Chapter 3b Preparation for Our Baptism of History (Goals)

Back when we hatched this idea of following the route of the 409, we decided to get ourselves out into the countryside, “La France profonde” as they say. (In France). To do that we would rent a car and travel the small roads through small towns and old cities. Some goals stood out. One, we had to see Belfort and it's monumental lion sculpture. Two, we had to see the Chateau de Joux high on a crag overlooking a pass through the Alps - originally fortified by the Romans. Three, we wanted to wander through Franche-Comté which is a region not very well-known to foreign tourists. And finally, we wanted to drive into Alsace from the south through the Ballons - the big round mountains of the southern Vosges mountain chain.


Why the Lion of Belfort? First of all he's damned impressive.

And he's got a cute face.

I had been teaching about him since 1998 when we adopted a new French 2 book at my school with a culture note about him. He was designed by Frédéric Bartholdi - of Statue of Liberty fame. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frédéric_Auguste_Bartholdi) The Lion was dedicated to the defenders of Belfort, who successfully held out against the Prussians during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. And as my former students know, I can't resist any reference to that favorite war of mine. There's a copy of this lion at Place Denfert-Rochereau in Paris.
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 In addition to this famous statue here,

Bartholdi designed the statue of Lafayette at Union Square in NYC and the Bartholdi Fountain in Washington DC.

One last piece of trivia about Bartholdi - they (?) say he used his mother's face as a model for Miss Liberty. But then, they say a lot of things.


And why the Chateau de Joux? I had been inspired by a picture on an old, worn, often-folded and often-unfolded map, which I have loaded here, worn spots and all. And just to prove that I am not afraid to use a lousy image, I am going to make it really big. I hope it will impress you as much as it impresses me.

Here's the map-part to give you an idea of where Joux is.

The chateau is known for the tragic 12th century tale of Berthe de Joux, the young bride of Amaury III, who at their wedding feast announced that he was going off on the then-current crusade to the Holy Land.  She waits for him for several years until one day a wounded knight arrives at the chateau. Hopeful that it is her long-awaited husband, she finds instead a childhood friend, Amey de Montfaucon, knocking at the castle gate. Amey tells her that he had fought alongside her husband Amaury until the latter was killed in battle. In spite of her profound grief, Berthe takes care of the wounded Amey, and then, guess what - they end up in each others' arms. Until they are surprised by the no-longer-expected and not-so-dead Amaury! He of course flies into a rage, kills Amey, and locks up poor Berthe in a very tiny cell in the deepest, darkest part of the chateau. She is led out of the cell twice a day to view the rotting corpse of her lover hanging from a neaby tree. At the death of Amaury, Berthe decides to live out her life in an abbey, having rather reasonably given up on romance.

Berthe de Joux

For some fabulous photos of this chateau, plus a chilling one of poor Berthe's cell, check out this link: http://voyageusecomtoise.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/pauvre-berthe-de-joux/.  When the chateau became a prison in the 18th and 19th centuries, it housed a couple of other famous prisonners. The count of Mirabeau, orator of the French revolution was jailed there for loose morals (seducing the wrong guy's wife). Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the Haitian revolution, was imprisoned there for believing that the Revolution's motto "Liberty, equality, brotherhood" included the enslaved Africans in the French Caribbean Islands. Napolean gave him a life sentence in this cold, stone fortress in order to disabuse him of that notion.  Nappy's effort failed to discourage the Haitians however. They continued fighting and gained their independence in 1803, to become the 3rd republic in the world, and one of only two left in 1803 as the French republic had been usurped by Napoleon. The United States of American was the only other republic, but refused to recognize Haiti for another 100 years - which was one of several factors leading to that country becoming the poorest country in the Americas. Toussaint Louverture is buried on the slope below the Chateau de Joux, where only a mountain goat could possibly bring him flowers. Were I more sure-footed, I would have done so. 


As for our third goal, that of wandering through the un-touristy region of Franche-Comté, we did not know at all what we would find. But thanks to friends Kraig and Jane we were armed with a Michelin guide to the region, as well as a regional map. So discoveries would be made.


Finally, goal number four, driving through Southern Alsace and seeing the Ballons. Who wouldn't want to see a place called the "Balloons of Alsace". I imagined them in rainbow colors.


So how did reality match our goals? Tune in next time for the real story.


P.S. I am distressed by the fact that those of you with yahoo email addresses tell me that you  cannot sent us comments. PLEASE, please do comment on Facebook or to my gmail address: mcdorf@gmail.com. I enjoy hearing from you.