Have Car, Will Travel

We picked up a rental car at the train station in Nancy on Monday, August 18. Trains are our preferred mode of travel while in Europe, but they weren't going to work well for our trip to the Netherlands. It's lovely to let someone else "do the driving" while being able to read, nap, or just watch the scenery go by, but four or five changes of train--taking over 8 hours and costing in the neighborhood of $800 (round trip) for the two of us--was hard to justify when compared to driving a rental car for six-and-a-half hours at a third of the cost (including the fuel).

There is another advantage to having access to a car, and that is the ability to easily visit villages and interesting sites that don't have convenient public transportation options. There was at least one stop we knew we wanted to make when we had the car, and that was the village of Domrémy-la-Pucelle, the birthplace of Joan of Arc. It first came to our attention when we made a day trip by train in mid-July to the town of Neufchâteau and we were investigating other possible sites of interest in the area. Domrémy was only about 10 kilometers from Neufchâteau, but as we had limited time before we had to return to Toul by train, and no bicycles or other means of covering the 10 km, the distance may as well have been 100 km. But now, we had the possibility to visit the village, so after we collected the car in Nancy we headed southwest for the approximate 1-hour drive.

With a bit of serendipity, we stumbled upon a bargain of a lunch at La Marmite, a roadside brasserie in the village of Greux. After lunch, another 5 minutes of driving brought us to Domrémy-la-Pucelle, perhaps the mother of all "Joan of Arc was here" sites in France. Originally, simply named Domrémy, the "la Pucelle" was added to the village name in the late 1500's in recognition of Joan's nickname, "la Pucelle d'Orleans" (the Maid of Orleans). The village, which was never large and now has a population of only about 100, is located on the borders between Lorraine and Champagne, and as a result saw much warfare over the centuries.

Joan was born in Domrémy in 1412, started hearing "voices" in the garden of her home in 1425, left Domrémy and offered her services to the future King Charles VII in 1428, led the army that relieved the siege of the city of Orleans in May 1429, and was present in Reims at the coronation of Charles VII. After that, things went downhill for Joan: she failed to lift the Siege of Paris in September 1429 and unsuccessfully attempted to lay siege to the fortified town of La Charite-sur-Loire; was captured by the Burgundians in Compiegne in 1430 and turned over to the English; and was ultimately put on trial for heresy in Rouen in 1431, found guilty, and burned at the stake. An "oops, we made a mistake" rehabilitation trial in 1456 declared that the original trial was corrupt, and cleared Joan of the charges of heresy. Her reputation within France continued to grow, and particularly after the French Revolution she was recognized as a symbol of French strength and endurance. Joan was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1920, and is today one of the patron saints of France.

Joan of Arc's birthplace and childhood home. The structure of the house has undergone
some changes since it was originally built in the Middle Ages. The lintel over the door
was installed by a descendent of Joan's in 1481.

The largest of the four rooms on the ground floor of the house,
this was her parents' bedroom and, therefore, most likely to
have been the room in which she was born. The slab floor 
dates to the 19th century.

Another of the rooms on the ground floor, designated as the
"brother's bedroom." In Joan's time, the upper story is thought to have
housed a granary, and in the 19th century was briefly a museum.

An interpretive center adjacent to the home delves into
Joan's early life, the battles she participated in, and her
evolution into "legend." 

Even saintly legends can't avoid being monetized and lending their names to modern-day products:

Restaurants and beers

Cheese

The parish church of Saint-Remy, next door to the family home,
and the site of Joan's baptism in 1412.

The baptismal font said to have been in use at the time 
of Joan's baptism. Behind it is a tombstone of the
descendants of one of Joan's godmothers.

A short distance to the south of Domrémy is a small hill on which sits a large pilgrimage church built between 1881 and 1926 that bears the name Basilica of Saint Joan of Arc. The hill was previously occupied by a chapel that had marked the site where Joan is supposed to have received some of her revelations. 

The Basilica of Saint Joan of Arc.

The interior had some amazing artwork.

Mosaics were here, there, and everywhere.

The walls held a series of paintings depicting the significant
events in Joan's life.

The mosaic in the ceiling above the altar.

Joan hears the voices of Saints Michael, Catherine,
and Margaret.

It was an interesting "detour" in the rental car, and probably would have sufficed as "field trip of the day," but a quick check of the surrounding area the day before had uncovered another promising stop that was only a 20-minute drive to the southwest of Domrémy. The modern-day village of Grand, population of about 400, was previously the site of the large Roman city of Andesina, with a population of about 20,000. Archeologists first discovered the Roman vestiges in the 18th century, but much of the major clearing of ancient sites didn't start in earnest until the 1960's. One mystery is why a large city would be built in an area without rivers, and instead, was situated on a limestone plateau whose springs required the construction of underground aqueducts and hundreds of wells to bring the water to the surface. It is thought that Grand/Andesina was a significant religious site dedicated to the worship of Apollo Grannus, although a sanctuary referenced in various texts has yet to be located.

The largest and most impressive of the Roman structures is an amphitheater, whose initial construction dates back to the 1st century AD. Its central aisle of 148 meters puts it among the largest buildings of its type in the Roman empire. Seating capacity was estimated to be 16,000-18,000. By the mid-4th century, the amphitheater had been abandoned and was falling into ruins. 

A panoramic view of the amphitheater. The wooden stands were added in the 1990's as
part of an effort to protect the limestone arches and other exposed structures from deterioration.
The remains to the east side were left in their original state, except that stonework on the 
eastern facade was partially buried behind a retaining wall to preserve it.

An aerial photograph of the site in the 1980's, before the
protective stands were added.

The arches and other exposed parts of the structure under the
protective stands.

View from the stands toward the rooms at the east end of the arena
that may have been used for gladiator warm-up, animals, etc.

The view of the arena from the top tier of seating. The design of the amphitheater, open on
one side, was somewhat unusual and meant that the acoustics could have allowed for theatrical
type performances, not just gladiatorial combat.

The eastern walkway to the arena.

The other primary Roman attraction in the village was a large mosaic that was unearthed in 1883. At 232-meters-squared, the mosaic is one of the largest preserved Roman mosaics in France and paved the floor of a large building that had an apse. The building may have been a basilica, a place of judicial administration, but the central design that features a theater scene from a Greek or Latin comedy has led to speculation that it may have been a different kind of structure.

The building which houses the mosaic and a small adjoining
museum of Roman objects discovered during excavations in Grand.

View toward the apse. Of the central design, only 2 figures
have survived.

A side view.

From a corner.

Most of the objects displayed were small in scale. Some of the
more important and larger finds are in museums elsewhere
in France.

Blocks from the ancient foundations of the building.

We didn't have enough time to partake of the complete "Discovery Tour" in Grand, as it was getting to be late afternoon and it would take us about an hour to drive back to Toul. And, of course, there was packing to be done and the anticipation of a long drive the next day. So many places, so little time . . .