Bryce & Damon in Europe
by Pertinax Carrus
Chapter 6, The Loire and Normandy
Tours
Bryce and Damon left Lourdes after breakfast on Saturday, 12 June, and drove about half way, passing Pau and Bordeaux in the Garonne River valley. They continued north, breaking their drive for lunch. They decided that, as this was a long drive, the longest in their entire itinerary, they would make a leisurely stop for lunch. Consequently, they selected a very nice restaurant at Angoulême called Le Terminus. Angoulême, they found, had also been a stop on the Way of St. James. They were seated at the outside terrace, where they could watch the people go by. Their waiter immediately recognized them as Americans, and tried to speak English, but Bryce wanted to practice his French, so they ended up with the comical situation with a Frenchman speaking English and a native English speaker speaking French to each other. After a short while, they were enjoying the game. The guys selected oysters, which was highly recommended, with the understanding they were delivered fresh daily. Enjoying their meal and the break from driving, they lingered well over an hour over their midday meal.
Back on the road, they continued north through Poitiers to Tours, located on the Loire River. Once again selecting a less expensive hotel, they had reservations at the Hotel Mercure Sud. Mercure was another chain of comfortable but modern accommodations, with nothing historical or particularly aesthetic to recommend them. Still, they would be staying in Mercure hotels for the remainder of their stay in France. The chain was begun in Europe in 1967, but was a step or two down in luxury from the Sofitel chain. They arrived at their hotel about 4:30 in the afternoon after a full day of travel.
That evening, they made their way into town to dine and look around. They visited the Tour Charlemagne, the only part of the original abbey church remaining. Over dinner Bryce explained that, in the outburst of anti-Catholicism during the French Revolution, when the revolutionary regime attempted to substitute the worship of the nation for the worship of God, many historic churches of France were destroyed, including this one. Tomorrow, Sunday, they would attend Mass at the Nouvelle Basilique de St. Martin, but it was a nineteenth century construction. Tours was inextricably connected with St. Martin.
St. Martin (316-397) was born in what is now Hungary, son of an officer in the Roman army. He showed an interest in Christianity at an early age, although at the time it was very much a minority religion, especially in the West, despite the patronage of the emperors after Constantine legalized Christianity in 313. At age 15 Martin followed his father by joining a cavalry unit, and was stationed at what is now Amiens, France. There, at age 18, he experienced one of the events most associated with his image. As he approached the gates of the city, he was met by a beggar. He cut his own cloak in half, and gave the half to the beggar. That night in a dream, he saw Jesus wearing his half-cloak. He went out and was baptized shortly after. Two years later, discharged from the army, he went to Tours, and became a disciple of St. Hilary, who was then Bishop of Poitiers to the south. During the mid-years of the fourth century there was a major struggle between orthodox Trinitarian Christians and the Arians, who refused to recognize the full divinity of Jesus, as they could not believe that anyone with a physical body could be truly divine. They were obviously influenced by the dualism and Gnosticism so prevalent at the time, which saw anything physical as tainted and less valuable than anything purely spiritual. As St. Hilary was a stout defender of orthodoxy, so also did his disciple Martin become. In 371 the bishopric of Tours fell vacant, and the local Christians decided to make Martin their new bishop. Desiring to live as a hermit, separated from worldly cares, Martin hid from them, but, according to his contemporary biographer, Sulpicius Severus, a goose quacking at his invasion of its space gave away his hiding place, and he was taken and made bishop. As such, Martin was a fierce foe of the Arians and also of the pagans, but a good friend of the poor. He attempted to spread Christianity into the countryside, as it was primarily an urban phenomenon in fourth century Gaul. The word “pagan” (paganus) originally meant someone who lives in the countryside (pagus). There is a famous painting by El Greco in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. of St. Martin sharing his cloak with the beggar, and he is frequently represented along with a goose.
“So,” Damon concluded after listening to this account of the life of St. Martin, “the Church opposes the idea that the physical is automatically evil?”
“If not actually evil, as in Manicheeism, at least something less than desirable with the Arians. But yes, even though she does not always act like it, the theology of the Church adheres to the words of Holy Scripture in Genesis. When God created the world, he looked upon it, and saw that it was good. That’s why the Manichees said the God of the Old Testament was the evil god, in opposition to the God of the New Testament, whom they conceived of as creating only the spiritual world,” Bryce replied.
