The wierdest thing with my eyes

Every couple of weeks or so my eyes feel strained and then suddenly I am seeing even more tiny little things in these paintings I have. It is like I am gradually having even more depth of vision. Perhaps I notice it because I never really had any depth of vision much until the cataracts were removed. It started doing its own thing a few days back and then eye strain for a day or two and then more depth of vision. Weird really. Somewhat different to see so much in my old age that I couldn't see when I was younger. I wore glasses since I was a one year old so life has been always been through glass until last early summer. Now I just wear them for close work. It is amazing how the brain develops skills really; as an infant you just wouldn't notice it. I must say it does slow down my work somewhat though. 

Cleaning all accomplished and I am amazed that I can still keep up with it week in and week out. It is probably healthy to do that but at the end of the day I am usually rather tired. I did think about the Blake wills that I still have not yet transcribed and will consider doing a small project pulling out the family details from the wills that I have not yet done. I can go back through my blogs and easily find that material as I blogged it and my legend in the blog lets me capture just the particular counties' wills quite readily. Over time I hope to transcribe all of them and it is another one of those tasks I want to set myself to on a daily basis perhaps accomplishing one a day is realistic. We will see. I barely have time for anything as I have so many items that I want to put time into each day. But multi-tasking was always one of my strong points and so I probably, now that I am into my new books, need to draw up a schedule once again so that I accomplish the greatest amount in each day. And why do I do this? Well my grandparents and my mother would certainly like me to do it and so I do. I am not a people person but do answer emails that give me thoughts to pursue on a subject that I am working on. Other emails I always mean to answer them but I notice maybe a year later when I sort my emails into the archive that I actually didn't answer the email. Sometimes I do it then but mostly I just think those people are probably busy too and would have written a second time if they really needed an answer! There you go justification for my hermit tendencies although one doesn't need to justify it when one is nearly 80. People expect you to be somewhat strange perhaps! 

Tea is drank. Yoga and breakfast are next. Today is a work day and I continue with the le Blak family of Normandy and Wargrave, Berkshire. Of course there is the question is this the same person? I am going with it is just because I did not find a lot of le Blak in Normandy and one can see the name changing over to le Blake and then Blake so it makes sense and someone can always correct me in the future if they happen to read my book. I am very prepared for that as I am sure James Sanders would very much like it that I revised his book and produced a charting book as well. Must get them put into the various archives; time escaped me and having published them with a Creative Commons License anyone could put them in likely; no ideas on that. 

NASA is on the alert for this "city-killer" asteroid (named Asteroid 2024 YR4) headed towards earth in 2032.  It is large, 100 metres across which is pretty substantial. Impossible to tell where it will land I suspect at this moment in time. Newly noted in December 2024. 

I also think that as we turn inward as a country, build the pipelines and not have to purchase our own oil back to run our cars etc we will do well (the oil we sell is sold back to us at 3x what we get for selling it!). This was a great co-operative effort to make the north american continent very prosperous and it worked beautifully. But no matter we will work together in Canada and keep Canada out of a recession and employ our youth in good fields like the trades because that is what we need (no more buying dishwashers etc etc from outside the country and as an idea it did work but tariffs destroy good commerce). We will keep our friendship with the Americans because that is a good thing. We will rebuild the industries that were lost during competition because we were the smaller country and our businesses could not survive the competition (and hopefully people will not sell these new companies to outsiders so they can lie on the beaches in Florida the rest of their days). I think we all went into NAFTA with our eyes open and it worked as all three countries became very prosperous. We all are still compared to so many places in the world. But we have a good sized population of youth and they can do this. The youth need to do this for themselves as office work is not like working with your hands and on your feet most of the day creating tangible and needed items. That life style of active work and not sitting is so much healthier.

We especially do not need more philosophers like the ones who dreamed about a people who really were not what they were dreaming - namely the Palestinians. Any people that could knowingly support what was done to Israel do not deserve that dreaming. They had three to four generations to create a prosperous country and Gaza will be prosperous eventually but I would say no more trucks of food into Gaza (we should not support UN food trucks) - they can spend their time growing food and not hating their next door neighbour. It was the United Nations (the world group) that assigned land and no one else. It was at the call of the world and it was a good call. Too bad the Palestinians didn't shape up in that generation from 1948 on and build a country. They chose their fate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cleaning the rest of the house

 Always a long day of work for sure, cleaning the rest of the house - fortunately it is a small two storey carriage home so not as much work as it might sound but still enough for a 79.5 year old for sure. I will begin after breakfast as usual. It does make life easier though to always have the house cleaned up every week; week in and week out. I used to pay my daughters, after I went back to work, to clean the house and do the laundry. Well worth it to me since I was out earning money. I always believed in paying my children for work done. It is good training and does perhaps increase that desire to be independent and earning money one day in a different way than cleaning a house. 

Not a lot of work done yesterday, my eyes still seemed to be a bit tired so I rested them quite a bit and watched a movie on Netflix and did my exercises like running which I still do when I clean the basement. Today I will not run; I will get plenty of exercise doing the cleaning. I also cleared the laneway, patios and porch as there was a small snowfall and it is good to just get it out of the way. We apparently are getting another good snowfall so we will hopefully reach the 1.5 metre standing snow in the backyard by the end of the winter. That means good moisture for the ground. 

I did think about the Blake family yesterday, somehow Pincombe has disappeared into the shadows for the  moment. Resolving that the one group in the FT DNA y-DNA study is Viking along the Normandy coast rewarding as one would expect that there would be a number of placed people in England after the Norman Conquest. But why do we find so many Blake lines in England. Already we have noted that during the 1330s to 1550s when the Emigrant database exists that a number of Blake came from Europe to England - particularly from The Netherlands, different areas of France besides Normandy and Ireland. So rather interesting actually. I have to decide how much effort I will put into the wills that I have transcribed for Wiltshire seeing what kind of family lines emerge from these wills. The same for the wills in Hampshire, Berkshire. Christchurch is in Dorset these days so that brings that largish group of Blake into Dorset when one is examining the records. My interest in the Calne Blake family is fairly low to be honest but I would not be doing proper duty to history if I do not continue with this pursuit of attempting to determine how Richard le Blak fitted into the scheme of Blake in southern England. So many details are available that it just seems like a mistake not to attempt to put them all together. I am considering whether or not I should write an article for the Guild Newsletter on Richard le Blak. That might be a process that could encourage more British Blake descendants to test their y-DNA for the study. I have always been looking at this from my grandfather's viewpoint and he would have loved knowing that his line was very ancient to the British Isles as he had always said it was. But having scientific proof is always so interesting. He did not attach a great deal of interest to the family lore that the Andover Blake family and the Calne Blake family were related perhaps because it was very distant and prior to Nicholas whom he did have a great interest in. That is a thought actually and it has just occurred to me. Perhaps he knew more than I understood as a child of eight years and less. I did try to see if my older brother (he was 2.5 years older than me) remembered what Grandpa had said but his only comment was he tried to stay out of Grandpa's way or he was out in the garden working alongside of him. Grandpa believed in doing one's chores and he would create them if you looked like you had nothing to do! I did sit at his knee for hours those last couple of years listening to him tell me stories about Upper Clatford, Andover and the Blake family. 

Breakfast time, tea is drank. A beautiful morning begins once again and it is dawn. 

I have been avoiding the news to a certain extent; certainly President Trump will protect Israel. The announcement by the Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich that "for every hostage harmed, Israel will take 5% of Gaza" and it is such a good statement. Hamas needs to be put down; any human characteristics they ever had are lost for their barbaric crimes in Israel on the 7th October 2023 continuing right up to the emaciated hostages turned over last week. If those babies still missing are not returned alive and well especially, Hamas should pay dearly for their treatment of all children and infants having taken them hostage in the first place. That is the lowest of low acts against a people to take their children - it is simply beastly.

 

So what did I learn about the y-DNA of the group

Sunday today and the service is in London. I shall attend in a bit. It is called Racial Justice Sunday. I believe that everyone under the sun is equal and I thank my mother for making me realize this as a young child when I asked her about the first Black person I ever saw when I was eight years old on the bus going to the Dentist with her. I asked if he had been burned and that was why his skin was black. She said  no that people came in many different shades of skin colour and we were all the same. It was so simply put that it remained with me through my childhood and until now at nearly 80 years of age. I treat all people the same (and some might say it is pretty blunt but I do not want to waste their time or mine). I am simply not a really friendly person just me. 

 Yesterday was a busy day looking at various items but particularly the yDNA of the I-M253 group. First and foremost these individuals are not related in the past 1000 years closely although they share the same line back from I-L22 to I-M253 so thinking they are all from Normandy might be realistic but as their evolution continued forward they took different paths. 

Why did so many people have the surname Blake one might ask in the areas I am looking at - namely Hampshire/Dorset/Wiltshire/Berkshire? Well as demonstrated the wills in the Wiltshire area in the 1500s showed individuals with the Blake surname in Calne, Martin/Marten, Warminster, West Lavington, Playtford, South Newton, Erlestoke, Deverill Longbridge. Looking at Hampshire in the 1500s there were individuals with the surname Blake in Andover, Kings Somborne, Quarley, Knights Enham, Dibden, Lockerley, Penton Mewsey, West Tytherley, East Tytherley, Lymington, Winchester, Christchurch, Ellingham, Mottisfont, Romsey, Boldre, Sparsholt, Isle of Wight (Godshill, Brading). Berkshire  in the 1500s there were individuals with the surname Blake in Speen, Didcot, Bucklebury. 

Just in those four counties there are many Blake families in the 1500s. Getting back into the 1300s is more difficult to look at the Blake families and where they were. The land records seem helpful but I find few records prior to 1200, not many in the 1200s but more in the 1300s. The map I put up showing locations of Blake in the Calendar of Patent Rolls which included the 1300s was interesting. 

The frequency of Blake in the areas mentioned Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and Dorset rather match the frequency of the wills in the 1500s. So is the family lore wrong or it was just that the Blake family at Calne was the best known of all the Blake families in these areas and if your history (which was likely to individual families) included Normandy as being your family home then one might just assume that you had some sort of a relationship with the Blake family at Calne. 

