At the top of the climb we went through the charming town of St Pons-de-Thomieres and as we sat in the mid morning traffic we drove past the Hôtel de Ville and in the courtyard there was a magnificent statue of Madame Liberty, the traditional female embodiment of the French Republic with her ample bosom unashamedly thrusting out and exposed to all.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Europe, Food, France, History, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Beziers, Castres, Languedoc, Madame Liberty, McDonalds France, St Pons-de-Thomieres
The French are proud of Madame Liberty who can be found in most French towns alongside the inevitable Place de la Revolution and the Place de la Republique an interesting contrast to the UK where I am yet to find a ‘Constitutional Monarchy Square’!
Madame Liberty represents the spirit of the French Revolution (various revolutions actually, 1789, 1830, 1848, 1871, 1968) and I have always thought how magnificent it would be if England could have a more exciting national symbol instead of the frumpy Britannia! It’s an interesting fact however that when the French built the Statue of Liberty for the USA they made sure that she was more discreetly attired!
Posted in Europe, France, History, Literature, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged French Revolution, Madame Liberty, Paris, Statue of Liberty, Weekly Photo Challenge
After breakfast at the Hotel des Poetes we walked into Béziers on a rather chilly morning to visit the market hall which had been closed the day before. It was a typical French town market hall next to the Hôtel de Ville in the centre of the city and this early hour it was not yet particularly busy.
Our last market visit had been to the Varvakios Agora in Athens which had been a delightfully chaotic affair but this was much more orderly and the stalls were laid out to perfection much like the one in La Rochelle which we had visited a couple of years before. We couldn’t realistically buy anything of course and take it back in our hand luggage so we stayed just long enough to get our ‘market fix’ and then we returned to check out of the hotel.
