Pages

Sunday, February 12, 2012

a true story from Normandy




I love to visit churchyards.  There is nothing morbid in my enjoyment, more historical.  Churchyards attached to the villages here read like history books, the genealogy of a small community laid out in the ground for all to understand.



Just across the valley from us there is a very small church with a beautiful view and a tiny graveyard.  The cemetery receives a load of visitors because there is a former French  minister and Nobel prize winner buried there, but it's two other graves that caught my attention.

Side by side there are two little tombstones, old and  difficult to read, but with some patience you can clearly make out the names of two young girls, and curiously the names are not French but English.  This intrigued me for a long while.  I imagined a family travelling through the valley early XXth century, a terrible accident, tragic deaths, then burial near by.  But that couldn't be the case since the dates on the tombstones  are two years apart.


I asked around locally but nobody could remember any accident, or English family around here.




Finally, a while ago, I discovered the truth behind the intrigue.

An English lord came to Normandy with his beautiful young wife, fell in love with the valley and settled here.  They had a daughter who sadly died very young of an illness.  Two years later they had another daughter, and tragically she also succumbed to the same maladie, which today we'd call genetic.  The couple were overcome with sadness but still desired a family and decided to adopt.   A baby French girl was found and the family reconstructed their lives, they continued to live in Normandy.




So how did I discover this? .... a history book?  No.  

One day while walking near the church I saw an elderly lady tidying the tombstones and laying fresh flowers.  We chatted about the weather and the view and the peacefulness, she had a pleasant face.  I asked if she knew anything about the mysterious English children, she smiled, she seemed pleased that someone was interested.  She told me the whole story.

Have you guessed?

She was, of course, the adopted daughter.






0 comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Labels

'by invitation only' (9) 9031 (1) advice to Daphne (6) Agent Gallery Chicago (1) alberto nicolau (1) ANZAC (1) apron (1) art (24) Australia (3) authentic french (6) autumn (4) award (3) baccalaureate (1) bathroom (3) batttling with blogger (1) bed linen (5) bedroom (23) being ruby (2) black and white (1) blogging (19) blogging and art (5) Blogiversary (1) blue france (1) books (4) brocante (103) brocante tours (23) cap ferrat (1) cause (15) ce mercredi je mange (32) ceramics (2) chairs (16) chalk paint (1) charlie (2) chateau d'emalleville (5) chateau de miserey (1) chateau de vendeuvre (1) chateau miserey (3) chateaux (4) chatting with you (9) chatting wth you (2) chère Charlotte (2) children (3) china cupboards (2) chocolates (3) christmas (61) christmas wishes (2) claude monet (1) Cloches (1) coffee tables (1) color (85) colors (2) corsica (2) creating in Normandy (2) Creating Vintage Charm (1) Curiosities (7) cushion (2) daffodils (2) debauve et gallais (1) Decorating (44) Design (36) designing tips (58) desks (1) disappointment (1) DIY (31) dogs (35) dolls house (1) Droog (1) dwell (2) easter (1) entertaining (13) escape (29) espadrilles (1) Ethnic Chic (15) etsy (5) Etsy Shopping (30) event (3) exams (1) exhibition (3) fabrice alberti (3) family (9) family life (18) Favorite Before and Afters (2) Feathered Nest Friday (56) Feathered Nest Friday Holiday (6) fiction (15) FIFI O'NEILL (1) fireplaces (1) flags (1) Flea Finds (30) Flickr (2) flip clock (1) flower arrangements (57) foire a tout (3) food (2) forest (4) France (40) free downloads (1) french architecture (62) french bed linen (4) french dressing (2) French fashion (5) French food (49) French holidays (5) french houses (76) french living (58) French men (2) French style (35) french traditions (26) french village life (8) French women (9) FrenchByDesign (27) friends (1) fun prints (15) galette des rois (4) gardening (3) gardens (14) giveaway (18) giverny (5) good read (4) grain sacks (1) grand palais (1) graphic fairy (2) Greece (1) growing older (3) guest artist (1) Guest Cottage (1) halloween (1) Halloween Kmart (1) Happy New Year (1) haven in paris (1) holiday (17) Holidays (11) Home (92) home made cakes (1) home office (9) horses (25) hostess gift (1) Hotze Eisma (1) house for sale (17) house hunting (1) House Tour (167) impressionist (1) in our valley (54) industrial (52) inside my house (35) Inspiration (531) Inspirations (12) interiors (14) Italy (4) Joss & Main (1) Kids Corner (14) kitchen (9) Klelly Wieck (1) Kmart (2) Kmart Outdoor Living (3) lamps (12) landscapes (2) Las Vegas (1) life (4) lily of the valley (1) living in France (8) lLving France (1) loot shoot (48) Lowes Creative Ideas (1) lunch at my house (3) maison for sale (7) me (46) media (21) mention in a magazine (3) military (2) mix (9) MoMA Store (1) mon bouquet du jour (40) monogrammes (3) moodbaord (27) Morocco (6) my french country brocante (5) my French girlfriends (10) my garden (54) Nature (20) next month in Paris (3) normandy (5) original shelving (24) our guest cottage (9) Outdoor Living (1) paint colour (2) painted furniture (1) painting (4) parenting (3) paris (42) parisienne farmgilr (1) Pets (1) philosphy (1) photography (102) photographyp (1) picnic (1) pinned (9) polo (1) ponies (1) pool balls (1) Portugal (1) Post Road Vintage (1) project genesis (1) provence (18) RACHEL ASHWELL (1) recipe (1) recipes (29) recycling (2) redesign (1) Referral (1) Remodel (8) remodeling (49) rescued vintage (57) respelido (1) Romantic Homes Magazine (1) salon maison et objet (1) San Diego (1) Sandbox (10) scandinavia (59) Seasons (9) Shabby (1) SHABBY CHIC (3) shop vintage (45) shopping in Paris (4) shopping list (46) short story (3) shutters (2) sia (1) sissinghurst (1) south of France (17) Spain (13) sponsorship (1) st tropez (1) staying in our valley (5) steel locker baskets (1) styling magazine (6) summer holidays (1) sunday show and tell (1) Swedish interiors (17) table settings (4) tablescapes (3) Taverne agency (2) tea-time (1) teenage daughters (3) teenagers (9) thank you (1) thanksgiving (3) this week we're eating .. (20) toile de jouy (1) Tours (2) travel (9) Treasure Finds (124) trend (51) trouvais (1) turner (1) tutorial (11) Tutorials (5) typography (182) Vacation (7) vallee de l'eure (9) vfrench traditions (1) vintage linens (4) visiting france (3) visiting paris (1) weddings (1) when I grow up (3) white (56) william wordsworth (1) your opinion please (10)
 
Powered by Blogger.