Lavardin is a village about 90 minutes north of Saint-Aignan, on the river called le Loir near the town of Montoire. Charles-Henry and I drove up there in June 2015 to visit a cousin of his who had bought a small château in that area. As usual, we stopped in churches, including the one in Lavardin (pop. 178), which is known for its elaborate wall paintings. The church was built toward the end of the 11th century. The site of the town has been occupied by humans since prehistoric times.
Sources say the wall paintings at Lavardin were done between the 12th and 14th centuries. I used to tease Charles-Henry about his love of churches because he was almost radically disdainful of organized religion. I miss the many car trips we took together between 2004 and 2015. This one might have been our last one together — it's hard to remember. He died in 2024 the age of 99.
That is a funny irony :)
ReplyDeleteI bet you’re probably itching for another little road trip, or day trip… I’m sure it’s helpful that Tasha doesn’t mind car rides.
I'm not comfortable driving in French cities at this point in my life.
DeleteYes, Charles Henry is missed in these parts. You two had a lot of great trips together.
ReplyDeleteCHM visited us in SF many times in the 1990s, and we went down to Salton City many times too. Then I stayed at CHM's apartment many times between 2004 and 2015, just as he came and stayed with us in Saint-Aignan many times. We also went up north to Péronne and Amiens together several times. I'm just starting to really miss those days. In 2017 or 2018 I asked him to come spend a week or two with us, but he said no, he couldn't. The trip was too hard for him. And driving to Paris to pick him up and bring him to Saint-Aignan was too hard for me to do by then.
DeleteA beautiful place and a beautiful memory. -- Chrissoup
ReplyDeleteYes. It has taken a year or more for my grieving to start.
DeleteThose memories are precious. The grieving is tough, but part of living so long.
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