Visiting the Tomb of William the Conqueror in Caen (France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Tomb of William the Conqueror in Caen (France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget


Caen, France is a favorite destination of American and British tourists alike but for different reasons.

The Americans come to the area to see the Normandy beaches, especially the new museum dedicated to D-Day at Utah Beach.  My husband Laurent and I visited the Utah Beach Museum on a Memorial Day weekend and also rendered homage to my English ancestors by visiting William the Conqueror’s (1028 – 1087) tomb at Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen.

William the Conqueror was the son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy.  William and his army invaded England in 1066.  William won the English throne by winning the Battle of Hastings.

William the Conqueror’s rule brought about profound changes to English culture.  William’s supporters became the new ruling class of England.  French was the language of the ruling classes, the courts, government, and high culture.  The French language has retained its lofty stature in English society; the Queen of England speaks French fluently.

William the Conqueror also commissioned the Domesday Book in 1086, which was a survey of landholders in England.  The Domesday Book is now available online.  It has a search function, which allows you to type in your family name to see if your family was recorded at this time.  I typed in my maiden name, Pennington, and found several listings for landholders, an endowed church, and a town named Pennington.  That was nifty!

A trip to Caen is nifty, too.  William the Conqueror’s wife Mathilda of Flanders (1031 – 1083) is buried about one mile away from the Abbaye aux Hommes in the Abbaye aux Dames.  There are many restaurants in Caen for all pocketbooks, which makes all the walking seem shorter.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Photo by Laurent Paget

Photo by Laurent Paget

Photo by Laurent Paget

Ruth Paget Selfie

Dijon and the Dukes of Burgundy by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Dijon and the Dukes of Burgundy by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget


I always seem to make Dijon a base for visiting other places in Burgundy, France despite its stunning architecture.

Burgundy is famous for its wine and food today, but the Grand Dukes of Burgundy were responsible for managing one of the most powerful regions in Christendom led by the abbeys at Cluny and Cîteaux in Burgundy’s heyday.

Four dukes in particular brought fame to Dijon:

Philippe le Hardi (The Bold) (1342 – 1404)

Jean sans Peur (The Fearless) (1371 – 1419)

Philippe le Bon (The Good) (1396 – 1467)

Charles le Téméraire (Also the Bold –Daring is a better translation) (1433 – 1477)

Philippe le Hardi (Philippe II, Duke of Burgundy) was the fourth and youngest of Jean II (1319-1364), a Valois king of France.  Philippe’s father gave him Burgundy and title of Duke for his bravery at the Battle of Poitiers.  Philippe became in this way the founder of the Burgundian branch of House of Valois.

Philippe le Hardi had many children and acquired territory through marriage alliances.  His own marriage to Margaret of Flanders brought him Flanders, Brabant, and Artois.  His territories were not contiguous as those of France were, but Philippe had the advantage of hemming in France on several sides.

Philippe le Hardi’s son was Jean sans Peur.  He is said to have been fearless and liked to instill fear in others.  Jean sans Peur was a fighting king and went of crusade in 1396.  He was held as a hostage by the Turks and eventually released.

Jean san Peur’s son was Philippe le Bon (Philippe III, Duke of Burgundy) is most famous for having his troops hand Joan of Arc over to the English in 1430 for a ransom of 10,000 crowns.   (Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake in Rouen, France.)

Philippe le Bon married Isabelle of Portugal and founded the Order of the Golden Fleece to celebrate his marriage.  This is a prestigious order and members are still inducted in Spain and Austria.

Charles le Téméraire, who succeeded Philippe le Bon, loved hunting and culture.  He vied with king Louis XI of France for prestige and power.  Upon Charles’ death, the Burgundian duchy was divided between Louis XI and the Habsburgs.

Today you can see and appreciate the power and luxury of Burgundy by walking around Dijon and admiring the architecture.  The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy is a gorgeous souvenir of this period in French history.

By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Laurent Paget Photography

Ruth Paget Selfie

Visiting Ferrara (Italy) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Ferrara (Italy) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget


My interest in France prompted me to visit Ferrara when I was in Italy with my husband Laurent recently.  Ferrara under the leadership of Ercole d’Este (1433 – 1505) changed the city’s allegiances from Venice to France during the Renaissance according to the UNESCO World Heritage Site website.

