The bell tower or belfry (le beffroi in French) in Arras is listed as part of the UNESCO world heritage site Belfries of Belgium and France. There are 56 belfries in the Flanders region of Belgium and in French Flanders (la Flandre Française) in France. The bells in belfries are (or were) rung to alert the local population to imminent danger.
The belfry in Arras was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. It had to be rebuilt in the 1830s, after decades of neglect,and again in the 1920s, after the Great War of 1914-1918, each time à l'identique. It stands 75 meters (250 ft) tall.
Just a few days ago, my blogger friend Susan at Days on the Claise published an informative post about belfries and sirens.
The belfry in Arras is topped off by a gilded lion. I'm not sure how I got a decent close-up photo of it from ground level.The big cat was looking down as these two house cats were keeping watch over the city the day I was there in 2011.
As for the gros plan of the lion you might have used your Lumix. Remember the one I took at Meillant with my Lumix? This series is very good as are the photos.
ReplyDeleteThe last two posts made me think of a noun and a song. The noun is “bidasse” and the song is The Ami Bidasse-The origin of the word "bidasse" is uncertain. In the Occitan language, it refers to a rank and file soldier called up under conscription.
Avec Bidasse is a song written in 1913 by Charles-Joseph Pasquier, known as Bach, who sang it in comic barrack-room dress, sporting the madder red trousers of the infantry.
Such was the success of L'ami Bidasse, in particular thanks to Fernandel's later interpretation, that "bidasse" soon became a synonym for conscript.
Associated with Arras - for the purposes of the song's rhyme - he made the town famous and it was used during the Fêtes de l’Ami Bidasse. In 2015, a new giant effigy of a "bidasse" was created to immortalise this character, joining the three traditional giants of Arras: Colas, Jacqueline and Dédé.
The oldest giant is Douai’s Gayant that dates back to 1531. Most cities in the French Flanders have their giants. Most were created in the 20th and 21st century.
I know the term bidasse. There were two movies in the early 1970s called Les Bidasses en folie and Les Bidasses s'en vont en guerre.
DeleteI took the lion photo and the other photos in this series using my Panasonic Lumix ZS1, known in Europe as the Lumix TZ6. It has a 12x zoom. The TZ3 had a 10x zoom.
DeleteWow, what a place!
ReplyDeleteI have no recall of seeing that gilded lion on the belfry. Now, at least, with your close-up I can appreciate the detail (that fantastic tail!).
ReplyDeleteThe lion on top of the belfry is a weathervane.
DeleteTrès intérresante! Merci!
ReplyDeleteGirouette est un nouveau mot pour moi!
ReplyDelete