Exploring Charleville

We were tourists today.

Exploring Charleville - Charleville was founded by Charles de Gonzaga, the 8th duke of Mantua, in 1606. 

 

His portrait from the museum. 

He was a man with a plan. 

He designed the town, centered on the Place Ducale (as in Duke) with the four quarters from the central square being neighborhoods, each named after a saint. It is "one of the finest 17th-century squares in France" often compared to the Place des Vosges in Paris. As it happens the architects for these two squares were brothers.  The Place was built in 1611.

The high, steep roofs of slate are common to this area (Ardennes), better for snow and rain runoff (ya, we know about the rain). 

Our first stop was the Musée de l'Ardenne.

We enjoyed this museum and it's unique approach to regional history. Starting in the basement, we walked through ancient archeological finds. Neolithic timeframe. 

As we made our way through the exhibits and climbed the floors the time periods became more recent. 

Guns

There was a whole section on guns, and we learned that a munitions expertise was born here:

In 1717, a flintlock musket for the French infantry was standardized. This became the first standard flintlock musket to be issued to all French troops. While it is more correctly called a French infantry musket or a French pattern musket, these muskets later became known as "Charleville muskets", after the armory in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes,

We also learned that large numbers of the Charleville Model 1763 and 1766 muskets were imported into the US from France during the War of Independence (France was cheering for independence). 

Many local artists were also celebrated. 

Another very interesting exhibit was of Puppetry 

It all began when Jacques Félix discovered the art of puppetry and founded the company Les Petits Comédiens de Chiffons in 1948, with which he creates shows inspired by Ardennes folklore, including the famous Les Quatre Fils Aymon.

Our little air BNB is on the same block as the international school of puppetry.

The museum also houses and cares for the clock, The Great Puppeteer. 

This 10-metre-high giant, the work of Jacques Monestier, presents the Ardennes legend of the four Aymon sons in twelve scenes every day from 10 a.m. to 21 p.m.

We were there for 8pm and the giant spoke, but the puppets didn't make an appearance tonight. There is a lot of construction going on around it. 

The museum was well done and truly educational, and FREE on Saturdays!!

We had a classic snack today, stopping for beer and frites (and mayo and ketchup) in the main square. 

Livin' the good life!

Next stop in the tour was Église Saint-Rémi.

Austere from outside, in neo-Romanesque style, the church is the second largest church in the city. Built in 1860.

The church is located on the exact site of the chapel of the great priory of the Christian militia founded by Charles de Gonzaga. 

We had read that it was worth going in, as the inside has beautiful stained glass windows.

It was massive, and we were all alone in there.  The pulpit was intricately carved wood. 

And the organ at the back (one of two) was impressive in size. I'd love to hear it. 

A brief bakery stop.  Tarte Sucre! Who knew? 

We made our way to the Musée Arthur Rimbaud.

We have seen and heard a lot about Arthur Rimbaud, he is definitely beloved here (and he has a brand of beer named after him, and a bookstore).

The museum is housed in the Vieux Moulin on the Meuse (river). This old building was a mill and straddles a portion of the river out to a small island. 

A clever art installation in front of the building / museum has chairs set out in alternating directions, engraved with some of Rimbaud's famous poems/ sayings, as well as other poets. 

Rimbaud was born here, wrote all his major poetry before age 20, then abandoned literature entirely and travelled, apparently never returning to Charleville.  The museum is interesting and unique, with displays of his correspondence, his many portraits, treasures from his years in Africa, and with an audio display of his poems being read in multiple languages. 

Born in Charleville, he started writing at a very young age and excelled as a student, but abandoned his formal education in his teenage years to run away to Paris amidst the Franco-Prussian War. During his late adolescence and early adulthood, he produced the bulk of his literary output. Rimbaud completely stopped writing literature at age 20 after assembling his last major work, Illuminations.

Rimbaud was a libertine and a restless soul, having engaged in a hectic, sometimes violent romantic relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, which lasted nearly two years. After his retirement as a writer, he travelled extensively on three continents as a merchant and explorer until his death just after his thirty-seventh birthday. As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to symbolism and, among other works, for A Season in Hell, a precursor to modernist literature.

This area of the city has the Meuse River running through it in a loop. There is a small island with lovely green space for picnics, and watching the kayakers go by. 

We enjoyed our walking tour. It was a lovely sunny day, and we got back in time to dry the tent and wash the bikes.  They needed some love. 

This town has been a lovely little find. Small enough to be accessible and yet so much history, so many stories, and a diverse offering of food and inhabitants. 

Back in the saddle tomorrow. 

Sleep well