I decided the next step was to look at the remainder of the people in this group and add them to my chart. The other comment is that only one individual in this group names Robert de Blakeland and the original structure was set up by Barrie Blake who did correspond with many of these people and I just carried it on and fitted them in if their haplogroup fitted which was I-M253. A number have Ireland as their designated country. All but one of the testers was at I-M253 as their level of testing and the addition fits in with the rest of the group. I have really learned all that I can given that the number of Blake testers continues to be too small to really make a point with this data other than they all descend from I-M253 which gives them a sort of ethnic origin that tends to point to Scandinavia as their location 1500 to 2500 years ago (CE). Since the history of this part of France points to a Viking settlement of Normandy between 790 and 1030 (CE) that fits with the data. The Latin documents at this time verifies this movement calling these individuals Nortmanni (men of the North). Putting all of these Blake results into one category works very well and I would not make any changes until we have considerably more Blake testers. But are they all descendant of the le Blak family no and we do not have a tester with a proven line back to Richard le Blak of Rouen, Normandy but I did find some interesting French results in another site. Must find that and republish it here as it was interesting. 

Time for breakfast, yoga first.

 

First ordered document in process

I already heard back from South West Heritage Trust and the first document is ordered with predicted delivery date 10 to 12 weeks. That sort of blows my one month estimate out of the water  but not a problem I will just adjust that thought. I am going to go into the chapter today and work on it with the thought in mind that I did not put quite enough in when I wrote last year (hard to believe it is an entire year since I started the book as I waited for my cataract surgery). I did start reading the Pincombe book yesterday and tomorrow and Saturday will be Pincombe days. 

This first document now ordered may or may not reveal information on Robert Blake, his widow Joan and his son John. We will see. Following the money though does tend to work well. This was property being adjusted because of Joan's widowhood one might think or a son coming of age. With that in mind I shall wait patiently for the document as they mentioned they are very busy. At approaching 80 (I will soon be at 79.5 years), God has seen fit to let me stay on this earth for all this time so I do hope I am spending it in a worthwhile way. That has always been my purpose to make everyday a worthwhile day. To learn something new, to take care of my children when they were small and to just be here in case I am ever needed. Watching the young woman held hostage in Gaza collapse into her mother's arm and just sob makes every one aware that her children may always need her but raising them as God-fearing, God-loving people one knows that they will always sense my presence in their lives and they will draw on that as the years unfold. 

So it is breakfast time and I have already had my tea and first yoga and then make my breakfast. The same every day, cooked oatmeal with cranberries and raisins and milk as the liquid then add blueberries, wheat germ and wheat bran when it is finished cooking. The same kind of oats every day. I love that repetition as it means I do not have to think about what I will eat for breakfast. I am not a foodie for sure. Now that my daughter's Christmas visit is past I will slowly lose those few pounds I gained. 

Yesterday I changed up my exercise routine somewhat. I am back to running in the morning just before lunch and then in the afternoon I did a weightlifting routine that is on a CD that I have. Must look at the name of the producer as I have several of them but the weightlifting routine is really excellent and I was finding that my routine that I made up was not as adequate as it once was. I simply wasn't fatiguing the muscles and one needs to fatigue the muscle to keep them sturdy in one's old age. 

I will likely continue bouncing my thoughts off the blog as the day passes whilst I update this chapter on the le Blak family of Berkshire/Wiltshire. It just seems like a reasonable passage for Richard le Blak to be in Wargrave in the early 1300s and then gradually move towards Calne over the next few years or he could already in the late 1200s and early 1300s be on the move. The records will show me perhaps as I reread them. Being a Norman, his patent shows he was of Rouen, Normandy, it would just seem a logical path for him to take with his family. Who did he marry? I have no idea but he did have a daughter Alicia as mentioned in the Pipe Roll and likely the John also at Wargrave was his son. Hamo Blake and his son Walter at Waltham St Lawrence are very close by. Interesting really and does remind me so much of sitting and listening to my grandfather as he talked about the Blake family of Andover (although he himself was born at Upper Clatford it was his 2x great grandfather Joseph Blake who was of Andover and married Joanna King at Upper Clatford and moved there). Interestingly in the will of the father of Joanna he only mentioned his son in law Joseph Blake as taking over his farm and assets. I suspect that Joseph and Joanna were second cousins on their mother's side. 

At first I was skeptical of family lore and I still retain that skepticism but I think one has to view it from the viewpoint of the context. What was most important to my grandfather was fixing Nicholas as what was written about Nicholas Blake in many family books of that time interval towards the end of the 1800s was incorrect and that meant a lot to him. He really did not have a strong interest in the idea that they were related to the Calne Blake family he simply relayed all of these family lore stories that had been told to him as a child. I think  his interest in being a descendant of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel ranked considerably higher in his telling and in his mind. There was also the continuing theme as he grew up that his Blake family had been in the Andover area for ever which reminded me in my old age that that is exactly what the members of the First Nations say about their families. It is what you say when your history is deep in the land going back so far in the past you can not locate the beginning. For me I know exactly where my ancestral family was born back well into the 1500s for  most lines - for a couple less so but definitely/most likely (one must add that as I have Huguenot ancestry from the late 1400s) they were in the British Isles and mostly England. But given the publication of the Blake Pedigree Chart and the Blake Family Chart roughly two hundred years apart and continuing with the theme that the Andover Blake family was related to the Calne Blake family is certainly interesting and more than worthy of investigation. For myself, that investigating is occurring far from the record base and I will purchase documents that I feel are pertinent but I do realize that in the future others may contest what I have written and hopefully correct it if I am wrong. I appreciate their efforts and thank them for that work on their part (this work will be available freely to academics). This will become interesting because of Diana, Princess of Wales as she is absolutely descendant of the Calne Blake Family but I believe also descendant of the Andover Blake family (by the charts that exist this is a truth but based on a supposition that is not correct, the two charts both differ on the exact link between these two families). But I will propose a link that I believe can stand up to the records; time will tell. But the next King of England, the oldest son of Charles is next in line, carries the DNA from his mother that reaches far back into the past definitely coming down from the Calne Blake family on the maternal side and I believe likely from the Andover Blake family also on the maternal side. The Calne Blake family of Norman/Frankish origin and the Andover Blake family Western Hunter Gatherer but both on the female side intermittently mixed with male descent and hence neither the yDNA nor the mtDNA are of any value but overall the ancient DNA we carry, all of us, have markers that take us back to those interesting individuals who followed the herds of wild animals and ended up in Northern Europe and the British Isles. Fascinating really. One would have to have known my grandfather to know that there was something about him that made him so very English but his death certificate describes him as Canadian. He died in 1953. He actually had very little accent (I do find people in Hampshire do not have a strong accent) and blended into the world around him because the part of Canada in which I grew up was very "English" English as I say! But the priest who taught them gave them a well rounded education in English, French, Latin and lots of mathematics and science. He was fascinating to talk to and I missed him terribly when he died in 1953 and I was just 8 years of age. 

 Back to the le Blak Chapter. As I am looking at the work I have done thus far I suddenly feel this twinge of conscience that makes me wonder if I had sufficiently looked at the French records (and more have come up on both Ancestry and My Heritage) in this time frame and I think I will spend a little time on that today. I did not find anything new in my forays into the search. Which is fine but I really should look every once in a while just in case. 

A lot of reading today but  not a lot of writing. It is time for thinking for a bit whilst I sort through the material that I have on le Blak to make sure I include everything that I found significant. 

Rowing machine today and I am up to 13 minutes. My run was the usual 30 minutes and a 15 minute walk followed just as a cool down. This afternoon I will do calisthenics in a bit and then my exercise day is done. 

 

 

The 18th Prime Minister of Canada - Brian Mulroney

Rest in Peace Brian Mulroney you did your task very well and created a new Canada that still flourishes due to your foresight with the 7% GST (although I consider mistakenly taken to 5% by Prime Minister Harper) and NAFTA. Both enriched Canada by making anything possible in those years following their enactment.  I watched during the day while the coffin of our 18th Prime Minister was Laying in State here in Ottawa. He will be sadly missed by all of the current politicians of the day; he was a great Canadian with a reach down through the ages. I will watch his funeral on Saturday.

I must admit the demise of the NDP would suit me very well; I have never considered them to be an effective party but rather concentrating on one segment of the population only; the one that they think will vote them in. Folded back into the Liberal party where they belong they would continue giving that far left wing of the Liberal party a voice plus the percentage of our tax that goes to support democracy (i.e. the parties with enough seats in the house) would not be diced up quite so much. The idea of the individual tax payer having a box to check for their taxes to be directed at their discretion (or one could have a checkbox for the status quo) is an interesting idea that came to me yesterday as I considered the amendment to the bill first put forward by the mis-guided NDP member. Put more effort into getting the children out of Gaza and here where there is lots of food and no bombs and less into supporting the terrorists Hamas who live on hatred of the Jewish people. That the bill passed in the house is simply a matter of politics - the Block want to be there to vote for an independence movement (as they see it) as they see their own and has little to do with Gaza likely (breaking up Canada is their aim), the NDP serve no purpose as far as I can see but are simply Liberals with a different name and would save tax money being thinned out if they are the same party and the Green Party (although I am a great believer in greening Canada I think voting for this particular item was a poor choice - abstaining could express your horror at the state of Gaza better - it at least supports Israel's right to defend itself). So I am left with the Conservatives, which I am actually but their inability to leave the GST alone or at least put it back up to 7% or 10%, it is a wealth tax after all (lots of exempt items that are necessities), has put me into the Liberal camp where I do not really belong but they are getting the job done. The military is getting more hardware and support (but more is needed); we got through COVID relatively unscathed and our economy is moving along nicely. I have no objection to the Carbon Tax - we have to pay to green Canada and that is a fact (last year we had the worst air of any place in the world; the smoke was swirling around in our backyard here and all over the Ottawa Valley). Taxes are one of the great truths of life - death and taxes!

