Heloise and Abelard: The French Touring Game for Brittany (France) about Sinners, Saints, and Haints by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Héloîse and Abelard:  The French Touring Game for Brittany (France) about Sinners, Saints, and Haints by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget 

Introduction

The Brittany Peninsula in northwestern France that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean is famous for cuisine that would appeal to young people with yachting in the blood, interest in love stories, and yearnings to be a Celtic druid.

Brittany’s Cuisine – Simple yet Nutritious and Satisfying

-raw oysters (belons – huîtres plates are the most famous)

-pré sale lamb (salt marsh lamb)

-alcoholic apple cider

-towering seafood platters with homemade mayonnaise

-Muscadet white wine (goes great with seafood platters)

-steamed mussels made with Muscadet white wine and crème fraîche and chopped, flat-leaf parsley

-fleur de sel sea salt from Guérande, Brittany

-galettes (buckwheat crêpes for savory ingredients)

-crêpes for sweet and savory ingredients

-far cake studded with cognac-marinated prunes

-garden vegetables such as bibb lettuce, strawberries, green beans, and small potatoes for side dishes

-butter cookies to go with tea

King Arthur’s Camelot

Brittany is famous as the setting for Camelot in Chrétien de Troyes Arthurian Romances.

The Château des Ducs de Bretagne is where King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Queen Guenivere lived in myth.

I always told Florence when we visited Nantes that we might see those three in windows or walking around the gardens.

Middle Ages Lovers: Abelard and Héloîse

Brittany boasts being the tryst land for two Middle Ages lovers named Héloîse and Abelard.  Abelard was a priest, and Héloîse was his student.  Héloîse became pregnant.

The church superiors castrated Abelard.  Héloîse had to become a nun.  The two were allowed to correspond. 

Their correspondence has been preserved and published.  Spoiler - In the end, Héloîse starts making fun of Abelard, which is why it has been in print for centuries, begging for a movie.

Anne of Brittany: Queen of France Twice

Another famous personality from Brittany was a real queen named Anne of Brittany (1477 – 1514).  She became the queen consort of France twice.

Her first husband was Charles VIII and her second husband was Louis XII.  Both kings added her territory of Brittany to that of France.

She lived in the Château of the Ducs of Brittany, which is in downtown Nantes (Naoned in the Breton language).

I have some suggestions for places to visit in Brittany in the blogs that follow.  You can go to Nantes by TGV (French Speed Train) and rent a car to see the places I have described in the blogs:

Level 1: Books about Brittany and its Famous People

To better appreciate the culture of Brittany, you might want to do some reading before you go:

-DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Brittany by DK Travel

-Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes (various publishers)

-Letters of Abelard and Héloîse (various publishers)

-Twice Queen of France: Anne of Brittany by Mildred Allen Butler

-The Complete Sailor – Second Edition – by David Seidman (You can rent sailboats in some places)

-Crêpes and Galettes from the Breizh Café by Bertrand Larcher

-The Oysters of Locmariaquer by Eleanor Clark

Level 2 – Views from the Air

If you wake up in time, you can see evidence of how Brittany’s inheritance laws differ from England’s.

Level 3 – Places to Visit in Downtown Nantes

-Gothic Saint Pierre – Saint Paul Cathedral

-Château of the Dukes of Brittany

-Dobrée Museum

This museum holds many treasures documenting Nantes’ participation in the Triangular Trade with the Americas (slaves, sugar, rum, cotton, and salt cod).  

French slaves might have come from the modern nations of Senegal, Cameroon, and Benin.  (Information could be available in the poems of Senghor - the first African president of Senegal and leader of the Negritude Poetry Movement.)

Bordeaux also participated in Triangular Trade with the Americas before it converted to growing wine and selling it to the English.

-Jardin des Plantes

This garden by the Château of the Dukes of Brittany has trees in it that ship captains brought back to France from their travels around the world.  There are many magnolia trees in this garden.

