La maison de Mr Edoux à Saint-Savin

I believe this is the house that my late friend Charles-Henry, his brother, and their mother stayed in when they were evacuated from Paris to Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe during World War II. The owner, if I'm remembering correctly, was a neighbor and friend of Charles-Henry's family in Paris. Mr Edoux was the inventor of the hydraulic elevator in the 19th century, and he coined the term ascenseur as its name. That's the standard French word for elevator today. All this happened many decades before Charles-Henry and his brother Pierre were born in the 1920s.

Again (si ma mémoire est exacte), Charles-Henry told me that they called the Edoux house in Saint-Savin le château. The old-looking tower was built as a water tower to supply the occupants with running water. An Edoux ascenseur was installed in the house itself, which had been built on foundations dating back to the Middle Ages. Edoux was a native of Saint-Savin and died in 1910 at age 83. Gustave Eiffel had ordered one of his elevators and had it installed at the Eiffel Tower to take people and freight up from the second level of the tower to the third (the top). That elevator stayed in service until 1983. I must have ridden in it in the 1970s.

Antigny, près de Saint-Savin

Just four kilometers south of Saint-Savin (département de la Vienne) is a village called Antigny with a 12th century church, Notre-Dame de l'Incarnation. Like the church in Saint-Savin, its walls are painted. The wall paintings at Antigny date back to the 14th century and were uncovered only in 1991; they had been painted over at some point in the distant past.

I would probably never have known about Antigny if I hadn't been touring around with Charles-Henry. He spent some time in the area during World War II with his mother and brother. He would have turned 20 years old in 1944.

In and around the church in Saint-Savin

Saint-Savin possède une remarquable église romane ornée de peintures murales de la même époque, qui constitue l'ensemble le plus beau et le plus complet qui ait été conservé en France.

— Guide Michelin Poitou, Vendée, Charentes

Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe paintings

Below are a few more pictures of the paintings inside the church at Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe. I don't have a lot to blog about right now, but I want to continue. I've posted photos of, and stories about, Saint-Savin several times over the years, including in February this year on the occasion of Charles-Henry's death.

I'm not sure, but I think my vision is a little clearer today than it was yesterday or the day before. I just wish that my right eye, the one that was operated on, was better. It makes me wonder if I should have had the cataract operation now or if I should have waited until later. My vision seems unchanged. I have a follow-up appointment with the ophthalmologist next Wednesday 6/19. I'll talk to him about whether or not I should go ahead and have my right eye done. Maybe the whole situation will have changed by the time I talk to him.