Cleaning day all accomplished and today will be a research day. Just debating on which one to work on today. I am still sorting Pencombe in my mind and concentrating on the descendants of the North Molton Pencombe family and leaving the Philip Pynkeham at Tawstock for another (although I know I will keep having a look here and there during the remainder of the throw-away month). Finding him on the 1524-7 (as well as the 1543-45 Lay Subsidies as a tax payer) as a wage earner was interesting. The individual on the line above him was not a relative and I can not see anything that helps me with who he is as he is likely at least 15-18 years of age in 1524 so born in the same time frame as the first generation's Pencombe children (but does not appear to belong to anyone at Tawstock (the forename Philip is somewhat unusual in this family although there was one in my 2x great grandfather John Pincombe's family; his youngest brother Philip but he had an uncle Philip and grandfather on his mother's side!)). Probably I should still consider alternative searches as this is my throw-away month to look at possibilities and work on the Blake family. Here I am looking at the Le Blac family of Rouen, Normandy and were they the ancestors of the Calne Blake family? Can I prove that the Richard (who actually belongs at the top of the Blake Family Chart (Blake Museum, Bridgwater) I do believe) Blague/Blaake was the same Richard who applied for a license to set up a market in England in 1274? I think continuing with my search through the Blake records would be a good step today.

Continuing the look at the Discovery Catalogue at the UK National Archives for the unfinished group of Blake beginning with John Blake.  Publication of The Harleian Society Volume LXXIX (1928). There are Blake entries namely John Blak, Rawlyn Blak, Richard Blak, Andrew Blake, Edmond Blake, Edmund Blake (6 entries), John Blake (4 entries), Simon Blake (2 entries), Thomas Blake (4 entries), Walter Blake, William Blake (3 entries). 

Name                      Page              Suit#

John Blake           16                 10

John Blake           20               103 

John Blake         204               490

John Blake         295              353

Simon Blake      144              240

Simon Blake      238              174

Thomas Blake   134              329

Thomas Blake   285               74

Thomas Blake   293             307

Thomas Blake   390               13

Walter Blake     154             505

 William Blake   30             131

William Blake    30             148

William Blake  166              88

I have completed the first group of Blake way back last week; my the time passes quickly. I shall continue that process looking up these items on the Discovery Catalogue at Kew today (I shall continue adding to this post all day). 

Teatime and Latin first. 

 John Blake (77 items - 11 relevant)

1.  C136/83/5 and it is the Inquisition Postmortem for John Blake I (MP for Calne). This would be an interesting document and I may yet order it.

2. Grant (at Calne) by Geoffrey Symple of Wynterbourne Whitcherch (Dorset) to John Blake of Quemerford, of an acre of land in the field called Westytone. 1386 Reference: 1720/199

3. 1395; John Blake witnesses a document (Whetham (a parish in Calne), Wiltshire, lease). Reference: 1720/213

4. Eaaster, 1395. Attorney: By John Blake of Quemerford to Robert Welyknowe to deliver seisin to Rober Saleman and his co-feoffees of pasture of his manor of Shawe and other lands there. Reference: DD/WHb/2026.

5. 1393. John Blake witnessed a Grant (at Wodelond) by  .... Reference: 1720/210

6. 1390. Quitclaim (at Calne), witnessed by John Blake Reference 1720/206

7. 1393. Quitclaim (at Calne), witnessed by John Blake. Reference 1720/207

8. 1384. Grant (at Whetham), witnessed by John Blake. Reference: 1720/193

9. 1387. Grant (at le Northehethe), witnessed by John Blake. Reference: 1720/202

10. 1460 Aug 18. John Blake (Nether Wallop), Robert Blake (Calne), Alexander Blake (Calne), sued by a London merchant. Reference C241/243/39

11. 1463; lease, widow of Robert Blake (Calne), Avice Blake, and John Blake, Robert Blake her sons, for 13 years to Nicholas Redeman of a barn and pasture at Sohawe. Reference DD/WHb/2144.

Simon Blake  - 14 records - 13 Norfolk, 1 Devon

Thomas Blake - 21 records - 1 Kent, 1 Suffolk, most Norfolk, some London

Walter Blake - 1 record - East Anglia

William Blake -  20 Records - Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Sheffield,

1. early 1400s. Mortgage of tenement in Salisbury, Wiltshire. William Blake, plaintiff (might be interesting since the grandfather of Robert (fulling mill at Quemerford) Blake was said to be a William Blake. Reference C 1/6/131 (must check and see if this is one that I imaged at Kew in 2013).

2. 1404-1426. Same as above. Reference C 1/6/148

3. 1489, Letter of Attorney - Wheddon in Cutcombe, Somerset which William Blake holds. Reference: 1782/M/T 21 (two entries)

The William Blake records could be interesting as it is the first that I have found for a William Blake in the right area. The John Blake records are expected in that John Blake I and John Blake II were both Members of Parliament. 

William being in Salisbury especially interesting because Whiteparish is just south of Salisbury and if  the unknown Blake (grandson of William, son of Henry) who moved from Whiteparish to Andover area (dying there in 1471) it could prove quite interesting. Although the third record itself is in Cutcombe, Somerset so curious mostly. Will consider ordering these three records if I do not already have them.

Looking at that particular item once again from the Blake Family Chart, Blake Museum. Bridgwater:

This unknown Blake is said to be the grand son of William Blake and Elizabeth (Power) Blake.

 I will look at this chart next Blake day and review the problems that exist when one looks at the wills for these individuals. They kindly left them! Interesting in a way that this chart was created for the Hampshire Blake Family. The actual chart doesn't use it. It doesn't help anyone with the Blake Pedigree Chart at Swindon - perhaps just throwing a little fat into the fire type of thing. It does use some of the material from the Blake Pedigree Chart though one does notice that. It would be interesting to discover the origin of the first generations  

Blake Pedigree Chart

 Being directed to the Blake Pedigree Chart was an interesting quest and I purchased the eight copies of pictures of this rather large 12 feet by 4 feet manuscript from the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office. It was prepared by the College of Arms and I wrote to them to ask about the "proofs" mentioned at the bottom of the Chart and they told me they did not have any preparation material and that it was in the hands of the family still. They suggested writing to them and I did consider that idea but spent perhaps another few years looking at the chart and in 2013 we went to a Conference " Who Do You Think You Are?" in London, UK. Fantastic experience for sure; I had never been at a Conference where I could visit with people from everyone of my six areas in England and have a chat. I am not a particularly chatty person but I think I resemble my English forebearers in many ways and they appeared to enjoy talking to me from far off Canada especially as I was basically first generation on  my father's side; he was born at Eastleigh and lived in England until he was nine years of age (1913) so lots of memories and knew his families quite well. His family appeared to be a close family as they continued to correspond pretty much up until the middle of the 1980s when the last cousin passed away. My mother wanted to do a family book for their 50th Wedding Anniversary and asked my husband to do that. I think he was pleased to be asked and came back from a Conference in London when he stayed with them for a couple of days with a big box of stuff. As a child my grandfather went through that stuff probably daily and I knew everyone in the box pretty much with a couple of exceptions. I remember that now although when my husband gave me the box in 2004 after my cousin asked me to write a profile for the Pincombe book I had forgotten it or perhaps I thought he gave it back as I really didn't want to have all of those original pictures and items. So I scanned everything first and then I started to really look at what was there; read the letters once again and my husband had said (in 1987) if the book was written it was going to be me doing the research. So off to the Family History Library to collect the data - I am like that; like to have the actual facts at hand if possible. At the same time I discovered a mailing address for one of the children of my father's first cousin. I wrote and received a reply back from my second cousin Ivan - a correspondence that would last for another twenty plus years until he passed away in 2010. Initially on paper by mail but over to email in the late 1990s. In 2008 we finally met and spent a few days together traveling about the areas that we shared our families in common.

It was at that Conference in London, UK in 2013 that I was chatting to somebody about heraldry (that has slipped away as to who actually said to me "did you verify everything on the chart?". Well I suppose I thought that the College of Arms had done so. But the chart was prepared long ago in 1690 and the person asking was a person of note but not excessively but perhaps enough that he controlled what went on it without query perhaps. The person I spoke with didn't say that but I took that from what he said. Plus this was something that you paid to have done and there you are.

We were off to Kew for a couple of days of research as well and I had photographed the items mentioned on the Pedigree Chart (I had my computer and the images with me) and for the one actually had a bit of help with the Latin. I discovered it was "using poetic license" and the wording was "abstract" and had absolutely nothing to do with the individual to whom it was credited. I did look at the Pedigree Chart from that point onwards as something that had to prove its way from top to bottom. But I was a newbie in 2003 when I started into my course work. Newbie in the sense I never had an interest at all ever in genealogy although surname research was more of an interest but perhaps put into my head by my grandfather now that I contemplate that. He had a few things he particularly noted that we were not directly related to Robert Blake, Lord High Admiral (it was popular to be related I guess; no ideas on that at that time although realize it now) in particular. I think perhaps a royalist family!

So yesterday I reviewed once again the Pedigree Chart. I wanted to prepare that section for the Chapter on Le Blak. I would like to prove that this line is from the Richard le Blak line in Rouen, Normandy that received license to set up a market in England in 1274. I think that would be fascinating to take from it looks convincing to actual fact. 

