Then and Now

[greatgrandma]

King Rene's castle which is across the street from Ste Martha's René D’anjou aka Good King Rene, (born Jan. 16, 1409, Angers, Fr.—died July 10, 1480, Aix-en-Provence), was duke of Anjou (from 1430), and count of Provence and of Piedmont. In 1419, when René was 10, he married Isabel of Lorraine aged 9. He was also titular king of Naples from 1435 to 1442. The affairs of the kings, queens, dukes and duchesses are too complicated for my brain but apparently Rene was captured, lost Naples and was required to pay a huge ranson. He is supposed to have been taught to paint in prison under the guidance of Jan van Eyck. After his first wife died, he married Jeanne de Laval, 20 years his junior, he retired to Tarascon where he dedicated himself to the love and patronage of the Arts, holding court in his castle with many of the painters, writers, astrologers, physicians, (including Jean of Saint Remy, the grandfather of Nostradamus) of the day. King René, often called Good King René, as instead of punishing people with death and torture he preferred to exact fines and taxes, (he was in constant need of money), was the last ruler of Provence..

 

[greatgrandma]

Chateau across the river

 

[greatgrandma]

In 1964, we visited Les Baux, which was relatively deserted. Now there were lots and lots of people looking at it. I didn't go in, I just took photos from the car.

 

[JohnPD]

In 1964 we visited the Roman theater at Arles

A great new series, Rosalie. Your photos continue to fascinate. Wonderful again to see the then and now version of places.

 

[greatgrandma]

Grand Turk - 2008 after Hurricane Isaac and 2016

Oil tanks and the iconic clock tower

 

[greatgrandma]

St Martinsville LA In 1960 and 2004. In 2004, we drove out to the Longfellow Evangeline State Historic Site which is free to those over 62. There was supposed to be a tour of the 1815 Olivier house on the hour, and it was now 10:50. . I remember visiting this house with Ester Foxworth, and I have a picture of her beside the bell. (She is the pregnant one - the other girl was her sister-in-law)

We hiked out the the house (we couldn't drive because of construction) where we met a little old lady in costume who told us all about the house.

This is the area which is referenced in the poem Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The poem is apparently about a young engaged couple (Gabriel and Evangeline) who were separated during the exile. Longfellow's version has her looking in vain, becoming a nun in Philadelphia and finding Gabriel on his deathbed.

Where did Longfellow get the idea for the poem? Judge Emile Edourd Simon (1824-1914) studied law at Harvard. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was writing the epic poem and teaching at Harvard when Simon was a student there. Family tradition holds that Simon told Longfellow about the establishment of Arcadian exiles here in 1765 and described for him the geography and local color of the Teche country. But according to the museum, he may have heard the legend from Hawthorne.

Possibly, the real life counterparts of Evangeline and Gabriel were Evangeline Labiche and Louis Arceneaux, and they were supposed to have met here under the Evangeline Oak after Gabriel had given up hope and married someone else. According to the AAA (American Automobile Association) book, this is the most photographed tree in America. So I took pictures of it. It's a big tree, and hard to take a picture of.

In the second picture, the park around the tree is decorated for Christmas. However you might notice that in this photo the tree does not appear to be the same.

And it isn't ​

The Live Oak, the site of their meeting, is actually the third such oak designated in Louisiana, and the one that was there when I visited in 2004 was scheduled to be retired in 2006 because the parking lot around it was killing its roots. A new oak was to be designated, with full historical pedigree, as The Evangeline Oak.

 

[greatgrandma]

Key West - We visited for the first time in 1961 when I was pregnant (4 months) with our first child. We lived there from October 1966 to January 1969, and then visited there by boat in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2003-2004. We also spent time there in the winter of 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011. The first picture is from 1961 and 2009 (I have lost about 50 lbs since this picture was taken. Both photos were taken in the garden of Audubon house.

The rest of these are also Audubon house 1961 and 2009

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

The first picture is from 1961

You look so elegant in your white dress and matching shoes. It's a lovely photo.

 

[greatgrandma]

Jamestown - my dad's photo on the left- except for the statue of Pocahontas

 

[greatgrandma]

Silver Cliff, Colorado - right summer 1948, left winter 1964 In 1948, I was 10 and my sister was 8 - main street and the house my dad grew up in.