Latest news on the forthcoming trip to Cape Verde ...

I  have been packing some of the last things to take over to Cape Verde, among which are some of the birthday presents to be handed to the children of the village of Calheta, whose birthdays have been from May last through to September (Marcio, Marquinho, Artemisa, Veronica Conceição) and a few small gifts.

I have also been given the money for the school fees of the children João Barros, Celeste, Sonia, Olivia, Adelaide, Teresa, Henriqueta, Raquel, Rita, Lurdes, Luis, Catia, Maria João, Dora, Cristina Marques, Lurdes Batista, Maria Felicidade and Marta are "looking after".

Birthday presents for Marcio (left) and Marquinho (right) bought by João Barros and Celeste respectively.

Birthday presents for Artemisa bought by Cristina Marques.

 
Birthday present for Veronica Conceição bought by Marta

Presents for Aniza and Lou bought by Celeste.

Presents for Leiziny bought by Adelaide.

Presents for Liliane Rosy (left) and Evilise (right) bought by Teresa and Rita respectively.

A T-shirt and some shorts for little Leidina (left) bought by myself and a photo frame with Diva's picture (right) for Diva made by Lurdes.

Two more "godmothers" (Elizabete and Carla) have joined the project and will be "looking after" three children, two of which are still rather small. 

 

Elizabete (left) and Carla (right)

I must say I am particularly happy more people are joining in a common effort to make the lives of these children slightly better. This reinforces the fact that there are people who still believe "we" can make the difference.

Celeste has handed  me out a few second-hand clothes she has been able to collect for the boys at the emergency Centre in Praia and Lurdes Batista has given me the necessary money Daniela's mother needs to have a toilet adapted to the small one-storey house she has in the village.

Despite the fact that there have been some set backs because not all "godparents" have contributed the way they had initially committed themselves to, the project still goes on ...

The Church of Saint Michael and the Chapel of Saint Sebastian, Lanslevillard - Haute Maurienne - the 25th of August 2912

(...)

The fact that this whole area is skiing oriented has eventually relegated its historical richness to a second plan, which may be a bit of a pity as both the village Church and the twelve chapels within the area, each of which dedicated  to a theme or a period of time are really worth visiting.

References in the internet are scarce and the beautifully made little booklet on both the Church of Saint Michael and the chapel of Saint Sebastian, with illustrative pictures of the richness that each of these house inside may not be enough to convince people of its importance.

Pierre Huart, the author of the pictures for this booklet happened to be our host and no symbol, detail and historic and religious issues were left unturned. I personally believe that his explanation further contributed towards a thorough understanding of the importance of what we visited.

 

According to historical accounts the Church of Saint Michael dates back to the early 12th century and so does the little stone statue of the Virgin, which can be seen on its exterior.

Its interior  is worth being looked at because of its golden sculpted columns (by the tow Bessans brothers - Jean Baptiste and Bennoit) and two Italian influenced paintings (Titian and Tintoreto)  dating back to the 18th century, among other Sacred artefacts.

The Chapel of Saint Sebastian  houses fifty three frescoes depicting the life of Christ and Saint Sebastian, said to have been painted at the Piémont atelier. They are very impressive not only because of the artistic expression displayed but also because the original colours have been well preserved, which is surprising enough after all these years.

We didn't leave the area without having seen several groups of rocks spread in the valleys, whose origin and symbols have not yet been quite deciphered, despite the clear impact they have on whoever walks by.

The last Haute Maurienne picture was taken to the little chapel of Saint John Baptist, with its main entrance frescoes.

 

By the time we drove back to Nattages it was getting dark and it had just started to rain fairly heavily ... but we were happy ... it had been a "culturally rich" day spent in the company of interesting people and in an almost perfect "setting" ...

The Chapel of Saint Anthony and the Museum of old housing, Bessans - Haute Maurienne - The 25th of August 2012

We drove to Haute Maurienne where Christian and I had already been to a few years back in search of  the treasures of Sacred Art circumscribed  to "The paths of the Baroque". This time we were to have privileged access to more than one of the many chapels worth being visited within the area.

Prior to having been guided through the amazingly beautiful frescoes that cover both the Chapel of Saint Sebastian and Saint Anthony's we had lunch at Pierre and Michelle's.

Bessans, where the Chapel of Saint Anthony stands, is rather interesting ... unlike anything I had ever seen before  ... there was a peculiar luminosity that couldn't be easily forgotten as it shone over the stone roofed one and two storey-high houses.

On the way to the Chapel of Saint Anthony, which dates back to the early fifteenth century, we came across a huge cross we would later see in the Lanslevillard Church and whose detailed explanation in terms of symbols could be seen close by.

Saint Anthony Chapel's main façade is protected by a canopy that houses some frescoes depicting the dance of defects and although they are in a bad state of preservation one can still see the artistry with which they were painted  due to some of the amazing details.

One cannot possibly imagine what lies behind those outside walls, if one has not read "Trésors de L'Art Sacreé dans les hautes valées de Mauriènne" by Michael Thomas, who has thoroughly explained the forty panels depicting the life of Christ intermingled with that of the village, thus reason enough to believe that the unknown artist who painted them must have been a local artist.

For obvious reasons photos could not be taken and although it has been mentioned that the extraordinarily impressive paintings bear some similarity in style to those of the Chapel of Saint Sebastian in Lansvillard, one would soon realise that these latest were finer artistically.





We had the possibility of visiting the small  Museum of old housing, where the life of 18th century old peasants was well exemplified. People and animals were supposedely gathered in a room, commonly referred to as "Erablo", in which they were to face the long and harsh cold winters using the animals for their personal heating.

(To be continued)

Unregistered Postcrossing cards ...

I always get disappointed and sad whenever the postcrossing cards I have sent don't reach their destinations, or rather ... are not registered as having reached their destinations.

This time the "trend" has changed ... they are not only Art cards ... and  apart from China have been sent to countries like Belgium and Germany  (rather unusual  ... as far as non-registrations are concerned).

May they be acknowledged and seen in my blog "wall" where they cannot be favourited ... but have earned the right to "exist" ...

 PT-246997 to China

                                                           

  PT-250478 to Germany

   PT- 250633 to Belgium

Friday evening in Nattages - The 24th of August 2012

I flew to Geneva airport on Friday and reached Nattages in France by late afternoon. As Christian made his way to the swimming pool I opted to wandering about ... "feeling" the beauty of the surrounding nature and breathing in some fresh air ...

I believe it is only when one moves to the countryside, whether it is temporarily or not, that one realises there may be quite  a few disadvantages in living in a capital city and not being able to have some of the countryside "little" pleasures ... the scent of flowers ... the smell of wet grass ... the mountains ... and even the sky ( at least not as often as one wants to) ...

As evening fell I wondered if that hadn't been one of the best birthday presents I had had the privilege of having been "given" ...