Chinon and Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc Statue in Chinon Keep

We're back in Los Angeles now, and a bit sad because it looks like our girl cat Little, who was wasting away when we left, might not make it much longer.

Mister left, Little right

The boycat, Mister, kept waking me up to get petted last night, but I was glad to do it. Thank goodness he is healthy, glossy, fat and pretty, having been well cared for by our wonderful friends at Acme Pet Care. They took Little to the vet while we were gone because she was not doing well, and we'll be grateful to Sara and Andrew forever. If you live in the Los Angeles area and need pet sitters, they are the best. Click the link above to check them out.

Sun over Langeais Chateau in Exquisite France!

All in all, this was an amazingly trip. We have fallen in love with France. It is an incredibly beautiful country, and we've only seen a small bit of it. We know there's much more to explore. I could try to tell you how many chateaux and medieval villages there are in the Loire Valley, but I think you have to go there to believe it. It really knocked us over, and I invite you to discover it. It is a truly magical place. I also think it would be a great area to take school-age children who are learning about European history. But don't see it too quickly. Budget at least a week to soak it in. I'm planning to do a separate post just on the chateaux we saw, and recommend a good plan of how to tour them. Since I've also been to Chambord and Blois in earlier years, I think I'll have a lot of nice tips for you.

Tower at Chinon, France

But in this post, I'd like to talk about Joan of Arc and Chinon.

Bridge between towers at Chinon

A view from the Castle of Chinon of the town and the Vienne River beyond

The Vienne and countryside from Chinon

Chinon is a pretty town that still retains a lot of its medieval character. It sits above the Vienne River, a tributary of the Loire. The keep sits high over the steep slate roofs of the medieval quarter, with gorgeous views of the countryside on all sides. It is a wine town, and you can see the neat rows of vines curving along the soft hills when you look north from the castle.

Maiolica plate with scenes from the life of Joan of Arc

Beefy Bourgeuil and Delicate Chinon Wines

Our guide told us that in France, Chinon wine, especially the reds, are famous. They have a soft, fruity but slightly minerally quality and are a light red similar to pinot noir, pairing well with veal and game fowl. The types of grapes in it are Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, but coming from this unique terroir, they are quite different from Bordeaux. Do try Chinon when you are in France, because it's not terribly easy to get here in the USA. It's not too expensive, and it's delicious.

Chinon Royal Apartments

Inside the royal quarters at Chinon, there are several rooms with large scrims upon which are somewhat under-edited films about the various historic lords of Chinon. The films do cry out for a bit of a Monty Python parody, intercut with a Jean-Luc Goddard-style closeup of a medieval cigarette. We thought we could detect the coconut Foley doubling for horse hoof clopping sounds. Expense was spared.

Medieval Chinon

Joan of Arc (1412-1431) was a mountain girl who heard the voices of saints, and who ended up putting a French king back on the throne by commanding armies and winning battles. She was then captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English, who convicted her of heresy, and burned her at the stake in Rouen. She is that rare thing in history, a medieval woman who appears to have completely transcended the limitations imposed upon her gender. And for that reason, I've found her fascinating since I was a little girl. She was canonized in 1920, and became one of the patron saints of France.

Art Nouveau Joan of Arc

Joan as a War Saving Stamps Poster Child

The French gave a statue of her to New Orleans, where it now stands on Decatur. When I was little, I saw the film about her that starred Ingrid Bergman, and that was it - I was a confirmed Joan of Arc fan.

Ingrid Bergman as Joan

If you don't know who Ingrid Bergman is, then stop reading this right now, go watch Casablanca, and come back. You're welcome. Later, check out her performance in Gaslight. Wow, she was good.
Inside the royal apartments up in Chinon castle is a room devoted completely to Joan and her legend. There is a tapestry showing the incident, which took place right in Chinon, in which she recognizes the dauphin (the heir apparent and eventual Charles VII) even though he has tried to trick her by disguising himself in humble clothes and his valet in royal garb.

Joan recognizes the Dauphin in Disguise

It was she who helped convince him to take back the throne. There are many St. Joan statues, plates, and even false relics in the castle. There are interesting displays showing many depictions of Joan, from the one contemporaneous sketch, to the many romantic depictions of the Maid up to modern day.

St. Joan a la Art Nouveau

Chinon Fortress Guard Tower

I believe that Joan's popularity is so great because there are few female heroes in history, and the human psyche craves female archetypes. And in medieval France, in particular, male-dominated Christianity replaced goddess-worshipping Gallo-Roman paganism, leaving a void. Apparently in the 1400s there was a courtly fashion in France for female prophets and seers, and Joan was simply one who made good. There's an enigmatic appeal in the figure of a teenage peasant girl putting on armor and convincing a king to take back his throne, in a nobody who could somehow frighten the powerful English elite enough for them to condemn and burn her as a heretic. She must have had charisma, and a gift for words, and maybe she did have something of the purity and piety Bergman portrayed in the film.

View of the River Vienne from the Chinon Keep

 When you visit Chinon, give yourself time in the castle and grounds. It has several towers to explore and many evocative vistas. Unless you've taken the right drugs, avoid the historical films and save your energy for the room on St. Joan.

Tower at Chinon

And if we do lose our sweet Little too soon, I know she'll go and sit at St. Joan's gentle feet, and purr her dear loud purr there for all eternity.


Cheers, and Vive la France!

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