-Musée des Beaux-Arts

This museum houses many portraits of the wives of shipping companies in Nantes, who made the city wealthy.  When slavery was outlawed, the city converted to making butter cookies to maintain its contacts in the Caribbean and markets.

There are also many Tenebrist paintings in this museum by the painter Georges de la Tour.

Level 4 – Breton Meals

I talked abut some Breton dishes in this blog’s introduction, but what kind of menu would you put together for a nice Saturday dinner for your family and/or friends using the dishes I listed as Breton cuisine.

Level 5 – On the Breton Pilgrimage Route to Santiago de Compostela

Parthenay Stop

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website.

Level 6 – Dobrée Museum

Maritime Trade Financier’s Art Collection from the Triangular Trade with the Americas (slaves, sugar, rum, cotton, and cod fish)

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 7 – St. Gildas des Bois

A granite, French church that has stood in the forest for centuries

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 8 – Redon: A Breton Venice

Redon is a Breton Venice with cascades of red geraniums tumbling down to canals from bridges in this town that has won a “Ville Fleurie,” or “Flower Town” award.

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 9 – Rochefort-en-Terre

Regional center where processions of the Virgin Mary sometimes take place

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 10 – Celtic Menhirs and Dolmens at St. Just

If you are Celtic, you can commune with your ancestors’ designs here before heading out to a larger site such as Carnac (France) or Stonehenge (United Kingdom).

Level 11 – Puy du Fou Medieval Theme Park in the Vendée Region

Just below Nantes is the region called the Vendée where there is a re-enactment of the history in this region. 

There is a medieval theme park with cobblers (wooden shoe makers), coopers (barrel makers), blacksmiths (horseshoe makers), and candlestick makers here along with shows featuring falcons and drawbridges to run across in the medieval theme park associated with this re-enactment site.

Have fun in Brittany (France), which is relatively close to Paris thanks to the TGV (High-speed French trains)!

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

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Attending a Renaissance Faire with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Attending a Renaissance Faire with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

During one of Laurent’s cruises, Florence and I headed out to the Renaissance Faire sponsored by the Norfolk Public Schools and the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk (Virginia).

Florence and I went through the Hermitage Museum twice before going out to the Renaissance Faire.

The three-way mirrors in the dressing room interested Florence.  I showed her the Chinese bronze vessels, but she asked, “Can we look at something more interesting?”

I showed her the Renaissance Museum’s Kuan Yin downstairs.  She recognized the goddess of mercy and said, “That’s like the statue I broke by mistake at home with my beach ball.”

Despite the remark, the tour guide let Florence handle the lacqueur boxes with fifty sons on them and some cloisonné birds.

Outside on the huge lawn, the Chrysler Museum set up an art activity for kids to make Chinese fans.  The children used popsicle sticks for the handles and inserted red tassels through a hole in the bottom of the popsicle stick.

Then, the children colored a round cardboard with Asian motifs and pasted this to the handle.  Florence chose a bamboo design that I liked, too.

More multicultural exhibits and events rounded out the fair.  On the outdoor stage, a group of children performed a healing dance from Ghana.

Another exhibit had imitation canopic jars from Egypt.

“In Egypt, they kept body parts like hearts in jars like this after a person died.  Their spirit called a “ka” was supposed to be in these body parts.  Doctors could also check if the person died of poison,” I told Florence.

“That’s gross,” Florence remarked.

We laughed about goopy guts all the way back to the car and went to air-conditioned Pizza Hut for lunch.

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

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Attending a Virginia Opera Company Performance with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Attending a Virginia Opera Company Performance with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I read the Community Section of the Virginian-Pilot newspaper everyday to look for inexpensive or free things to do in the Hampton Roads area.

One day I found a free performance by the Virginia Opera Company of Little Red Riding Hood. 

“What is opera,” Florence asked.

“It is a sung play.  You will love it.  Really!”  I reassured Florence as we went to the show.

Florence sat transfixed through the performance and asked the singers afterwards during the question-and-answer period, “Do you get hot under the lights?”

