The first digital photos I ever took in France were photos like these. At first, when I found these on my computer this morning, I thought I had taken them myself. Then I realized that I'm in them, so I couldn't have taken them. CHM took them. We were in Rouen, staying and touring around with Jeanine and Henri. That afternoon, August 23, 1998, we went to see the ruins of the Abbaye de Jumièges, on the Seine about 30 minutes west of Rouen.
The reason I thought I took these photos is because CHM had loaned me his Kodak digital camera for the summer. Walt and I had come to France in June. I came over first, carrying CHM's camera, and went to spend a few days in Rouen while I waited for Walt to arrive. He was still working — I was unemployed — so he couldn't come to France for a long stay. We had rented a little studio apartment on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris for a short visit. We went to see some tennis matches at Roland Garros (the French Open tournament). That was in late May and early June. I took a lot of photos in Paris then, with CHM's camera. Then Walt and I flew back to Californiia.
In August, CHM flew from California to France to go see a friend of ours, a woman we had both worked with in Washington DC in the 1980s. She had a house in the town of Carteret in the region of Normandy called the Cotentin (Granville, Cherbourg). I decided to go back to France in August to give him his camera back. I had only recently learned that our DC colleague's house was in Carteret. Walt and I had gone to Carteret on a road trip we took around Normandy, Brittany, and the Loire Valley in 1992. I really wanted to go there, because the county where I grew up in North Carolina is called Carteret County and is named after the Carterets of Normandy and the Anglo-Norman Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernesey). I wanted to see the village called Carteret again.
I arrived in Paris, took the train to Rouen, and there I rented a car for the drive out to the Cotentin, a few hours west. CHM, our friend with the house in Carteret, an old friend of hers, and I spent a few days touring around that part of Normandy. I think I'll resurrect some of the photos CHM took there with his camera that I had returned to him. I didn't yet have a digital camera of my own. Then CHM and I drove to Rouen and went to Jumièges, the site of an abbey founded in the 7th century. The ruins are imposing, to say the least.
Traveling down memory lane. Remember how Andrée, MY Jeanine’s old friend, insisted on the route we should take to Rouen which was not mine. We stopped in Bayeux to see the cathedral under, what’s new...rain. At the time, I didn’t know my old friend Mary lived there. Memories, sweet memories!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting my photos.
I am so thankful I was able to go to Jumièges which is something I have wanted to do for a long, long time.
To those readers who might wonder how Ken might have my photos, let it be known that we exchanged our photos after every outing.
Yes, I didn't mention that the friend with the house in Carteret was named Jeanine too. I thought that would be too confusing. And no, I don't remember Andrée trying to pick the route we should take to get to Rouen. Now I'm trying to find the photos of you, J., H. and me that we took at Jumièges. I don't know why they aren't with the ones of your that I posted today. Were we at Jumièges more than once.
DeleteWho would have taken that photo if the four of us were on it?
DeleteI went to Rouen with you twice, once from Carteret and the other time from Paris and Beauvais. I was in Jumièges only once. With Jeanine C., Henri and you. Are the photos dated?
DeleteThe second time I went to Rouen was in 2010 to give that drawing by my grandfather to the museum there. By that time I had the Lumix. So, if the photos are KDC, it must have been 1998. QED!
DeleteBy the way, this morning I found a Windows add-on that let's me open the old KDC files in Photoshop and convert them to JPG format. I can resize, contrast, brighten or darken them too. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteIt didn’t occur to me that those photos of mine you have were in KDC. Then you can open the photos of Lessay and Pirou and in this last one the photo of you on the bridge.
DeleteFrom the size of the people you can imagine how big it must have been! Now, the ruins are maintained, so they don’t deteriorate more.
DeleteWow, what a place! Somehow, with it being in ruins, its size is even more frappant than the finished buildings. I guess you expect the finished buildings to be big LOL.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying your memory-stories and accompanying photos.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm hunting down the history of Abbaye de Jumièges...
Hi Chris, I just read in the Michelin Guide that the first abbey built at Jumièges in the 7th century was laid to waste by the Vikings in the 9th. The next abbey and church were built in the 11th century and consecrated in the presence of William the Conqueror in 1067. The ruins we see today are of that set of buildings.
DeleteThese are wonderful pictures. Looking forward to your tour of Normandy.
ReplyDelete