I also accomplished my cleaning and another rest of the week in research is ahead of me and I shall keep on track. Perhaps I just won't watch the news for a couple of days. Of course, I grew up hearing the stories of the children coming from England during the war years to protect them here in Canada. Mind you that was six years long but still with airplanes wonderful things can happen! Enough on that; I am just an old woman at her computer lamenting the fate of these little ones with a remedy seemingly at hand. The Canadian government has agreed to take in people from Gaza and who deserves more than those little ones from 2 to 8 (and there are likely two hundred thousand of them) who did nothing to cause the war and are suffering the most because of the war and all we need is their DNA (and people willing to support them through this time) so that they can be returned to their families in Gaza when the rebuilding is accomplished. There are thousands of Muslim families in Canada who would be able to speak to the children which is another asset for sure. But as I write this I realize that my Church of England Anglicanism is showing - I tend to think of charity as being a world-wide thing and my Church expanded around the globe as it went with the explorers and the colonials who followed them (the briefs that have survived tell of a Church supporting causes all around the globe even in the 1600s!). I guess I think that the Muslim faith is the same. The poor little ones and they are dying of malnutrition and starvation apparently. Children need regular food far more than adults, Since 10 and up can not be overly trusted not to threaten our Jewish peoples we have to be very selective in terms of age. Really hate needs to be gone from our world and Hamas represents that hate that is Satanic. But I must abstain from my worldly look and get back to research. But as I lifted my weights I discovered that the government was re-instituting its support for UNRWA. Personally I think that organization has to go. We need an organization that supports the Gazan people taking responsibility for their own care and food. The very idea that for more than three generations they have been supplied with all this food is ridiculous. It is a waste of human ability and that human ability appears to have been directed towards hating the Israeli people. So no, I do not think support for that organization should happen. There has to be a change - the Israelis have a right to protection from such evil as entered Israel on the 7th of October last (part of that sexual and murderous attack was to frighten the non-Jewish who live and work happily in Israel). The Jewish peoples have a right to their lands as they are the ancient peoples on that land. Colonials and squatters do not have land rights; they are granted to them by the ancient Jewish peoples. The United Nations has upheld that principle throughout its existence. Was it upheld simply because of what I call Whiteaphobia/Caucausiaphobia? One would hope not because the ancient peoples should have a right to their lands and be part of how the land is cared for and governed. Now I really must get back to my research.

Teatime and Latin all accomplished and on to the Pencombe family which is today's assigned work..

The Companions of William the Conqueror

One of the small books that we purchased in France has an interesting plaque (William the Conqueror by Annie Fettu, OREP Editions, ISBN 978-2-912925-22-0 and the source: Archives departementales du Calvados - Photo Pascal Sellin). The names on the plaque follow in this blog post (the numbers denote where on the plaque the name occurs running down in five columns). Only 14 of the 425 names lack surnames. I sorted them into alphabetical order by surname for ease in reading through. I found the chart very interesting and was not surprised to see that there isn't a Blake/Blac mentioned. Many of the names are found in England today. I shall have to try and discover when this plaque was created and on what basis. The names follow below (those identified as participants in other documents are in bold and italic below Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnons_de_Guillaume_le_Conqu%C3%A9rant):