“We forget about the heat when we sing,” one of the singers answered.

As we left the show, Florence remarked, “They really sang everything in the show.”

“That’s what they do in opera.  Maybe you could be an opera singer,” I said.

“I would rather sing like Selena,” she answered.  She loved seeing Jennifer Lopez sing like Selena in the movie about Selena’s life when we picked her daddy up from boot camp outside Chicago when he joined the Navy.

The following days, though, Florence sang out her favorite fairy tales despite saying that she wanted to be Selena rather than Carmen.

The kids’ opera was a fun outing with little Florence.  I think kids’ opera is the sort of thing you should have in a “village” to raise children as Hilary Clinton said in her book It Takes a Village.  (I do read a lot, including cereal ingredients on cereal boxes.)

Most of my blogs do have a back story in them of what I want in a "village" for raising children in the US.  Many of these activities require volunteer work and proven results before they can get funding, though.

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

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Visiting the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

On a free day at the Chrysler Museum in downtown Norfolk (Virginia), I took Florence to the Chrysler Museum after school for a field trip.

The Egyptian mummies intrigued Florence as usual.

“Why did the Egyptians write with pictures?” she asked, referring to ancient, Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

“Lots of people wrote with pictures before they had alphabets,” I responded.

“People like the Chinese and Japanese still write with pictures,” I said.

We looked at several busts of Buddha, which made Florence ask, “Who was Buddha?”

“He is like Jesus for the Japanese and Tibetans,” I said.

We made an elderly lady’s day in the Neoclassical statue section.

“Do you see that?” Florence said as she pointed at several statues.

“They have statues of naked people in here!!!” she exclaimed.

The lady started laughing, and so did I.

We finished our visit by looking at student artwork.

Florence could not believe that children like her received display space in the museum.

We stopped at the Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home for donuts, orange juice for Florence, and a big coffee for me with cream (pre-latte days).

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

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Visiting the Mariners' Museum in Newport News (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Laurent, Florence, and I went on a field trip to the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News (Virginia) to see the Titanic exhibit.

Florence was ga-ga over the Titanic movie, so I knew this outing would be met with enthusiasm.  At the exhibit, we all received a ticket with the name and photograph of an actual passenger on the Titanic with a scavenger hunt questionnaire.

The exhibit featured lots of photos and biographies – not too child-oriented, but I saw the film and read several history books about what happened, so I made up commentary to go with the photos.

However, finding John Jacob Astor’s gold pocket watch earned us the right to place a big, gold sticker on our scavenger hunt sheet.

In Florence’s favorite exhibit, you could put your hand in a sac surrounded by water that was the same temperature as the water the Titanic passengers found themselves in when the ship sank.

This exhibit explained that hypothermia puts you into a trance-like state.  It is not a painful way to die supposedly.

We watched a slideshow that said the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 made people less optimistic about technological progress.  The sinking of the Titanic happened when the first skyscrapers were being built.

The most chilling exhibit showed how many people died in each class of passengers.  You definitely had an edge for survival, if you were in a first-class cabin.

Several things happened regarding cruise ships after the Titanic sank.  First and foremost ships had to have enough lifeboats for all the passengers. 

From then on, the Marconi Wireless Communication Centers on ships had to concentrate on safety rather than sending messages for first class passengers as well.

The same centers also had to stay open 24/7.  The ship that was close to the Titanic did not receive a dispatch signal, because its communications center was closed.

Cruise ships had to run on a more southern course after the sinking of the Titanic as well to avoid icebergs and winter storms.

After the Titanic disaster, there were many fundraising benefits for the survivors and their families.  The tour guide said that every street in Southhampton (England) lost someone on the Titanic.

After the Titanic exhibit, we looked at miniature ships and the testing pools to see how the miniature ships would withstand waves, winds, and collision.  Florence had fun moving the ships in the water.

We spent 3 hours at this great museum and had fun eating at an Italian restaurant afterwards.

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

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