“This guy Martin seems like a pretty good example to follow,” Damon hesitantly proposed. “And he had a vision or dream of Jesus before he was baptized?”
“True.”
“And you know this how?” Damon pursued.
“Well, if you mean me personally, it’s a result of some reading in the lives of the saints, but if you mean we, the Christian community in general, it’s essentially the life written by this Sulpicius Severus. He was a younger contemporary of Martin, and evidently knew him personally. He’s an example of writers of Late Antiquity, not regarded as very erudite today, but still in the classical tradition. His works on Martin are in the form of dialogues, and obviously influenced by the works of Cicero,” Bryce informed his partner.
“Okay, so we’ll visit this St. Martin tomorrow. What now?” Damon asked.
So, they visited a number of other places in the older parts of Tours, including the thirteenth century cathedral of St. Gratien and the parish church of St. Julien, both in the Gothic style.
The next morning they returned to the center of Tours and the new basilica of St. Martin. The destruction of the old abbey church also involved the loss of the tomb of the saint, but in 1860 Léon Papin Dupont, a Catholic activist, helped rediscover the tomb and begin the rebuilding of the basilica. Mass was offered at 11:00, so Bryce and Damon attended at that time. They picked up a brochure about Léon Dupont with references to his promoting devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
“Do you mean that you guys have an actual picture of Jesus?” Damon asked.
“Well,” Bryce hedged, “it’s kind of like Santiago. There are legends which relate that St. Veronica met Jesus on his way to execution, and wiped his face with her veil, as a result of which an image of the face of Jesus was imprinted on the veil. The problem is that this is not historically verifiable. There are equivocal references earlier, but the first clear reference to the existence of such a veil is in the eleventh century. With the popularization of the Stations of the Cross by St. Francis of Assisi, and the inclusion of Jesus’ meeting with St. Veronica as the sixth station, it became assumed that this was fact, even though it is not attested in any of the Gospels. Dupont merely encouraged the spread of this devotion. We can pick up a copy of the image he used with no trouble.”
“Okay, let’s,” Damon decided, and they did as they exited the basilica after Mass.
Amboise and Chenonceau
After lunch, the two got in their rented car and took off down the Loire to the Château of Amboise, described as the most Italianate of the Loire châteaux. Built in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, this royal residence introduced the Italian or Renaissance style to the Loire valley. It was here that King Francis I brought Leonardo da Vinci, who lived out his last years here, and is buried in the St. Hubert Chapel. There was a display of Leonardo’s work, especially some of his mechanical inventions in scale models. The surrounding gardens also featured an Italian ambiance. Damon posted a second postcard that day to his nephew from here, showing Leonardo’s drawing of a tank. It was at Amboise that the Huguenots (French Protestants) set off the French Wars of Religion by attempting to kidnap King Francis II in 1560.
From Amboise, they traveled to the Château of Chenonceau on the Cher River, to the east and a bit south of Tours. It was constructed in the sixteenth century by Thomas Bohier, who razed the previous medieval castle, keeping only the donjon, now known as the Marques Tower. There was once a fortified mill stretching across the Cher, with the main château built on the stout piers remaining when the mill was demolished, so the château stretches across the river. The monumental entrance displays the coats of arms of Thomas and his wife, Catherine Briçonnet. Between the Marques Tower and the château is a drawbridge, beginning the span over the river. Quite a number of famous and infamous women in French history are associated with this château, beginning with Catherine, who delighted in hosting King Francis I. Their son lost the favor of the king, and had the château confiscated for back taxes by Francis I, who passed it on to his son, King Henry II, who made a gift of it to his mistress, Diane de Poitier. Diane is responsible for one of the delightful gardens in four large triangles to the left as one faces the château. Her bedroom is also preserved, with some marvelous Flemish tapestries. When Henry died in a joust 1559, and thus was no longer able to protect his mistress, his widow, Queen Catherine de Medici, forced her to turn over the property to the crown. This became one of the favorite residences of Queen Catherine, who left us her gardens on the right as one enters the courtyard. She hosted spectacular nighttime parties here. Catherine is also associated with the Green Room (her study), the library, and her bedroom on the upper floor.
