When in Seville Spain over Christmas Jon had this amazing experience of being in the same room where Christopher Columbus went before Ferdinand and Isabella to request funds for his expedition to seek a western passage to India. Having lived my life in America, it brought reality to the connections we have with Europe. Today was another very similar experience.
In 2000 we were visiting our friends Joshua and Magenta in Nova Scotia when we came upon a French fort built in 1604, three years before the British landed in Jamestown Virginia.
Today we rode through Brouage France and visited a small church.
The first hints of something unusual were two stained glass windows dedicated to Quebec and New Brunswick. After this caught my attention I started reading a large set of posters around the sanctuary.
It turns out that Brouage was the main port of France in the 17th century, and this was the primary church responsible for sending the French missionaries to the new world. All kinds of familiar events were covered, including the fort established in Nova Scotia in 1604.
Ok, so it’s logical all those people who showed up in the new world had to start out from somewhere, but being in that church today somehow just makes it more real. Just to reflect on the same events, but from the European perspective. What was going on in their minds?
And if that were not enough, a few hours later we came across this ship in Rochefort:
This is a brand new replica of a ship that France sent to Yorktown and was key in enabling us to defeat the British in the Revolutionary War. I still remember Nathan and I reading about that battle in Yorktown, the last day of our bike trip across the US. Today we heard that it took 6 years to build the replica, but only 6 months to build the original in the 18th century!
And for those who read the earlier blog from today – yes we did finally get across on the Transporter Bridge, and here are a couple more pictures:
This is the hanging platform as it is approaching our side of the river. And the following are some of the rest of us who were waiting out the 1.5 hours while it was closed for lunch.
Finally, by riding a little later into the evening, we did make our destination into La Rochelle, where we rode past the biggest small sailboat harbor (beaucoup boats), we’ve ever seen, then past Cousteau’s Calypso and the massive city harbor gates. Sorry, but those pictures will have to wait till we have a computer.