Number    Forename    Article    Surname
277    Oure    d'    Addetot
426    Ruaud    l'    Adoube
266    Normand    d'    Adreci
45    Engenouf    de l'    Aigle
75    Geoffroi        Albelin
32    Bernard    d'    Alençon
115    Guillaume        Alis
354    Richer    d'    Andeli
17    Arnould    d'    André
216    Hugue    l'    Ane
116    Guillaume    d'    Angleville
205    Honfroi    d'    Ansleville
58    Gautier    d'    Appeville
117    Guillaume    l'    Archer
40    David    d'    Argentan
355    Robert    d'    Armentières
118    Guillaume    d'    Arques
267    Osberne    d'    Arques
399    Roger        Arundel
398    Roger    d'    Aubernon
356    Robert    d'    Auberville
400    Roger    D'    Auberville
427    Seri    d'    Auberville
261    Néel    d'    Aubigni
119    Guillaume    d'    Audrieu
109    Goubert    d'    Aufai
357    Robert    d'    Aumale
120    Guillaume    de '    Aune
281    Raoul    d'    Aunon
217    Hugue    d'    Avranches
280    Rahier    d'    Avre
282    Raoul        Baignard
325    Renaud    de    Bailleul
76    Geoffroi        Bainard
193    Guineboud    de    Balon
195    Hamelin    de    Balon
283    Raoul    de    Bans
284    Raoul    de    Bapaumes
358    Robert    de    Barbes
121    Guillaume        Basset
285    Raoul        Basset
336    Richard        Basset
359    Robert    le    Bastard
50    Eude    Evêque de    Bayeux
218    Hugue    de    Beauchamp
124    Guillaume    de    Beaufou
286    Raoul    de    Beaufou
337    Richard    de    Beaumais
199    Henri    de    Beaumont
360    Robert    de    Beaumont
401    Roger    de    Beaumont
110    Goubert    de    Beauvais
77    Geoffroi    du    Bec
122    Guillaume        Belet
287    Raoul    de    Bernai
219    Hugue    de    Bernières
202    Hervé    le    Bérruier
125    Guillaume        Bertran
262    Néel    de    Berville
41    Dreu    de la    Beuvrière
338    Richard    de    Bienfaite
402    Roger        Bigot
126    Guillaume    de    Biville
206    Honfroi    de    Biville
191    Guimond    de    Blangi
93    Gilbert    le    Blond
127    Guillaume    le    Blond
361    Robert    le    Blond
94    Gilbert    de    Blosbeville
288    Raoul        Blouet
362    Robert        Blouet
207    Honfroi    de    Bohon
220    Hugue    du    Bois-Hérbert
403    Roger        Boissel
221    Hugue    de    Bolbec
339    Richard    de    Bondeville
128    Guillaume        Bonvalet
129    Guillaume    de    Bosc
404    Roger    de    Bosc-Normand
130    Guillaume    du    Bosc-Roard
405    Roger    de    Bosc-Roard
289    Raoul        Botin
55    Eustache    Comte de    Boulogne
222    Hugue        Bourdet
363    Robert        Bourdet
59    Gautier    le    Bourguignon
131    Guillaume    de    Bourneville
132    Guillaume    de    Brai
223    Hugue    de    Brebeuf
406    Roger    de    Breteuil
22    Auvrai    le    Breton
95    Gilbert    de    Bretteville
268    Osberne    du    Breuil
330    Renier    de    Brimou
133    Guillaume    de    Briouse
364    Robert    de    Brix
290    Raoul    de la    Bruière
365    Robert    de    Buci
96    Gilbert    de    Budi
407    Roger    de    Bulli
428    Serlon    de    Burci
47    Erneis    de    Buron
134    Guillaume    de    Bursigni
60    Gautier    de    Caen
258    Maurin    de    Caen
136    Guillaume    de    Cailli
137    Guillaume    de    Cairon
78    Geoffroi    de    Cambrai
135    Guillaume    de    Canaigres
138    Guillaume        Cardon
139    Guillaume    de    Carnet
208    Honfroi    de    Carteret
257    Mauger    de    Carteret
408    Roger    de    Carteret
140    Guillaume    de    Castillon
141    Guillaume    de    Ceauce
49    Eude    Comte de    Champagne
366    Robert    de    Chandos
409    Roger    de    Chandos
291    Raoul    de    Chartres
6    Anquetil    de    Cherbourg
430    Sigan    de    Cioches
61    Gautier    de    Claville
142    Guillaume    la    Cleve
104    Gonfroi    de    Cloches
97    Gilbert    de    Colleville
143    Guillaume    de    Colleville
331    Renouf    de    Colombelles
27    Beaudoin    de    Colombières
292    Raoul    de    Colombières
293    Raoul    de    Conteville
367    Robert        Corbet
410    Roger        Corbet
144    Guillaume        Corbon
224    Hugue    de    Corbon
10    Ansfroi    de    Cormeilles
106    Goscelin    de    Cormeilles
20    Aubri    de    Couci
411    Roger    de    Courcelles
340    Richard    de    Courci
368    Robert    de    Courçon
294    Raoul    de    Courseme
112    Gui    de    Craon
259    Mile        Crespin
326    Renaud        Croc
369    Robert        Cruel
209    Honfroi    de    Culai
146    Guillaume    le    Despensier
370    Robert    le    Despensier
37    Beugelin    de    Dive
225    Hugue    de    Dol
62    Gautier    de    Douai
107    Goscelin    de    Douai
5    Amaure    de    Dreux
201    Herman    de    Dreux
147    Guillaume    de    Durville
148    Guillaume    d'    Ecouis
341    Richard    d'    Engagne
197    Hardouin    d'    Escalles
23    Auvrai    d'    Espagne
203    Hervé    d'    Espagne
149    Guillaume        Espec
295    Raoul    de l'    Estourmi
342    Richard    de l'    Estourmi
150    Guillaume    d'    Eu
269    Osberne    d'    Eu
371    Robert    Comte d'    Eu
151    Guillaume    Comte d'    Evreux
412    Roger    d'    Evreux
152    Guillaume    de    Falaise
153    Guillaume    de    Fécamp
200    Henri    de    Ferrières
28    Beaudoin    le    Flamand
52    Eude    le    Flamand
92    Gerboud    le    Flamand
194    Guinemar    le    Flamand
226    Hugue    le    Flamand
253    Josce    le    Flamand
332    Renouf        Flambard
154    Guillaume        Folet
48    Etienne    de    Fontenai
155    Guillaume    de la    Foret
263    Néel        Fossard
156    Guillaume    de    Fougères
296    Raoul    de    Fougères
53    Eude    de    Fourneaux
297    Raoul    de    Framan
343    Richard        Fresle
157    Guillaume        Froissart
372    Robert        Fromentin
298    Raoul    de    Gael
98    Gilbert    de    Gand
373    Robert    fils de    Gerould
123    Gilbert    de    Gibard
30    Berenger        Giffard
63    Gautier        Giffard
270    Osberne        Giffard
374    Robert    de    Glanville
158    Guillaume        Goulaffre
227    Hugue    de    Gournai
264    Néel    de    Gournai
7    Anquetil    de    Grai
64    Gautier    de    Grancourt
228    Hugue    de    Grentemesnil (Grandmesnil)
436    Turold    de    Grenteville
19    Aubert        Greslet
375    Robert        Guernon
438    Turstin    de    Gueron
229    Hugue    de    Guideville
79    Geoffroi    de la    Guierche
65    Gautier        Hachet
376    Robert    de    Harcourt
299    Raoul    de    Hauville
204    Hervé    d'    Hélion
433    Thiel    de    Herion
18    Arnould    d'    Hesdin
66    Gautier        Heuse
230    Hugue    de    Hodenc
231    Hugue    de    Hotot
210    Honfroi    de l'    Ile
300    Raoul    l'    Ile
67    Gautier    d'    Incourt
1    Achard    d'    Ivri
232    Hugue    d'    Ivri
413    Roger    d'    Ivri
68    Gautier    de    Laci
233    Hugue    de    Laci
249    Ilbert    de    Laci
414    Roger    de    Laci
301    Raoul    de    Lanquetot
159    Guillaume    de    Letre
57    Fouque    de    Liborg
302    Raoul    de    Limesi
415    Roger    de    Lisieux
38    Bigot    de    Loges
377    Robert    de    Lorz
160    Guillaume    de    Loucelles
51    Eude    Cul de    Louf
161    Guillaume        Louvet
234    Hugue    de    Maci
43    Durand        Malet
99    Gilbert        Malet
162    Guillaume        Malet
378    Robert        Malet
163    Guillaume    de    Malleville
100    Gilbert        Maminot
235    Hugue        Maminot
81    Geoffroi    de    Mandeville
236    Hugue    de    Manneville
439    Turstin        Mantel
303    Raoul    de    Marci
164    Guillaume    de la    Mare
237    Hugue    de la    Mare
80    Geoffroi    le    Maréchal
82    Geoffroi        Martel
165    Guillaume        Maubenc
105    Gonfroi        Mauduit
166    Guillaume        Mauduit
83    Geoffroi        Maurouard
238    Hugue        Mautravers
344    Richard    de    Meri
24    Auvrai        Merteberge
379    Robert    Comte de    Meulan
29    Beaudoin    de    Meules
416    Roger    de    Meules
239    Hugue    de    Mobec
167    Guillaume    de    Moion
168    Guillaume    de    Monceaux
417    Roger    de    Mongommeri
12    Ansger    de    Montaigu
42    Dreu    de    Montaigu
84    Geoffroi    de    Montbrai
380    Robert    de    Montbrai
214    Hubert    de    Mont-Canisi
240    Hugue    de    Montfort
381    Robert    de    Montfort
241    Hugue    de    Montgommeri
256    Mathieu    de    Mortagne
382    Robert    Comte de    Mortain
304    Raoul    de    Mortemer
383    Robert    des    Moutiers
416    Roger    de    Moyaux
69    Gautier    de    Mucedent
265    Néel    de    Munneville
384    Robert        Murdac
198    Hascouf        Musard
242    Hugue        Musart
417    Roger    de    Mussegros
33    Bernard    de    Neufmarche
345    Richard    de    Neuville
305    Raoul    de    Noron
169    Guillaume    de    Noyers
418    Roger    de    Oistreham
170    Guillaume    fils d'    Olgeanc
70    Gautier    d'    Omontville
419    Roger    d'    Orbec
306    Raoul    d'    Ouilli
385    Robert    d'    Ouilli
307    Raoul        Painel
34    Bernard        Pancevolt
171    Guillaume        Pantoul
437    Turold    de    Papelion
56    Foucher    de    Paris
172    Guillaume    de    Parthenai
271    Osberne        Pastforeire
145    Guillaume    de    Paumera
173    Guillaume        Peche
111    Guernon    de    Peis
85    Geoffroi    Comte du    Perche
16    Arnould    de    Perci
174    Guillaume    de    Perci
175    Guillaume        Pevrel
333    Renouf        Pevrel
420    Roger        Picot
9    Anscoul    de    Picqvini
86    Geoffroi    de    Pierrepont
327    Renaud    de    Pierrepont
386    Robert    de    Pierrepont
308    Raoul        Pinel
309    Raoul        Pipin
176    Guillaume    de    Piquiri
421    Roger    de    Pistres
177    Guillaume        Poignant
346    Richard        Poignant
178    Guillaume    de    Poillei
432    Thierri        Pointel
179    Guillaume    le    Poitevin
422    Roger    le    Poitevin
310    Raoul    de la    Pommeraie
215    Hubert    de    Pont
387    Robert    de    Pontchardon
180    Guillaume    de    Pont-de-l'Arche
243    Hugue    de    Port
272    Osberne    du    Quesnai
311    Raoul    du    Quesnai
181    Guillaume        Quesnel
113    Gui    de    Raimbeaucourt
46    Engerrand    de    Rainbeaucourt
114    Gui    de    Rainecourt
423    Roger    de    Rames
244    Hugue    de    Rennes
182    Guillaume    de    Reviers
347    Richard    de    Reviers
388    Robert    de    Rhuddlan
71    Gautier    de    Riebou
108    Goscelin    de la    Rivière
389    Robert    de    Romenel
8    Anquetil    de    Ros
15    Ansgot    de    Ros
87    Geoffroi    de    Ros
429    Serlon    de    Ros
423    Vauquelin    de    Rosai
441    Turstin    fils de    Rou
4    Alain    le    Roux
88    Geoffroi    de    Runeville
348    Richard    de    Sacquerville
349    Richard    de    Saint-Clair
424    Roger    de    Saint-Germain
328    Renaud    de    Saint-Hélène
440    Turstin    de    Saint-Hélène
390    Robert    de    Saint-Leger
35    Bernard    de    Saint-Ouen
245    Hugue    de    Saint-Quentin
312    Raoul    de    Saint-Sanson
72    Gautier    de    Saint-Valeri
334    Renouf    de    Saint-Waleri
273    Osberne    du    Saussai
314    Raoul    du    Saussai
315    Raoul    de    Sauvigni
13    Ansger    de    Senarpont
54    Eude    le    Sénéchal
196    Hamon    le    Sénéchal
431    Simon    de    Senlis
183    Guillaume    de    Sept-Meules
246    Hugue        Silvestre
425    Roger    de    Sommeri
350    Richard    de    Sourdeval
184    Guillaume        Taillebois
251    Ive        Taillebois
316    Raoul        Taillebois
89    Geoffroi        Talbot
351    Richard        Talbot
25    Auvrai    de    Tanie
192    Guimond    de    Tessel
391    Robert    de    Thaon
317    Raoul    du    Theil
101    Gilbert        Tibon
211    Honfroi    du    Tilleul
442    Turstin        Tinel
73    Gautier        Tirel
185    Guillaume    de    Tocni
31    Berenger    de    Toeni
250    Ilbert    de    Toeni
254    Jumel    de    Toeni
318    Raoul    de    Toeni (Tosny?)
392    Robert    de    Toeni
329    Renaud    de    Torteval
319    Raoul    de    Tourlaville
90    Geoffroi    de    Tournai
320    Raoul    de    Tourneville
321    Raoul        Tranchant
91    Geoffroi    de    Trelli
322    Raoul    fils d'    Unepac
279    Pierre    de    Valognes
186    Guillaume    de    Vatteville
352    Richard    de    Vatteville
393    Robert    de    Vatteville
11    Ansfroi    de    Vaubadon
276    Osmont    de    Vaubadon
335    Renouf        Vaubadon
187    Guillaume    de    Vauville
3    Altard    de    Vaux
394    Robert    des    Vaux
395    Robert    de    Veci
21    Aubri    de    Ver
188    Guillaume    de    Ver
36    Bertran    de    Verdun
74    Gautier    de    Vernon
213    Huard    de    Vernon
353    Richard    de    Vernon
252    Ive    de    Vesci
189    Guillaume    de    Vesli
247    Hugue    de    Vesli
396    Robert    de    Vesli
397    Robert    de    Villon
212    Honfroi        Vis-de-Louf
323    Raoul        Vis-de-Loup
248    Hugue    de    Viville
274    Osberne    de    Warci
190    Guillaume    de    Warenne
102    Gilbert    de    Werables
103    Gilbert    de    Wissant
2    Aievl       
14    Ansgot       
26    Azor       
39    Carbonnel       
44    Ecouland       
255    Lanfranc       
260    Murdac       
275    Osmond       
278    Picot       
324    Ravenot       
434    Toustain       
435    Turold       
424    Vital       
425    Wadard  

Geoffroy de Mortagne
Guillaume Fitz Osbern
Aimery IV de Thouars, vicomte de Thouars     

I did find the reference in the Archives and it is not very old just 1927 but it would be interesting to borrow this book and see what it has to say about the document as it does look to be older than this time period:

Identifiant pérenne de la notice :
http://www.sudoc.fr/113954980
    
Titre :
   
Guillaume le Conquérant [Texte imprimé] : légende et histoire : le chef d'armée et l'organisateur ; essai suivi d'une Liste des Compagnons de Guillaume / H.Prentout
Alphabet du titre :
   
latin
Auteur(s) :
   
Prentout, Henri (1867-....). Auteur
Date(s) :
   
1927
Langue(s) :
   
français
Pays :
   
France
Editeur(s) :
   
Caen : E.Lanier, 1927
Description :
   
1 vol. (78 p.-[1] f. de pl.) ; 23 cm 
Lien(s) externe(s)
   
Worldcat : 
   
458145589

Another rather interesting document emerged in my searching the web but again the date of this document is 18th century (the images are found at this site) and handwritten. This document does not carry the forenames but rather refers to the men as seigneur or comte as follows:

 http://archexpo.net/fr/contenu/liste-des-compagnons-de-guillaume-le-conquerant#.U_YuumOryzo

Date XVIIIè
Dimensions 32,5 x 25
Institution France - Rouen - Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime
Référence d'origine J 221
Période chronologique Moyen Âge
Thématique Relations politiques et militaires
Rappel historique

A la mort d’Edouard le Confesseur en 1066, Harold se fait couronner roi d’Angleterre, prenant ainsi le trône qui revenait à Guillaume Le Bâtard.

Devant le refus d’Harold de lui laisser le royaume, Guillaume décide de lever une armée pour se rendre outre-manche. Tout juste dix mois séparent la mort d’Edouard de la victoire d’Hastings.

..............

Le débarquement se déroula sans encombre à Pevensey et les grandes manœuvres de l’armée aboutirent à la victoire d’Hastings, le 14 octobre 1066.

Pour plus de détails :

Pierre Bouet, Hastings, 14 octobre 1066, Tallandier, 2010.