Catherine’s young son, Francis II, left few marks on the castle, dying as he did the year following his father’s death, at the age of 17. His wife, however, did leave behind her mark. Francis was married to Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, whose Scottish Guard left graffiti on the walls of the chapel, originally dedicated to St. Thomas for the original owner, but later associated with Our Lady. Francis’ brother became King Henry III, whose wife, Louise of Lorraine, inherited the château from her mother-in-law, and retired there after the assassination of her husband in 1589. Later, after the throne passed to Henry IV, the first Bourbon king, he installed at Chenonceau his mistress Gabrielle d’Estrées, with another bedroom decorated in the style of her times around 1600. Nearly a quarter century later, Henry IV’s son by Gabrielle, César Duc de Vendôme acquired the property in 1624. In the eighteenth century, the château passed into the hands of the extremely rich financier Samuel Bernard, of Huguenot antecedents, but who conformed to the established church. He passed it on to this daughter, Madame Dupin de Francueil, a strong supporter of the Enlightenment, who hosted Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Voltaire, Diderot, d’Alembert, and Rousseau at Chenonceau. Several wealthy politicians owned the château during the nineteenth century, including Daniel Wilson, who was indicted for fraud. During the First World War the owner, Gaston Menier, of the famed chocolate making family, installed in the chateau a military hospital at his own expense, and turned over the entire building for this purpose. His family still owns it. During the Second World War the long gallery, installed by Catherine de Medici, played a role in the resistence, as the front entrance was in the territory occupied by the Germans, but the rear entrance across the river was in Free France, offering a perfect escape route. Throughout are paintings which make the château a veritable art gallery. All in all, this astonishing château played a significant role in French history, and was especially beloved by a series of influential women.
After visiting the château and the gardens, Bryce and Damon returned to Tours, where they enjoyed dinner at a small restaurant in the old part of town. They remained there for several hours, visiting some of the clubs which appealed to young people. Once again, it was Damon who spotted a rainbow symbol in a window, where they entered and enjoyed the freedom to dance together without “the slings and arrows of outraged fortune.” They then retired to their hotel on the outskirts for the night.
Lisieux
On Monday morning the guys checked out of their hotel, and drove nearly three hours to Lisieux, passing the city of Le Mans, renowned for its auto racing. They arrived in Lisieux right around noon, and so spent their first period there having lunch. After lunch, they visited Les Buissonnets, the home of the Martín family after 1877, the year of the death of the wife and mother, Zélie. The youngest of the nine Martín children was Marie Françoise, then five years old. Bryce and Damon toured the house, including the room where, in 1883, a gravely ill Marie Françoise was cured after receiving a vision of Our Lady, who smiled at her. The girl had two sisters who were members of the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, and which Marie Françoise wanted to join. She was turned down on her first attempt because of her poor health, but was received in 1888 at age 15. There she took the name Thérèse by which she would become known to the world after her death. In 1895, the year after the death of her father, Louis Martín, a watchmaker, Thérèse began to write her thoughts, as ordered by the prioress, her sister Pauline. These thoughts make up her book entitled L’histoire d’une âme (The Story of a Soul). Thérèse also was paired with a missionary priest, praying for the success of the missions. She believed that praying at home could be as effective as active evangelization in the field. Two years later, on 30 September 1897, Thérèse died of tuberculosis. Her little book was published in 1898, and was a surprise best seller. The original edition was highly edited by the nuns, but still was a huge success. In 1956 an unedited version was published, which shows how Thérèse struggled every day against temptations, something the nuns initially thought inappropriate to reveal to the public. There have been over forty editions of the original French, and translations into more than fifty languages. The best English translation is that of Msgr. Ronald Knox, published in 1958. In 1923, at the time of her beatification by Pope Pius XI, her remains were transferred from the city cemetery to the convent. Two years later, she was canonized.
After visiting Les Buissonnets and the Carmelite convent, the two visitors moved on to the Basilica of St. Thérèse, which was begun in 1929 and finally consecrated in 1954. The huge church in a modified Byzantine style contains a series of mosaics illustrating Thérèse’s simple message of the love of God. She is known as “the Little Flower.” In front of the basilica, under the paved courtyard, is an extensive pastoral center, bookstore, and gift shop (of course). There, both Bryce and Damon purchased mementos of their visit.
