St John's Eve and Midsummer

In France, the "Fête de la Saint-Jean" is traditionally celebrated with bonfires, reminiscent of Midsummer's pagan rituals. It is also a catholic festivity in celebration of the birth of Saint John the Baptist.  Click here and the link will provide more information.
It takes place on June 24, on Midsummer day (St John's day). In French towns, a tall bonfire is built  to be lit on St John's Day.  Sambucus canadensis is a goddess tree.

Some traditions say that Elder is a strong protection against dark magic, and if elder twigs are collected on St John's Eve they will protect against bad luck that may surround Twelfth Night celebrations. Growing an elder in your garden will protect your property from misfortune and harm. 

There is an elder tree growing halfway along my washing line.  I never know when to prune it to create flowers for the following summer. Currently, the leaves are covered with blackfly, so washing up water will have to be a treatment!  I cannot ever remove the elder tree from my garden! My mindfulness is because when I was married we bought a house that we could ill afford.  And in the garden of this house, which was in a sorry state of repair, was an elder tree and he and I cut it down - therein began troubles!   So I am superstitious!
We'd borrowed money from his stepfather - a loan without interest (a folly) ...we couldn't afford repayments when I became unemployed to have a first child when at the same time his self-employment and partnership failed!  The loan was eventually repaid when we divorced. The grandmother and step grandfather refused to see their grandchildren unless it was with the father which rarely happened. Family divisions!  Such a deprivation for all concerned!
After we were re-housed as the bedrooms were below zero in one of the worst winters known and there were cracks in the house walls,  the house was eventually sold to a man who sadly committed suicide in the garden of that house!  The profit from the sale of the house went towards purchasing my own property so that the kids had a better lifestyle. I managed to free myself from council house status which I was so grateful for!  It was hard to pay for the mortgage but I was eventually grateful that there was no contribution from the father. One day my children will inherit 50% each! Every other penny in my life has been earned or came to me through legitimate family inheritance. 

Now as a parent of a son and a daughter and a grandparent of her daughter, I am an elder... like an elder tree, but certainly never a goddess!  Life needs to be good and magical without black fly and troubles descending!

On the route de Compostela

Streets in this region of Chatellerault have recently been upgraded and this one pedestrianised.

Chatellerault is on the pilgrimage route of St. Jacques de Compostela. Construction of the Saint Jacques Church began in 1008 on the ruins of the chapel of the priory of Saint-Jacques. The Bishop of Poitiers, Isembert II consecrated the church in 1066.  In 1632, a votive offering celebrated the end of the plague in the town.  The church was restored in 1858 and has a 17th century polychromic, wooden statue of St. Jacques. It has a carillon of 50 bells - the only carillon in the Poitou-Charentes region. 
The restoration of the church was not to the liking of one of the inspectors of historic monuments who refused to give the church any government subsidy because it replicated the facade of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Poitiers.  His power of generosity did not extend to the understanding that sometimes imitation can be the sincerest form of flattery!  "Thou shalt not steal" he quoted from the Bible.  Nor did he survive to hear Steve Jobs say in 1996 that "Good artists copy, Great Artists steal!"

Wikipedia Photo of Notre Dame Cathedral, Poitiers

The Abbey of St Savin - a Unesco heritage site

A few weeks ago my very dearest and special vicary cousin and her husband came to visit. They had never been to see where I lived in this country and time takes me back to 2005 when I arrived here with my friend who bought his house in Autumn 2003 whilst I bought mine in 2010.
It was an opportunity to show my cousin a sacred place that I have visited many times before.  The Abbey of Saint-Savin is a World Heritage Site and has been preserved for its murals and history.  I love the Noah's Ark and the painted pillars.

On the way home I was stunned by nature's colours and oh how I wish I could paint a picture to express a thousand words.