Michel de Boüard, Guillaume le Conquérant, Fayard, 2010.

The Bayeux Tapestry which we saw in Rouen does mention some of these bolded and italicised names.

Tour of France 2014

We decided to do our trip to France from 26^th May to 14^th June. 3:00 pm. on the 26^th of May found us at Ottawa International Airport waiting for our flight to Toronto and then Paris. There is not a direct flight from Ottawa to Paris via Air Canada. We spent a little while beforehand practising French and in particular Ed had been very dedicated practising every day and it showed when we were in France. We had decided to try to be minimalistic in our packing for carryon and I managed with a large travel purse type bag which carried my tablet, charger, camera and anything else I might need in the short run to Toronto and then Paris. We were taking our netbook (rather ancient now as it runs Windows XP), Ed's camera and his Ipod. It is the leanest we have ever traveled to Europe in terms of electronic gadgets. But this was to be primarily a vacation; limited genealogy. I took some images for transcription but did not do any genealogy on the trip as it turned out. I have decided that from now on for every three weeks that I put into transcription I will take one week off of transcription. That will let me fulfill my new challenges with respect to my research. I will always have one week in four which will let me do analysis and reconstruction.

There we were in Ottawa airport awaiting our airplane and we were quite early but prefer that so we are quite settled in and ready to board. The tablet worked very well in the airport and the longer I have the tablet the better I like it. I can easily multitask going between internet, email and skype at a flick of the finger. I can type small notes to myself if I am so inclined. With membership in My Heritage my entire tree is at my fingertips whenever that crosses my mind. I could also do that with Find My Past or Ancestry but I rather like the layout with My Heritage. The 4:00 plane to Toronto was just loading when we finished with security and we watched as that was completed and then they departed nicely on time. We were a little nervous at our only 1 hour and 25 minutes between our landing in Toronto and leaving on the Paris flight. But we were in the same terminal at Toronto for both landing and departing. We boarded at 4:35 pm and liked our seats. It was quite clouded in so settled in to just do a little reading until we landed in Toronto. We quickly moved over to our gate for Paris and the lineup was already in place so we joined that. We knew they were feeding us on the plane so did not even bother getting anything to drink but just waited about one hour before we boarded. It passed quickly actually and surprisingly.

Soon we were aboard and everything settled in and had our dinner. I like the dinners on Air Canada and whilst we had been waiting for that I started a movie and between the two the first two hours of the seven hour flight passed by. I was actually rather sleepy and ended up falling asleep just before Newfoundland on the map and slept until the middle of the ocean. Then I dozed almost until we were south of the furtherest west point of Ireland. Dawn was breaking and I watched to see if I could see Ireland, Lands End or Jersey or Guernesy. The cloud cover was too heavy and so we flew on towards Paris arriving about 20 minutes early and we had the shock of being told that there wasn't a gate for us to land at and we would land out in the field and be transferred by bus to the terminal. It ended up not being a big deal but we had to move to our travel agent's transfer point and it was to be the terminal right next to where we were landing. However, the bus brought us to the correct terminal and we quickly moved through Immigration and on to find our Tour agent. She greeted us by name which was rather refreshing and we settled in to wait for the van which was picking us up to take us into Paris. I wondered why she would know our name so readily and discovered that our trip was just 20 people for the French Elegance Tour. That was a shock but they apparently run them at 20 and try to stay around 30 so as to give lots of room on the bus.

We met a number of the people on the trip with us as we waited for our transfer to Paris. We tend to find that most of the people are Australian, American or Canadian on our trips and this was also true this time.

We did our usual rest as soon as we arrived at our hotel and we were at Day two. Two hours later we were out walking in an area with which we were familiar from our earlier trip to Paris. We had planned to see a couple of items that involved just going and having a look. Heading straight out from the St James and Albany Hotel which is opposite Le Jardin des Tuileries we decided to do a walking tour around the blocks and it worked out very well for us. We were able to visit Place Vendome, Place de la Concorde and the Eglise de la Medeleine. We knew we had a Welcome Dinner at 7:00 pm so paced ourselves accordingly. Our dinner was at Chez Clement on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and we enjoyed the local cuisine and wine that accompanied our meal. The onion soup really stood out at this dinner. Paris is on Central European Time so that it is quite light until after 10 oclock pm. On our return to the hotel we walked up the street from our hotel to have a look at the golden statue of Jeanne d'Arc in Place des Pyramides. Our day in Paris was done and the next day we needed to be up at 6:30 am, luggage out at 7:30 am and breakfast at 7:00 am with a bus leave time of 8:30 am.

Day three of our trip saw us headed for Rouen and World War II beaches in Normandy. We spent lunch time in Rouen and we walked all the way down the old street in Rouen past the astronomical clock and as far as Rouen Cathedral which we toured. We purchased a light lunch and sat and looked at the Cathedral. Rouen Cathedral was quite interesting and I let my mind race back through the centuries thinking about Richard le Blak a merchant at Rouen asking to come to market in England in 1174. He would have walked those floors I am sure. No sense of belonging on my part because I do not think I descend from this Richard but it was certainly interesting thinking about a person who quite likely attended that church. It was badly damaged in WWII and is undergoing more repairs since the original rebuilding was done following the wars. The Churches in France in a number of cases belong to the Government of France and are rented back to the Church for 1 Euro per year. In France, we understood, only selected buildings are maintained by the government. Rouen is where Jeanne D'Arc was burned at the stake. There is church on the site to her memory.

After lunch we headed for the Normandy Beaches. The tour guide decided to stop at Juno Beach where the Canadian Army took responsibility for landing in 1944. He said he had some time and about a third of the people on the coach were Canadian. I didn't know we were going to do that before we came and I felt a shock run through me. I have watched the Canadians storming the beaches so many times in film that I felt I almost knew the beach by heart. We stopped the bus and I quickly headed for the beach. I raced out on the pier to get a view of the beach from as far out as I could go. I did not really know what I would see or feel. No one I knew died on that beach or even landed on it but Canadians landed there and I feel akin to all those people who lived and died on the beach that day. It was pouring with rain just like D Day but I was greeted with a huge expanse of sand in front of my eyes all the way back to the edge of the beach. I was used to seeing all the blockades that had been put in place to prevent the landing on the beach and all that is gone. The sandy beach looks so welcoming and it had been so harsh on our Canadian soldiers who did so well that day achieving their objectives and moving inland. The price they paid gave back to France that beautiful expanse of beach. I finally reconciled that in my mind. Their sacrifice had given normalcy back to the French; had given life back to the French and as I looked around me I saw Canadian flags everywhere. The French have not forgotten those young men of Canada who died on those beaches. I said a prayer for those brave Canadians who died on those beaches 70 years ago (this was May 28 and already the grounds were being readied for the 70^th anniversary of D Day on 6 Jun 2014). We walk freely on those beaches because they died and we must never forget that or let our children and grandchildren forget that.

The other item we were going to look at this day was the Bayeux Tapestry. I have heard of the Bayeux Tapestry since I was a child and this was one of my dream items to do on this trip. Its size is amazing, I guess I knew that it was very long, but seeing the actual length amazed me. The colours still so beautiful and the images so perfect. We had an audio guide and moved along in a group looking at all the images and listening to the guide. The time passed too quickly but there were so many people both ahead of us and behind us looking the Tapestry. We found a booklet that includes all of the images on the tapestry with a short writeup for us to look at when we return home again. On to the Novotel where we were staying the night at Bayeux. We had dinner at the Novotel.

In the morning we had an excellent buffet breakfast once again and on our way at 8:30 am and the forecast was for rain and it did rain. We were on Day Four. We were headed to the American beach at Omaha and the large American graveyard (only 50% of the people who died on the American fields of war in WWII are buried there; about 50% were repatriated back to the United States to be buried by their loving families). I said a prayer for those brave young men lying beneath their white crosses. The rows are so straight and they go on and on way out into the distance. We were all pretty wet by the end of our visit to the beach and the graveyard. We also visited Pointe du Hoc where many US Rangers lost their lives. They have left the grounds here as they were with bomb craters and pillboxes. The cliffs here are quite steep and high. We also visited Arromanches where the portable habours were set up about a week after D-Day. We then headed for St Malo and the rain was stopping. When we arrived the rain was gone and we walked through the streets of the old city stopping to eat a little lunch on the way. We tried two local desserts, Far aux pommes and Kurig naturelle. St Malo was about 90% destroyed by bombing but the recreation is absolutely perfect. I can never quite decide later whether I prefer the ruins in Italy or the reconstructions in the UK and France. Each had their own quality and if it was me I would rather rebuild like it was so that I can continue to enjoy the life that I had and so I think it is wonderful to have the reconstructions. It sort of puts defiance in the face of the enemy because you can recover from what they did. Perhaps not exactly the same but you make a new life in spite of the dreadful happenings inflicted on you by the enemy. We wandered around St Malo and walked up on the top of the walls until it was time to head for our hotel which was 5 star (Le Nouveau Monde Hotel). The old city is a walled city. Everyone thought a two night stay at this hotel would be awesome. We had dinner at a marvelous little restaurant on the beach looking out over the water. We had gone there at 6:30 pm but they did not open until 7:00 so we were back there right on time. I had fresh scallops and they were quite delicious – the best I have ever eaten I think. I had started off with onion soup. We had a brief walk on the beach at low tide. We could see the seaside from our hotel room and also hear the waves when the window was open.