Ferrara proved to be a pleasant place to walk due to the work of Biagio Rossetti (1447 – 1516).  The UNESCO website relates that he built a humanist “ideal city” in Ferrara that made use of the new principles of perspective.

Ferrara did not develop from a central Roman layout as other Italian cities did.  Instead its streets run parallel and perpendicular to the medieval quarter.  It is easy to find your way around in this city that is located by the Po River on an ancient Roman road that leads to Padua.  Defensive walls surround the city to still make you feel protected inside them.

We parked our car off the Viale Cavour – Corso Giovecca, which is the main artery through town with Corso Ercole d’Este bisecting it.  Our objective was to visit the duomo, cathedral.

We walked through the town hall on the way there.  According to the guide Ferrara: Art City, the Este family sought refuge in the town hall during the battles between the Guelphs, who supported the papacy, and the Ghibellines, who supported the German (Holy Roman) Emperors.  The way I remember who supported whom is to remember that the “p” in Guelphs stands for supporters of the papacy.  The town square had a merry-go-round set up and has a festive air for a mayor’s office.

The town hall is right across the street from the cathedral.  The cathedral is dedicated to Saint George, the patron saint of the city.  Saint George killed a dragon, which is symbolic of paganism.  The cathedral was begun in 1135, but does not have a Romanesque façade.  The pointed arches along the façade identify it as Gothic.

The interior of the cathedral is beautiful when lit by chandeliers, but they are a new addition to the interior designed by Biago Rossetti.  The lights were off when we visited, but the two windows in the church cast Tenebrist glows on the architecture.

The Este Palace is just down the street from the cathedral.  It is an imposing edifice that has had to withstand uprisings and not be as concerned with beauty.

There is a water-filled moat all around the Este Palace.  This was an effective defense, since knowledge of how to swim was limited to the aristocracy.

Ferrara is a destination to visit for its urban planning.  The principles laid down by Bagio Rossetti are still adhered to today in other cities around the world, especially the principle of planned development of urban areas.

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Laurent Paget Photography

Laurent Paget Photography

Ruth Paget Selfie

Visiting Mantua (Italy) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Learning about Isabella d'Este in the City of Mantua (Italy) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget 

I first read about Isabella d’Este and her acclaimed art collection in my art history classes at the University of Chicago.  Isabella held court in Mantua, a Gonzaga family town.  She had married into the Gonzaga family as a member of the Este family of Ferrara.  The art collection, correspondence, and fashion were just some of the ways in which she became a cultural arbiter.

Isabella used her education to preserve Mantua’s independence amongst the vying powers of Venice, Milan, and France.  The rulers of these powers were impressed by Isabella’s culture.  This admiration helped keep Mantua from being invaded and occupied when other Italian cities were suffering such a fate like Urbino.

Thanks to her correspondence, we can find information about her in biographies such as Isabella d’Este Marchioness of Mantua: 1476 – 1539: A Study of the Renaissance by Julia Cartwright Ady.  This biography is particularly good at discussing Isabella’s education and that of her children. 

Isabella’s education is important for learning how to create diplomats, who can equally lead troops if necessary.  (Isabella led Mantua’s troops when her husband was absent from Mantua, and she had to defend the city.)

Ady begins her biography by writing that Isabella could recite Virgil’s Ecologues and Cicero’s Episltles from memory.  She could also retell the story of the Aeneid as well.  All this points to her grounding in Roman culture and studies in the Latin language.

Isabella learned to dance, embroider, play the lute, and sing.  She learned math, grammar, logic, philosophy, and how to ride a horse.  She went on many travel expeditions.

The only thing she did not learn how to do was how to draw and paint, which might explain why she spent a fortune collecting art. 

She knew French and sang French songs.  She also read French romances and those of Brittany.  King Arthur and the Round Table was part of her library collection.  She liked maps and globes, both celestial and terrestrial.  She had maps of Venice, Cairo, and Constantinople in her library collection.  Books and music filled her days unless she was entertaining guests.  She liked to play the card game Scartino.

When my husband Laurent and I visited Italy recently, I suggested that we visit Mantua, Mantova in Italian, to pay homage to Isabella d’Este.  Her art collection is no longer there; it has been dispersed to Hampton Court in England, the Louvre in Paris, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna among other places.

