‘Place des Quinconces’. and other things

It’s almost time for me to go away again (flying to Fuerteventura for a family wedding next week) and here am I, sitting at my almost obsolete computer trying to post some of the stuff from the last time I was in France. That was my house sitting trip last month.  I’ve been so very busy this summer. In May I had a lovely young man from Netherlands staying here. 

He was on a walking holiday which doesn’t sound unusual until you hear his plan.  He walked from his home in the north Netherlands to the coast,  caught the ferry to the UK and then walked the complete length of the UK up to Scotland. From Scotland he intended to walk north, board a boat to Greenland, walk across Greenland, board another boat, sail to Iceland, walk the breadth of Iceland then board another boat to Canada where he will disembark and begin the last lap of his journey. A walk to New York.!!! Yep that’s his plan, last I heard from him he was bang on target and on a boat to Canada.   

After his visit I had American friends staying at beginning of June, and then I was off house sitting in France for a couple of weeks. As soon as I came home I had my mother staying for a week and since then I’ve had a variety of grandchildren staying plus a few good days out with my friend. If I ever find the time I’ll post some of the pictures from the days out I’ve had. I’ve also had the garden to deal with, the combination my utter neglect and monsoon like weather left me with a jungle to deal with. I’m also going through a giant de-clutter/ clear out period. Bags and bags of stuff went off to the charity shop, glass and china that’s been in the family for a while was redistributed between nieces and daughters and finally….. I’ve been selling off a lot of my big old fashioned furniture. The ultimate aim is for a new de-cluttered simplified look with fewer belongings.   

I’m also trying to pass on virtually every thing I’m sentimentally attached too because I began to feel as if my belongings owned me rather than I owned them. It doesn’t matter how much stuff leaves this house, it still looks full to the brim. Think I’ve a way to go yet before achieving the ‘simplified’ look. I’m not even going to aim for the minimalist look because I don’t have a hope in hell of achieving that.

So; back to the photos. All of these photos here were taken in Bordeaux. My flight was booked from Bordeaux airport late afternoon. My sister had booked a wine tasting session at one of the vineyards in the morning after which we planned a picnic and then a leisurely couple of hours sightseeing until it was time to go to the airport. 

The wine tasting was unreal…. Totally wonderful vineyard that looked as if it were a film set. Rows and rows of vines and at the end of every row sat a perfect pink rose bush. The driveways and gardens were bordered with thick lavender bushes heavy with flower and wafting their scent into the warm, warm air. The sky was the deepest blue, everything was simply beautiful, it was surreal in its beauty. That’s the sort of thing I should be painting. 

The buildings were like postcards, perfect wooden shutters, red tiled roofs and thick, old stone walls. The young man (who also looked as if he walked straight off the film set, WOW), invited us into the cool stone building and offered us a selection of red and white wine. It was all delicious but we made our choice. I got to choose the white because they only drink red and tend to keep the white for guests, well me actually. The car was loaded with crates and crates of wine, the beautiful young man loaded those creates into the back of the car with ease and then offered us a couple of complimentary bottles to have on our picnic. And off we went to enjoy our picnic by the river. 

There was so much I could say about that day, photos of the vineyard, the river, the landscape and the perfect countryside. But for now I’m sticking to these photos of the fountain in the middle of Bordeaux. After the picnic and a sightseeing trip along the rivers edge we headed into Bordeaux. I had never been to Bordeaux before and my sister lives in a different area so she didn’t know anything about the city either. We were just looking for a city park or something, somewhere to sit under a tree, relax, do a bit of wandering and take a few photos before going to the airport. We spied this at the end of one of the roads and headed toward it not knowing what it was. Anyhow when we arrived, and parked, and made out way into the park, I was astounded, I was delighted. All I could thing was ‘WOW photo opportunity extraordinaire’.

My sister and her hubby sat themselves under a tree and off I went to revel in this glorious abundance of the baroque. At the time I knew nothing about this place but, since coming home and sorting through all the photos, this is what I’ve found out about it.    

‘Place des Quinconces’.
Apparently this is called the ‘Place des Quinconces’. The Place des Quinconces is located on the site of the old Château Trompette - the “Castle Trumpet”. This castle was built after the Hundred Years War as a way to protect Bordeaux against future English aggression. The castle was demolished in the early 19th century and made place for this magnificent square which was built shortly after the castle demolition. 