On day Five the sun returned. We headed for Mt St Michel and this was a very special place. We had a guide familiar with Mt St Michel to lead us and she did an excellent job. We quickly climbed to the very top (probably 1000 to 2000 steps upwards) and the views were quite spectacular. The weather had cleared nicely and we could see for miles. This is a working area still with many many shops and places to live inside the walls of Mt St Michel. The Church is enormous and has a lot of interesting artifacts. In the shop, I found a bowl with our grandsons name and it was the first time that I had ever found anything so purchased that. Ed found a large cup and saucer and both were made in France. We did discover as we moved around France that they do have a lot of items for tourists which are made in France. We slowly made our way back down a different route looking at all the different shops as we moved towards the exit. This is a very busy tour area plus we were there for Ascension and it is a four day French holiday. The lineups were enormous as the weather had finally cleared and everyone was taking advantage of it. They have painted cow statues at the village and we bought a couple of miniatures to take home. We left the Channel coast and headed back across country to Cour-Cheverney which was nearly a five hour drive to our next resting spot. This was a renovated Chateau and we had a very pleasant dinner there. We had time before dinner to take a stroll through the town and enjoy a French village. We spent two nights at our hotel (Relais des trois Chateaux Hotel). The breakfasts were buffet both times with lots of cheese and fruit – my favourite.

Day Six was again sunny and saw us touring Chateau Chenonceu. This is a fascinating and famous chateau which is built across and in the Cher River quite literally. There had been a mill on the site and the footings from the mill were retained and a Chateau built across the river. It had been a Royal Chateau for some of its existence but was relatively small having just 20 rooms so did not remain a royal residence very long. The rooms were well appointed with period furniture and our guide was most knowledgeable on both the history of the Chateau and the families who lived in it. The grounds were quite extensive and we spent a very interesting morning there. We moved on to have lunch at Amboise where the weather was improved and getting warmer. Here we were to visit Clos Luce which had been the home of Leonardo da Vinci during the last three years of his life and he is buried in the Church there. We toured his house and saw some models built by IBM from his drawings. This evening we had the first of our optional events and this was a dinner out at the Restaurant de la Tour with authentic local cuisine and it was an excellent meal.

Day Seven and we were in motion once again, packing up and moving on towards the Atlantic coast this time. The sunny weather continued. Our first stop was Fontevraud Abbey which is in the process of reconstruction which includes a hotel attached to the Abbey. This is a large Abbey with many many buildings either attached or detached from it. We spent the morning there and took pictures of the tombs of Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and son Richard the Lion Heart (and his wife Isabella). These four effigies had been repaired and were quite awesome looking especially as they were the only items in the huge nave and we moved on to some of the other parts of the building which were extensive. I especially found the kitchens to be most interesting. An ancient building with a number of internal fireplaces and the cook would choose the fireplace to light based on the wind direction. Once again a huge building with huge fireplaces. We stopped for lunch at Parthenay. Because of the holiday only one restaurant was open to serve food. Time was precious to us that day as we were headed towards La Rochelle and Ile de Re. Perhaps one of the most important parts of our trip was to go to Ile de Re and St Martin de Re as this was the home of Ed's Huguenot ancestors. There were stories of enormous traffic jams and it was a mystery as to whether or not we could even get on the island until we actually arrived. Fortunately the traffic jam never materialized on our way onto the island but the weight of the bus forced us to take the long way to St Martin de Re. Here we were greeted with an ancient fishing village and we wandered the streets for about an hour and finally had a waffle with whipping cream (a specialty on the island) before we headed back to La Rochelle. Fortunately we had taken the time to stop at our hotel so just had to head back and have our dinner which worked out quite well. La Rochelle was also the home of our grandson's 15x great grandfather Isaac before he and his son came to Quebec in the mid 1600s.

Day eight and we headed away from La Rochelle towards St Emilion  bypassing Bordeaux where we would spend the next two nights and would be returning after our wine tour. At Chateau Franc Mayne we had a tour of the winery and then a wine tasting. A most interesting morning. We then moved on to St Emilion and lunch which we enjoyed at Le Trouher Creperie Bretonne and followed that with a tour of the old part of the village. In our wandering we found the ancient Church and spent a little time looking at it. St Emilion was also once a walled town. Then on to Bordeaux and a tour of the old City. The walking tour of Bordeaux with a walk-on Guide was quite interesting and we walked the “triangle” around the old square. The Guide was the most interesting part of this tour as she kept up a running history of the City of Bordeaux. We then had a driving tour of Bordeaux and again the old City and we ended our tour at the Cathedral Church which has its roots in a 1000 year old roman church Romanesque style with equal arms and you could seeing the footings of the early romanesque church. Then a huge latin cross structure was added in the 15^th 16^th century. Perhaps most striking for me was the similarity between the doors into this church and the doors into Notre Dame in Paris. Indeed, the doors of Notre Dame in Paris are a copy of the doors of this Cathedral Church of St Andre in Bordeau. By the end of the day the temperature was up to 27 C. We were in for warmer weather later. Hotel Pullman Bordeaux Aquitania.

Just a note to say that we stopped in several villages and towns that are on the pilgrim path to  Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Day nine and we didn't pack our bags which was very nice. Instead we were on the bus at 8:30 a.m. And on our way to the Dune of Pyla (Pilat) on the Arcachon Peninsula. This immense dune is the highest and largest of its kind in Europe and was a little different for us as it is entirely of sand with no green vegetation (several km in length). There is a flight of stairs up to the top of the dune (about 200 steps) but you could also just head up the side doing a crisscross pattern and get to the top. Once at the top the view was terrific and as I looked along the dune I noticed it was higher further on so headed that way; once reached the next point was also higher but decided not to do that as I have a feeling that it just always looks higher! Headed back down and our next stop near Arcachon was part of an optional tour and we stopped for a taste of oysters (or shrimp which Ed and I ate) . We watched people eat oysters. The shrimp were excellent and I managed to break off the head with eyes and descale my shrimps and then eat them. They were delicious – freshest shrimp I have ever had I think. The young lady gave us a short talk on Oyster fishing which was very very interesting. We then moved on to Arcachon where we wandered for a couple of hours and could have lunch. We settled for a nice walk along the beach and the promenade and then gelato ice cream which was very good. We then headed back to Bordeau and dinner.

Day ten and packed bags out at 7:30 and then breakfast. Excellent breakfasts with cereal and yoghurt to begin and then on to cheeses and fruits and toast. Our next stop was Brive-la-Gaillarde, Dordogne valley and we stayed at Hotel Le Quercy Brive la Gaillarde. This was a nice hotel and fairly modern (i.e. lots of plugs). But we had a busy day along the way as this was our time to stop and see the ancient cave drawings. There was a change in our itinerary as we couldn't go to the Rouffignac Caves and had to go to Lascaux II which is a copy of the original cave drawings of Lascaux I which were found by a group of schoolboys in 1940. In just 23 years the cave was infected by human environment and had to be closed but this exact duplicate was made and it was quite fascinating. I think what I most noticed was that the animals that had been drawn looked so real and had a feeling of being in motion. Seeing the original would be nice but I will believe from pictures of the original that this copy was exact (supposed to be 99% accurate). From there we went on to Sarlat-la-caneda which is a 9^th century limestone village. We spent our lunch time there wandering around and Ed had a Croque Monsieur and I had ice cream. The church was quite interesting again and in behind was a quite ancient mortuary and grave yard. We were then back on the bus and arrived at Brive-la-Gaillarde at 4:15 pm. That evening we took an optional tour to Collonge la Rouge and all of the houses in this village were built of red limestone. This village is a stop on the El Camino de Santiago or the Way of St James which is a major Christian pilgrimage route and there was one large symbol denoting that. We wandered about looking at all the red stone buildings and then Ed had a local beer and I had ice cream once again.

Day 11 and it was June 5 (the day before D-Day). Breakfast (no cereal but good cheeses and fruit cake) and then no bags out as this was a two night stay. We boarded the bus to go to La Roque-Gageac where the houses are built into the stone face of the mountains which tower above this stop. We had ice cream here – I had walnut ice cream which was excellent. Then on to Domme which is a walled City and we were to have our lunch there and enjoy the market. Here I bought a leather red arm band for me made by a local artisan ( I collected her card). As if that wasn't enough in our day we went on to the Chateau de Beynac (built before the 100 Years War) and was the property of Eleanor of Aquitaine and used principally by her son Richard the Lion Heart. This is a really ancient castle that is being refurbished by the owners. We went all through it and the views from the top of the walls were fascinating. Most of the castle is empty but the size of the rooms, the thickness of the walls are all worth seeing now hundreds of years later. Back to Le Quercy and dinner at La Truffe Noir where we had duck, whipped potatoes and stuffed tomatoes. I actually ate the thigh of the duck and it was very well cooked but I do not really like duck. But all in the name of local cuisine. By this day the weather was heating up, 28 C.

Day 12 and June 6 – imagine D Day in France 70^th anniversary. We had visited the Normandy Battlefields earlier and seen some of the preparations. We were off on the bus to Vichy today. But first on to the Massif Centrale and the dormant volcano of Puy de dome where we would have lunch. I had noted that there were Roman ruins (Mercury Temple) at this stop but had it in my mind that they were at the bottom of the hill. Actually they were at the top beyond the top of the funincular train station which brought us up the face of the mountain. We climbed up to this spot where there had been a temple to Mercury and there was also a museum there which we spent a little time in. I thought I would walk over to St Barbary's temple but got on the wrong road so could see it but not reach it readily. Headed back and we went back down the rather steep slope to the building for the Funicular Railway and had a rather good lunch. I had a salad mixture of potato salad, string carrots and a crab salad with a roll and chocolate cake and Ed had a salmon pastry and a cherry torte. A most enjoyable lunch which we partially shared. Then on to Vichy and the Vichy Spa Hotel Les Celestins. I was immediately attracted to the D Day ceremonies on the TV and sat there for a number of hours watching the main event at Ouistreham on the British Beachhead (Sword) and it was extremely well done. The French President gave a rousing talk which was followed by a creative dance depicting the war years. Then everyone dispersed to the various battle fields for the national memorials. Following that we went for a long walk which included a walk down the Napoleon Gallery which is a well known shopping area in Vichy. We were hungry so went and had our dinner along the Allier River at the Brasserie d'Alligator. Ed had a mixed grill and I had a pizza. Both were excellent. Temperature 30 C.