However, there are many places to visit in this tiny-yet-might peninsula city.  We used the Skira Guide book Mantua: Cities of Art to guide our walks around the Palazzo Ducale and the Centres of Power tours.  Art lovers might like the Palazzo d’Arco and Palazzo Te tours in addition to these two tours.

I still felt that Isabella’s d’Este’s sprit was in Mantua as I viewed the lovely buildings.  Everyone is committed to beauty it seems.

My favorite place in Mantua was a doorway directly across from the Palazzo Ducale and adjacent to the Duomo (Cathedral):  The entrance to the Palazzo Vescovile, formerly the Palazzo Biannchi (1776 – 1786). 

The entrance was built after Isabella d’Este, but it is a testament to the town’s love of beauty.  Two telamon figures stand on either side of the doorway and invite photos with their excellent 3-D relief.  I felt that I saw Isabella d’Este’s legacy there and left Mantua happy.

By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Laurent Paget Photography

Laurent Paget Photogrpahy

Ruth Paget Selfie

Visiting Louis XIV's Niece's Chateau in Lorraine (France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Louis XIV's Niece's Chateau in Lorraine (France) at Luneville with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

France’s château at Lunéville has royal connections not only through the Polish king Stanislaus Leszcynski (1677 – 1766), but also through his predecessor at Lunéville Elisabeth-Charlotte d’Orléans (1676 – 1744), who was the niece of Louis XIV.

The château was designed by Germain Boffrand (1667 – 1754), but it is the people who lived at Lunéville that made his designs come to life.  A provincial château could not compete with Versailles.  However, Elisabeth-Charlotte grew up with the royal family and passed on the culture that she acquired in Versailles to her children in Lunéville.

Much is known about Charlotte-Elisabeth from her correspondence, which helped form the research base for the book Eclat et Scintillement: Lumière sur le décor de la chamber de la duchesse à Lunéville (not translated in English).  This book, which is ostensibly about the interior decoration of the duchess Elisabeth-Charlotte’s bedroom, contains much information about raising aristocratic children in Germany.

The Germanic connection is easy to understand as Elisabeth-Charlotte’s mother came from the Palatinate region in modern-day Germany.  Her mother also named Elisabeth-Charlotte was the second wife of Louis XIV’s brother, Philippe d’Orléans.

Elisabeth’s German mother is recorded as saying in the Eclat et Scintillement that she always spoke to her children with reason.  She showed them what is good and bad.  Her mother did not accept any naughtiness.  The young Elisabeth-Charlotte was told not to follow bad examples.  She could not have a bad attitude.  Her mother praised virtue and taught her daughter to be horrified by vice.

When Elisabeth-Charlotte raised her own children, she taught these same things to them.  She also shared with them those things she had come to love at Versailles such as theatre, music, poetry, literature, nature, and animals.  Elisabeth-Charlotte also loved cooking and was very involved in her children’s studies.

Elisabeth-Charlotte was a mother, educator, and regent of Lorraine for nine years.  As part of a political treaty, she had to leave Lunéville so the deposed Polish king Stanislas could live at Lunéville.  Duke Stanislas of Lorraine was the father-in-law of Louix XV.  When Elisabeth-Charlotte moved to Commercy with all of her belongings, the era of Duke Stanislas began.

Under Duke Stanislas, Lunéville became known as a cultural center while the duke maneuvered to regain his Polish throne.  Stanislas sought to ally himself with the Turkish Ottoman Empire to regain his throne and had several portraits of himself painted in Turkish Dress.  The book Turqueries et Autres Chinoiseries: L’Exotisme en Lorraine au XVIIIème Siècle documents the many portraits.  This may have irritated Lorraine’s aristocratic families who had Turkish inspired artwork commissioned to commemorate Duke Charles V (1643 – 1690), who fought the Turks at Vienna.

Today, the gardens are a family to place to visit in addition to the château.   The day my husband and I visited drops of spring rain greeted us in the garden.  However, we could see the hedge embroidery that outlined the flower beds with a few blooms peeking out. 

A visit to Lunéville coupled with a visit to Nancy is a nice weekend outing.

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Laurent Paget Photography

Laurent Paget Photography

Laurent Paget Photography

Ruth Paget Selfie