Sunday Drive: Anciennes voitures françaises - Old French Cars

Given my current location in not far from Avignon, this subject seems appropriate.

Here's the short version:

And if that wasn't enough, here's a much longer one.

One thing to remember--none of these cars had air conditioning.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Notre Dame Shrine - Cour Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence, France - October 22, 2018

Shrines dedicated to Notre Dame (Our Lady) on secular buildings are common in France. This one on the corner of a building on Cour Mirabeau in Aix caught my eye this afternoon because it was larger than usual and more artfully sculpted than most. Also Mary is often depicted holding her son but in this case I don't know what she's doing.

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Walking on Wednesday: Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France

That's where we spent the day. It was constructed between 1905 and 1912 by Baroness Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild* after she fell in love with the region following a visit to a seaside villa built by a cousin of her husband.**

The Villa Ephrussi, designed in the Venetian style, is a treasure house filled top to bottom with beautiful things.

But although we toured the house, we were really there to see the grounds, classified as
one of the Notable Gardens of France. There are nine themed gardens including Florentine, Spanish, Japanese and French. And as you stroll along the many paths the views of the Mediterranean continually appear.

[All photos from my personal collection]

*Both of Beatrice's parents were both members of French Rothschild banking family and her husband Maurice Ephrussi came from another wealthy banking clan.
**Villa Kerylos which was built in the antique Greek style.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive - Automobile Club de Côte D’Azuré, October 14, 2018

 During our walk through old Nice today we happened on a car show being held next to the beach sponsored by the local auto club. Here are some of the cars we saw.

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Stroll: Paris-Plages - August, 2007

Every summer since 2002 the City of Paris has brought in sand, palm trees and deck chairs to place alongside the Seine so that those of its citizens who haven't gone on vacation can have a beachy experience.*

These photos were taken at the beginning of my first visit to Paris in 2007.

It was hot the day we visited the site and the mist machine set up at this location was very welcome.

[From my personal collection]

 *But no swimming is allowed in the Seine because it's too polluted.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Pete Slater Writes Home - March 31, 1919 (Part III)

Continuing with the third part of Pete Slater's letter to his great uncle describing his experiences on the battlefields of France during World War I. Up to this point in his deployment he had not seen much action but that changed. During this action all the officers and half of the men in his company had been killed.

[22 May 1919, Page 10 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Boats in Collioure, France - September 2009

The brilliant light here in this sun-drenched town on the shores of the Mediterranean is what drew early 20th century artists like Matisse, Chagall, and Picasso.

Lest the visitor miss the references Collioure  has erected large labeled rectangles framing the views as depicted in works by various artists.

[All from my personal collection]

Bonnie and I, together with friends Jessica and Rita, only spent one night here but it was definitely worth the trip!

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Pete Slater Writes Home - March 31, 1919 (Part II)

Here ise the second of a series of articles from the The Severyite of a letter sent by my great uncle George Logan "Pete" Slater to his great uncle Albert Ross Tomlinson back in Kansas describing his experiences during World War I.

[15 May 1919, Page 8 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Pete Slater Writes Home - March 31, 1919 (Part I)

In my post last week I shared a clipping from The Severyite with a letter my maternal great uncle George Logan "Pete" Slater wrote to his uncle A.R. Tomlinson* just before he was shipped off to France and lamented that we didn't know more about Pete's wartime experiences.

I spoke too soon.**

This week I found a series of articles in the same newspaper referring to another letter Pete wrote to his uncle from Germany four months after the Armistice was signed.

[8 May 1919, Page 8 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

 
Come back next week for the next installment.


*Alfred Ross Tomlinson (1847-1923) was Pete's maternal grandfather's brother.
**Hint: I've found that relying on a single search on Newspapers.com doesn't turn up everything on the subject you're searching for. Every time I repeat my search I get new hits. It pays to try and try again!

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: United States Formally Declares War on Germany - April 6, 1917

President Wilson declared war on Germany 101 years ago today. Newspapers in Greenwood County, Kansas, where my Slater kin were living at the time, were weeklies published on Thursdays but their readers wouldn't have been surprised because of articles like this one from the preceding day's Democratic Messenger:

[5 Apr 1917, Page 1 - Democratic Messenger at Newspapers.com]

Seven months later a letter from my maternal grand uncle George Logan "Pete" Slater was published on the front page of the Severyite:

[8 Nov 1917, Page 1 

The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

I've written several posts about Pete's military record which you can find here and here. He had joined the U.S. Marines in 1915 at the age of 29 and had been just promoted to Corporal around the time of this letter.

I haven't found any more reports from Corporal (later Sergeant) Slater so I don't know what he experienced during his tour of duty abroad.

This is the man who ran for the U.S. Congress as a Socialist several times in the 1930s.




© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.