Day 13 and breakfast at this hotel was amazing. At least a dozen different kinds of cheese and so many cakes – pound cake (lemon, plain and chocolate), fruit cake and a walnut cake (all of which I sampled). Finally cereal again with yoghurt. Then a bowl of fresh fruits to go with the cheeses. There were also trays and trays of cold meat and hot meats which I walked by. Nice to look at but not my favourite! Then back on the bus for 8:30 am and on our way to Dijon. The landscape is rather interesting as there are hedge rows which we haven't really seen too much of here in Southern France. Very hilly and the farms look amazing. All the land appears to be tilled and France is the second largest exporter in the world after the United States of foodstuff. Row upon row of vineyards as this testifies to one of the larger wine areas in France. We arrived at Dijon around lunch time and had three hours to walk around the old market area of Dijon. Found a nice shirt for Edward. We toured the Museum of Fine Arts housed in the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy – namely Charles the Bold and Philip the Good which included the marble effigies from their graves in Notre Dame Church. The paintings were many that I had not seen before including one amazing one of David holding the head of Goliath. We went off to our hotel at 3 pm and it was a lovely hotel (Mercure Dijon Clemenceau) and again just a short stay. We had an optional tour in the evening to the vineyard of Phillippe Bernard at Fixin, Clos St. Louis. He has a large series of vineyards and gave us tastes from four different bottles of his various vineyards. Later we shared a club sandwich and salad for a light supper. Decided it would be nice to do a wine and cheese for Christmas Eve this year. Off to bed early; very tired but a long and interesting day. Temperature 31 C.

Day 14 and we are headed for Strasbourg via Colmar. The countryside has changed as it is more treed and the fields tend to be cash crops. It is a long drive to Strasbourg and we make our lunch stop at Colmar a rather interesting village in Alsace.  We bought two interesting desserts for lunch along with a coke – a strawberry cream cake and a chocolate layer cream cake. We wandered about the market area and found a stork on top of the church steeple of St. Martin. It was my first stork and I was quite captivated by the bird. Eventually as we moved about we discovered that there were two adult birds on the nest and probably some young although we could not clearly see them. We spent quite a bit of our spare time looking at them. We then moved on to the Dominican Priory which holds a couple of national treasures – namely the folding altarpiece and the painting of the Madonna with roses. There were a number of other national treasures also housed in this Dominican priory which we toured and that used up all of our time. I managed to purchase a copy of the folding altarpiece (an interesting paper construction). We then moved on to Strasbourg and our hotel right on the island in the centre of the city – Regent Petite Hotel France. Our hotel was marvelous. It was an old mill that had been converted to a hotel with all the rooms facing the canal and retaining much of the exterior look of the mill with the water still running underneath and all the machinery of the mill still visible. We found some time before dinner to walk to the Strasbourg Cathedral and it is even more impressive in reality than its pictures. Write-ups do not totally do it justice. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant and was an epicurean delight. We headed upstairs as we were both really tired and our three days in Strasbourg promised to be very very busy ones. Temperature 36 C.

Day 15 (breakfast on the patio) and this was a holiday but a walking tour of the old town of Strasbourg had been organized for us which ended at the Cathedral. The tour included the astronomical clock and we were then in time to see the hour change and all the interesting fixtures make their motions. I am sure if you lived there at some point in your life you would want to watch all of the various times occurring on the clock. Lunch for us was a light affair and we took a ride on the double decker Carousel. Then we were off to Colmar for our Alscae wine tour which involved going towards Colmar and then working our way back seeing the various wine fields, seeing more storks at Riquewihr and stopping in Ribeauville for shopping and then to a Reisling wine tasting. We then had dinner at Scherwiller which was a rather interesting meal given that we had already had several glasses of wine without any bread. Finished our dinner and home just after 10 pm. To bed early as tomorrow was going to be another busy day. This was our hottest day thus far temperature 38 C.

Day 16 and this was our tour of Baden-Baden in Germany and a tour of the Strasbourg canals by boat. Baden-Baden was interesting because it is part of the Palatinate (earlier name for the area) from which Ed’s ancestors came down the Rhine. We had the joy of seeing our flag flying in Baden-Baden and this was perhaps as a member of NATO. We walked about here and found a really interesting Roman Ruins site although we did not investigate that any further than looking into the windows which was quite a good view anyway. There really wasn’t time to do more than that. We had a light lunch and then made our way back to the bus as we had our canal tour to do in the afternoon in Strasbourg.  The heat was still intense (33 C) and the prospect of a boat tour was somewhat daunting although we knew the boats were air conditioned. But it was a very warm trip around the canals of Strasbourgh but I did get to see the European Parliament buildings located there. They meet in this area just once a month as the regular meetings are held in Brussels where we did see those buildings on our last European trip. We finished the tour at the Cathedral and looked around this area for a while and had a light dinner which, given the amount of food which we had eaten on this trip, was a good idea!

Day 17 (breakfast on the patio) and we were on our way to Verdun to see the Ossuary and memorial tower to the French soldiers there. First we had a stop at the remains of Fort de Douaumont where you can still see the trenches and underground fortifications. There wasn’t time to tour this rather large underground structure but it would have been interesting. We were soon on our way once again to Verdun. This was the place of the heroic French stand in World War I to break the advance of the German forces and basically the line scarcely changed in the four years and at a cost of 500,000 French soldiers and 500,000 German soldiers. So much death of youth and the visit to the European Parliament buildings came together in my mind as the future of Europe is just so much better with this historical community of nations working together. We walked through the grave stones reading names and spent most of our visit time doing that. I found the idea of visiting this Ossuary Memorial and then the Mercier Champagne tour to be direct opposites on the same day but much was to be learned about French Resistance and how the many peoples of France did their utmost to work against their oppressors during WWII and that included these great chasms in the earth which could help to hide the secrets of the Resistance. We enjoyed our tour and the drink of Champagne (Mercier) and as I drank I thought of it as a tribute to those brave young men at Verdun. The Cellars of Mercier are one of the oldest and were hollowed out by hand in the late 1800s. They and other Champagne producers in the area have millions of bottles of Champagne stored underground in various stages of production. Our hotel this evening was the Hostellerie La Briqueterie Vinay at Epernay and it was a perfect country spot. We had a lovely patio outside our room and we really enjoyed our stay there. Dinner was at the hotel and it was a superb group meal. When we are on such a tour I like to just be part of a large group personally and not break up into small tables. It is just fun to listen to the conversation around the table.Temperature 26 C.

Day 18 and our bus was headed for Reims Cathedral – the early French Kings were crowned there and Joan of Arc had lead the French armies to victory so that the young Dauphin could be crowned there. Her tragic death at the hands of the English army (burnt at the stake as a witch) is well known to school children here in Canada. We had visited the site where the burning took place earlier. There is a statue of her in the courtyard of Reims Cathedral where she is looking lovingly towards God and it is He that has told her to do what she did according to history. We spent an hour at Reims and then we were on our way to Paris – the City of Light and I do find Paris to be a beautiful City. Row upon row of perfect housing flowing out from the Eiffel Tower. We were there after a rather long drive because of heavy traffic and then taken on a "long" bus tour of the City of Paris. The Tour of two hours was perhaps too long although in retrospect I am glad that we did do the tour as we once again saw the sights that we had seen on our last tour of Paris in 2010. The refresher was nice but the tour was long and I just wanted to get off the bus! We walked up to the Arc de Triomphe from our hotel which was about 5 kilometres round trip. We had hoped to be there in time for the lighting of the eternal flame to the unknown soldier buried there. We did make it in time and it was a beautiful ceremony with a number of different military tunes played by the band and then ended with La Marseilles (French National Anthem) which we learned as school children in our French classes. We then took the elevator up to the top of the Arc and I have to say that this view is just as good as the view from the first level of the Eiffel Tour. As it turned out this was a crispy clear day in Paris and we could see for miles. We spent about an hour at the top of the tower and then had our dinner at the George V Café on the way back to our hotel (Saint James and Albany Hotel Spa). Temperature 28 C.

Day 19 and there were several optional tours planned but we had decided not to do these and instead made our way to the Louvre first thing in the morning. The lines were very short at this time and we, of course, made our way to the Mona Lisa once again. Last time we were on the outskirts of a large group surrounding this famous painting. This time we were right at the tape which held the people back but we were so very close. We spent a little time there looking at this world famous painting and then moved on to various other sections but principally the Italian, French and English paintings and of course the statue of Venus de Milo. We then found the area set aside for displays of the French Kings and by then the three hours had passed and we were hungry for lunch which we enjoyed at Pauls Cafe in the Louvre. Our afternoon was to be a walk to Notre Dame Cathedral where there was a huge lineup but we noticed that it was moving quickly so we joined it and soon we were in the Cathedral. This building was heavily damaged during the Revolution on the main level but the upper windows were still intact and quite beautiful. We spent a good hour touring the Cathedral and then decided on a bicycle taxi back to our hotel. This is an interesting way to see Paris. We moved quite a bit slower through the streets and had good views of various items which we fortunately remembered from our two tours of the city. Dinner this evening was to be a Closing Dinner at a local restaurant the Flora Danica on the Champs Elysee. It was well chosen and the meal was excellent. I will always think of the meal at Epernay as our Closing Dinner because I enjoyed the collegial seating all at the same table.

Day 20 and the day consisted of an early breakfast and then onto the airport and our flight back. This was to be a 30 hour day as we moved back in time. Our flight was on time at Charles de Gaulle airport and our seats were excellent as we could see once we left the clouds over Paris the coastline beneath us and the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, then we were delighted to see the southern most coast of England, Lands End which we had not seen before from the air. We watched two movies and by then we could see the coast of Newfoundland and icebergs glistening beneath us in the distance. Good views of Newfoundland as it was clear in the skies above that province but starting to cloud in as we reached the Gros Morne National Park area. Then cloud all the rest of the way to Montreal where we landed a few minutes early. We had just 2 hours to make our flight to Ottawa and we needed all of that time as we worked our way through customs and then waited for our luggage and then back through security and walking to the very end of the terminal to our small plane to take us to Ottawa. Airborne right on time and home a few minutes early to Ottawa airport. Home by 6:00 pm.

Next tour will be a boat ride on the Rhine coming downriver from Switzerland to Amsterdam and perhaps next year.