killed in an accident whilst performing acrobatics in December 1917 aged 34. He trained as a pilot because wounds put an end to his cavalry career. He, Guynemer, Deullin, Dorme and Heurtaux were particularly close friends.

Pierre Delage, 7 aerial victories, killed in action in October 1918 aged 31. Like Mathieu Tenant de la Tour he switched disciplines and only trained as a pilot after wounds left him incapable of continuing in the infantry.

To have an official 'kill' recorded Brocard insisted that there must be three eye witness testimonies verifying the event. This was often impossible to achieve, especially if the witnesses were the enemy, so the official aerial victories list is often a mere fraction of these pilots real effectiveness.

Bellevue OZO Service Station

 As I was leaving a family rolled up in a lovely Wartburg to do photos. This East German coupe was manufactured from 1956 to 1965.

Sitting alongside the Nationale 10 this service station has been designated as 'Remarkable Architecture', and has been much photographed over the years. The building is an iconic mid-twentieth century American influenced structure, especially with the sweeping, soaring spire at the front, like a totem, bearing the OZO name. It opened in the spring of 1956. Following the merger of OZO and Total in 1964, the service station changed names to become the 'Relais Charles Martel'. But with the opening of the A10 Autoroute between Tours and Poitiers in 1977, the traffic along the N10 inexorably diminished, and the relais closed in 1984.

 

Plan for the service station.

Like a number of decommissioned service stations, the building found a second life as the sales office for a second-hand car dealership. The spire served as an ensign for the roadhouse next door, l'Etoile du Sud. At the end of the 1990s, after the closure of the restaurant, the surroundings deteriorated little by little but the service station stayed proudly upright on the side of the road, waiting for someone to take an interest again. That happened in 2011, when the municipality of Sainte Maure de Touraine realised what a characterful heritage building they had in their territory and decided to protect it within their local Urban Plan. Interest in the former service station grew until in 2016 the Départementale Architecture and Heritage Unit (part of the Ministry of Culture) decided to award it the label 'Patrimoine du XXième siècle' (20th century heritage), which has since become 'Architecture contemporaine remarquarble' (Notable contemporary architecture).  

 

 Front elevation plan.

Initially the work to restore the structure was to deal the deterioration brought about by the weather over the years. Following that there was the desire to restore it to its original state and make it a recognisable icon of the heritage along the former Route Nationale 10. It sits in the heart of the Touraine, mid-way between Paris and Hendaye, so ideally situated. Since 2021 the Association Nostal'10 has regularly organised classic car meets here. At the beginning of the 21st century, when mobility is resolutely oriented towards 'green energy', it is necessary to preserve this element of the previous century's heritage, just like we preserve former stage coaching inns. The Relais Charles Martel is the incarnation of the 'Trentes Glorieuses', a testament to a bygone era that should be preserved.

 

 Side elevation plan.

If you are interested in staying up to date with activities at Bellevue OZO Service Station, the Association Nostal'10 has a Facebook page. It has become a tradition to stop to take a photo of your car under the canopy and post it on the FB page. https://www.facebook.com/p/Nostal10-100057312614789/

 

The petrol pumps are being recreated in concrete. I was told that it was because it was 'less risky'. I'm not sure whether that means in terms of vintage pumps being stolen or real pumps being a safety hazard.

We have participated in this event several times.

Why not go and join the fun tomorrow? Everyone is welcome. Simon is thinking of going in Claudette. I'll be working in Chinon though.