“You know I have a feminine side,” Bryce commented.
“No!” Damon feigned shock.
“True, My Heart. Well, just as I told you back at Burgos that I am Francisco Marto and El Cid, in some ways I am also Bernadette Soubirous and Thérèse of Lisieux.”
“Hmmm. Clear case of multiple personalities,” Damon judged.
Following this visit, the two went out to their hotel, the Hotel Mercure Lisieux, to check in, but they did not remain there long. They returned to the center of town for dinner and a stroll around town. Then, discovering in the tourist bureau publications the location of several clubs or discotheques, they spent several hours enjoying the evening, returning to their hotel only around midnight.
Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery
Leaving Lisieux after breakfast, Bryce and Damon drove a little over sixty miles to the site of the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944. The beach itself was not all that impressive, but on a bluff above was the American Cemetery. Approaching the Visitors’ Building and parking, they entered and obtained maps and brochures. From there, they walked to the central Memorial. This is a large semi-circular colonnade with a loggia with battle maps at either end. In the center is a bronze statue, twenty-two feet high, entitled “The Spirit of American Youth.” On the open side of the Memorial are the graves, row after row of white crosses, or, in the case of Jewish soldiers, Stars of David. The entire cemetery consists of 172.5 acres on which are buried American service men who lost their lives in Europe between 1941 and 1945. Of these, the great majority are those who died in the Normandy landing. Interred here are 9,387 service men and women, of whom 307 are unknowns. There are three Medal of Honor recipients, including Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of the President of that name, who commanded the landing at Utah beach, farther west from Omaha beach. In the Garden of the Missing on the opposite (east) side of the colonnade are memorials to the 1,557 missing in the region, whose remains have not been recovered. Among the 10,904 Americans remembered here, there are representatives of 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. Only some of the American dead rest here, as the families had the choice of burial place.
Facing west from the Memorial, Bryce looked out over the reflecting pool to those rows and rows of crosses and stars, and he wept. He knew that, of the approximately 50,000 American troops who landed on D-Day, about one tenth, or 5,000 died that day. This was the price we had to pay to free the world of the evil which had begun in the diseased brain of a failed Austrian house painter, and spread to encompass over half of Europe, threatening the entire civilized world. This was the price of turning back the tide of neo-paganism which threatened to swallow up humanity, subjecting all mankind to its ideology of total obedience to, even worship of, the secular state. This was the price which was needed to free the German people themselves of the incubus which turned a gifted and friendly people into hardened, inhumane automatons. Those rows and rows of crosses and stars were sufficiently eloquent that no words were required to honor those interred here.
It was many minutes before Bryce could regain control of himself. He looked around, and found that Damon was similarly affected. There was, among the leaflets collected at the Visitors’ Building, one which discussed the black American contribution. About 2,000 black Americans, serving in segregated units, contributed to the success of this landing. No statistics were immediately available on how many died, but at least some of them were buried here in the American Cemetery.
Bryce made his way among the white crosses, searching. Following directions he received from his mother, he located a cross with the name Philip Ludlow Bryce, private, age 22. “This,” Bryce reported, “was my grandfather’s uncle.” He knelt down, crossed himself, and repeated the age-old prayer: “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.”
As they turned away, Bryce suddenly noticed the name of the soldier buried next to his kinsman. The cross was inscribed to Benny E. Watson. Bryce nudged Damon, and pointed. Damon stared. Was it possible? They looked at each other.
“When we get home, I’m going to find some of those roots you talked about,” Damon declared, “and you’re going to help me.”
The two young men stood there in the midst of all those crosses, and held each other as they wept. They wept for themselves, for their relatives, proven and only possible, buried there, and for all those who had sacrificed to preserve civilization from the maw of hell.
Leaving the American Cemetery, they arrived at Arromanches, which lay within the British area of operations, but which offered a good restaurant for lunch. Some wrecks from the British landing remained in the sea just off shore. Damon posted his postcard to his nephew Nathan from there.
Rouen
After lunch and a brief visit to the museum there, they left the Normandy beaches and drove to the Norman capital at Rouen, a distance of just under a hundred miles. There they had reservations at the Hotel Mercure Rouen Centre, which was not far from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. They were able to check in, and then went out exploring the city.
