A Trip to the Continent

Last week took us to France and Germany—mostly to renew our visas (did you know that if you come through Ireland you only get a three month visa?  Neither did we…) but also to visit those places Wordsworth lived while in these countries.  And it was a wonderful trip.  Our visas are renewed—hurrah!  And I feel as if I have a much better idea of what Wordsworth’s life would have been like in each of these cities.  I’ve divided this blog up into three sections: Orléans, Blois, and Goslar.  

Orléans

The Cathedral

Ancien Hôtel Groslot

The council chamber where so many decisions were made during the Revolution.

Who was in charge during the time that Wordsworth was in Orleans.

An old house near the river.  Do you think Wordsworth and Annette walked here?

 So much of Orléans was destroyed during World War II.  It’s amazing that the Cathedral and a good part of the downtown survived.  That area gives us some sense of what Orléans might have looked like when Wordsworth was here (though how much of the downtown might have been built up post-Revolution I couldn’t really say).  We found what we thought might have been the location of Wordsworth’s hotel where he first stayed, but the address took us to a modern building that was definitely not there when he was there.  Never mind.  There were plenty of old buildings to give us a sense of things.  Wordsworth came to Orléans as did many young Englishmen to learn French.  There was enough polite society to mix with to learn the language in a setting where the upper class was likely to be more accessible than Paris.  He came to learn French, but he fell in love here with Annette Vallon.  The two buildings that meant something to me were the Cathedral where Caroline Vallon was baptized (Wordsworth’s daughter by Annette) and the Ancien Hôtel Groslot.  The Groslot was a Renaissance building that was taken over during the Revolution for the uses of the city council.  It remained the town council building until the 1980s.  Annette Vallon and her family had run-ins with the Revolutionary powers that be from time to time (mostly after Wordsworth left Orléans), and there was something very moving about standing in a room where so many decisions were likely made that determined the fate of this family and many others like them.  The Cathedral was a reminder that despite the image we sometimes have of the Revolution putting a halt to all religious activity, this is simply not true.  Annette had brothers in the church, and they continued to worship, as did many others I’m sure.  The church remained a central part of daily life.

Blois

The Chateau de Blois

Inside the Chateau

A symbol of royal power--the fire breathing salamander.

The Chateau is made up of several period extensions.  This is from the medieval period.

A house near the Chateau--actually two houses linked by this walkway.

You could make a book of photos just of beautiful doors in Blois.

One of many romantic streets to wander in Blois.

 

Chateau de Chambord

The revolutionary flag might have been flying when Wordsworth was here; the Revolutionary Guard took over the Chateau at one point.  But I think that might have been after Wordsworth left France....

Looking out the chapel window on to the grounds.

Wordsworth left Orléans, possibly to follow Annette, for her home town of Blois.  We loved Blois.  Was it that we had the nicest young desk clerk at the Ibis in the centre of Blois who always greeted us with a smile and encouraged me in my French?  Or was it the fact that nearly everyone was on vacation so we had the tourist sites to ourselves?  Or was it the inherent charm of the city with its steep and winding streets and it’s old buildings that felt as if they hung over the alley ways?  It was likely all of these reasons.  Who couldn’t fall in love with Blois (and in Blois)?  The Chateau is a blast to wander around on a cold winter day.  Little French boys played at being knights on the terrace looking out over the river.  The Chateau dominates the city, rising up out of the hillside in the centre of the old town like the fortress it was originally.  It is softened now with gardens on one side and steep but broad staircases leading up to the entrance.  But what would it have felt like in Wordsworth’s day?  Would it have felt accessible?  Or would it have been a towering reminder of the power and corruption of the aristocracy?  How would Wordsworth and the French revolutionary Beaupy have talked about the building?  Yes, Blois definitely sparked the imagination.  So much remains the same from Wordsworth’s day that it is easy to let one’s imagination run wild.

After leaving Blois, we travelled to the Chateau de Chambord where Wordsworth says he walked with Beaupy.  That would be quite a walk!  It was a pleasant drive of about 20 kilometers.  Again, we enjoyed being there in winter with very few tourists.  There were even roaring fires in some of the large fireplaces!  While Wordsworth wouldn’t have gone inside, we could see why he would have been drawn to the estate with its large woods and open fields.  

 Goslar

A building in the town square.

Evening light in the square.

Goslar is known for it's odd carvings.  Here's a little known fact from my Shakespeare studies: by Shakespeare's day, bear baiting had decimated the bear population in England, and bears were imported from Germany to keep the sport up.  Is this a bear about to exported?

Evening light in Goslar.

More carvings.

1520! 

I’m afraid Goslar has gotten a rather bad rap from Wordsworthian scholars.  It’s true that there was much that William and Dorothy didn’t like about Goslar: the cold and the people, who Dorothy called “a low and selfish race” (letter to Coleridge 3 Feb 1799).  They also couldn’t socialize with the upper classes because of a German tradition of reciprocity that would have required them to provide dinners in return for dinners received—something they couldn’t do on their budget.  But it’s not true that they were unhappy there. It was an incredibly productive time for William as he started his Prelude.  Dorothy writes that they have been meaning to leave for two months, but they haven’t because they are waiting for warmer weather for walking (they don’t like the rough roads for carriages) and “adding these considerations [is] our natural aversion to moving from a place where we live in comfort and quietness.”  “Comfort and quietness” doesn’t sound so bad when one is beginning to write a poetic masterpiece.

It turns out that Goslar is an UNESCO World Heritage site.  It escaped the bombings of World War II and has within its old town walls over 1000 timber frame houses dating from the 16^th to 18^th centuries.  Add to that several churches begun in the 12^th century and you have a fine historic site.  Because it is so well preserved, it’s quite easy to walk the streets and imagine that one is seeing what Wordsworth saw.  A trip to the Goslar Museum proved that that perception is not quite true.  In the section covering the 18^th and 19^th century, a model in the middle of the room shows the town in 1800.  A few differences immediately strike one.  First, the town was much more open that it is today.  The main street was a long row of solid houses, as it is today, but a trip down any side street would have shown William and Dorothy little garden or farm plots behind and alongside most of the houses—all within the town walls.  Now, houses have filled in the gaps between these older houses—often in the style of the old homes.  Second, the 12^th century church, of which only the front portico still stands, was still in existence at the foot of the Kaiserpfalz, or Imperial Palace.  Both the church and the palace were in pretty bad shape, as William notes in a letter.  The Palace was being used as storage.  Just a few years after they left, the church was torn down. 

Still, even with these changes, the town still maintains much of the flavor of the town as the Wordsworths would have found it.  We, however, did not find the people to be a selfish race.  Given our extremely limited German, we found them patient and generous.  They tried communicating with us, and smiles were readily exchanged.  

What I’ve left out of this blog is the fun Chris had driving on the autobahn, the leisurely return through Belgium on an unbelievably glorious spring day (including lunch at an outdoor café in the sun!), and discovering fun little streets and views in every town.  We like to “wing it” on our trips, making reservations for the first and last nights and then seeing what comes our way.  We did that again this time, and it was incredibly freeing.  Ah, adventures!