The whole area stretches over 31 acres. This city square is one of the largest in Europe and is home to the monument (the huge fountain) erected in memory of the Girondists, resplendent with  columns, fountains, basins and huge bronze sculptures.   

It has the ‘wow’ factor in bucket loads.
During pre revolution times The Girondists were part of France’s Legislative Assembly. They became affiliated with and supportive of the revolution movement as it began. In fact, they became one of the legislature’s most militant pro revolution sections. But once the revolution became bloody and messy, the Girondists began to voice opposition to the revolution. This was their downfall. In October 1793, the Girondists were executed upon the orders of one of the leaders of the Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre for supposedly opposing the revolution. 

The Monument aux Girondin was built between 1894 and 1902 in honour of the Girondin deputies, victims of the reign of terror of the French Revolution, and in honour of the Third Republic. The idea of the monument came from the Bordeaux sculptor Achille Dumilatre and when work started he enlisted help from fellow sculptors Felix Charpentier and Gustave Debrie. It was Debrie who created the horses involved in one of the sculptural groupings. Most of all the Monument aux Girondins is a striking memorial to the Reign of Terror.

I read that the name, “Place des Quinconces”, comes from the formation of the trees planted on the square.  A “quincunx” is ( apparently) a geometric pattern consisting of five points; four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its centre, much like a “5” on a regular dice, however, I have to say I saw no tree or group of trees planted anywhere in the ‘middle’ of this enormous city square.

At the very top of the central column stands a large bronze statue of a winged lady with a broken chain in one of her hands. This is Liberty breaking free from the chains of oppression. In her other hand she holds a laurel branch, which symbolises the victory of the republic. Below her, an inscription in the column shows “RF”. This is a common symbol throughout France and stands for “République Française”. At the base of the column stands one of the symbols of France, the Gallic Rooster (one of my personal favourites)  - also known as the French Cockerel. The cockerel is the symbol of Frances history, land and culture and has been used ever since the Middle Ages. 

The fountains are based around massive bronze sculptures. On the south side of the column is “Le triomphe de la République” – “the triumph of the Republic”, and on the other side, “Le triomphe de la Concorde”- “the triumph of Agreements”. The sea-horse drawn chariots symbolise peace and happiness but the men getting overthrown in front of them symbolise lies and ignorance. 

The bronze statues were dismantled by German troops in search of metal during the Second World War. They were destined for the smelting pot but by some miracle were saved. After the war, in 1944,  they were found, intact and undamaged in the French city of Angers. They were brought back to Bordeaux and reinstated to their former glory.

On the other side of Place des Quinconces stands two lesser columns which together form the east entrance to the square. These columns were raised in 1829 in neo-classical style. Visitors who takes a closer look at them will see that both are decorated with anchors, the mark of the Roman god of trade “the Mercury Caduceus” and above that a guiding star. These all symbolise what the columns celebrate, which is “Trade” and “Navigation”. 

When I was there the one on the left (looking down the square from the monument) was wrapped in scaffolding which is why I only have photos of the one on the right. On both sides of Place des Quinconces, in between the Girondist monument and the eastern columns, one can find white marble statues of Montaigne and Montesquieu ( no photos of these) . Montaigne was born close to Bordeaux and was one of the most influential writers during the French Renaissance while Montesquieu was a political thinker who was active in the Bordeaux parliament.
 

These days this gigantic city square is used for many civic activities. It has Fun fairs, markets, concerts, sport events, exhibitions and many other public events.

There is so much more to know about this spectacular piece of art, but space and time prohibit me from saying more, although I thoroughly recommend . At some point in my life, when I start painting again, I’m hoping to use some of these photos as a basis for painting. 

I love these faces, I think they will make great paintings but for now my painting has taken a bit of a back seat to other things. I know I’ll go back to it one day when the time is right and when I do, I’m sure these will come in very, very handy.

On Tuesday I fly out to Fuerteventura for the wedding, I’m away for a week, back home for 4 days and then its time for my month in France. In between then and now, I will try to do a bit of a catch up and visit people here, plus of course sort through some more of my photos. So….. if you don’t hear from me again for a while, its because I’m off travelling.