As the cathedral was close, and definitely an item on their agenda, they began there. There was a church on the site from the late fourth century onwards. One of the early notables there was St. Ouen or Audoin, a seventh century Frankish prelate who greatly expanded the cathedral. In 915 Rolf, the first Duke of Normandy, was baptized there. Construction on the current building began in the eleventh century, and continued for centuries, with relatively frequent problems with fire, lightening, and other damage, including vandalism by the Huguenots during the Wars of Religion in the sixteenth century. One of the more interesting stories connected with the cathedral is associated with the so-called Butter Tower. During the fifteenth century butter was prohibited during Lent, but one could obtain a dispensation from this regulation by paying the amount of six deniers Tournois to the cathedral building fund. With the income from this source, the highly elaborate top portion of the southwest tower was completed between 1485 and 1507. The cathedral suffered some from bombardment during the Normandy landings in 1944, but lost more treasures to the secularizations during the French Revolution.
Undoubtedly the most famous monument in the cathedral is that of Richard Lionheart (died 1199), or King Richard I of England (and also Duke of Normandy). Only his heart was buried at Rouen, while most of his body was interred alongside his father, Henry II, at Fontevraud Abbey in western France. Also there are Rolf, also called Rollo or Ralph or Raoul, the Viking chieftain from Norway who became the first Duke of Normandy in 911; Rolf’s son Duke William I of Normandy (died 942); Empress Matilda (died 1167), daughter of King Henry I and the first female to claim the throne of England; her son, Prince William (died 1164); Henry (died 1183), called the Young King, eldest son of Henry II who predeceased him; Arthur (died 1203), nephew of King Richard, who should have succeeded him, but was displaced by his uncle, King John; and John (died 1435), Duke of Bedford, who presided over the execution of Jeanne d’Arc.
Leaving the cathedral, they visited the Old Marketplace, where St. Jeanne d’Arc was burned at the stake as a heretic by the English in 1431 during the Hundred Years War. This peasant girl had the temerity to defeat the English in battle, so obviously she must be in league with the Devil. Not only that, but she wore men’s clothing in battle (it fit under her armor better, she said). She was declared a heretic and burned at the stake. There, on the site, is a modern church in the shape of an upturned Viking boat dedicated to her. Today, St. Joan is one of the patron saints of France. On the way between the cathedral and the Old Marketplace they also took in the astronomical clock on an arch stretching across the street, with movements dating to the fourteenth century, and the churches of St. Maclou and St.Ouen. Rouen also boasted a nice collection of half-timbered houses, which made many streets in the old town interesting.
Bryce and Damon located a very attractive small restaurant called Le P’tit Paul, where they enjoyed their evening meal, including an excellent quiche Lorraine. Then they went looking for some entertainment for the evening. They stopped at L’Euro Café in the Old Marketplace near the Church of St. Jeanne d’Arc for a while, then moved on to the Exo7 Rock Club. But they wanted to dance with each other, which pretty much meant finding a gay venue. Their first attempt was not very pleasant. They stopped at the XXL Bar, but after a short time became aware that this was not the sort of place they were looking for. Some of the patrons had what Caesar called in Cassius that “lean and hungry look.” The way some of the patrons looked at them was not very reassuring, either, as though they were fresh meat to satisfy that desperate hunger. Damon also noticed, and pointed out to Bryce, a back door through which guys disappeared and later returned, looking not much more satisfied than when they went in. In other words, they had wandered into a place for quick hook-ups or one-night stands. Just as they were being approached by two different, but equally unattractive individuals, they ducked out. Bryce consulted information stored on his phone, and they decided to try one more time. This time they were more fortunate. They found Le Red Club, which offered disco music and dancing, and was especially open to gays on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today was a Tuesday. There, they felt much more comfortable. The clientele was younger, and there seemed to be more emphasis on dancing and talking than hooking up. The guys remained there until midnight, and had some interesting conversations with other patrons, Damon in English and with one guy in Spanish, while Bryce managed to carry on most of his conversations in French. In the process, he expanded his vocabulary.
They slept late the next morning, and after breakfast checked out and headed for Paris.