Palais des Papes



Image via Wikipedia

Hayton remitting his report to the Pope.



I've mentioned previously that the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia was a crusader state along the road to Jerusalem. Hayton of Corycus (KizKalesi) was the Armenians' most famous historian. His work has even been compared to Marco Polo and Oderic of Pordenone.

Hayton (not my Haydon) was also a monk and spent time with the popes in Poitiers, pushing his agenda for Amalric of Tyre to be the rightful ruler of Cyprus. Which leads us to an important field trip to the museum of the Palais de Papes in Avignon France.

French Pope Clement V initially moved to Avignon to avoid fighting in Rome. Later popes stayed on, prompting the Papal Schism, complete with Popes and Antipopes.  It was essentially a period of the French and the Italians vying for power. (Check out my friend Teresa's travelpod post for more details.)

Successive popes made the Palais des Papes into the largest Gothic palace in Europe. Eventually they left, the French revolutonaries took it and Napoleon even used it as a barracks/prison. Then the palace finally became a museum. 

Know where djinn like to live?  Ruins, museums, underground cities. Bingo!  The seat of my djinn court is now in Avignon, France.

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Camargue Horses

Image by Stellas mom via FlickrI think I'm going to make field trips a weekly feature, especially considering that France is important to Burnt Amber.

This time I'm taking us to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the south of France. I have lots of reasons, as you know I make the most random connections, but the main reason is because the Popes were in France when Queen Zabel was alive.

I suppose, since I 've been talking about Goddess Culture, you would also like to know that the town is a Roma (gypsy) pilgrimage site.  Every year they gather for the feast of Saint Sarah, whose story gave the town its name.  Its a sad thing the French government doesn't appreciate the value of that cultural heritage.

Anywho... Gypsies are supposed to be excellent fortunetellers, so I have reason to include them in my research too.  Did you know that The Gipsy Kings are from that area? I didn't.

The region, called Camargue, is an important estuary. The Rhone river splits in two, forming a vast delta with lagoons and marshlands near the coast of the Mediterranean.  Lots of wildlife to see and admire, like flamingos who only have the slightest tinge of pink on their wings.  Legendary black fighting bulls also call the Camargue home and Gardians Camargue horses to herd them.

The Camargue horse is an ancient breed that still runs wild in the marshes today.  Gardians, or local cowboys if you will, only break in what they need for saddle horses. Even those aren't kept in barns though, they're let out on the marshes.

The Camargue horse is a graceful, sturdy breed, which is actually a pony. A horseman would call them grey because the skin under their coat is black.  They're born black or dark brown but they change out their coats with white as they mature.To the layperson, its a white horse. Or grey or gray?  Whatever you call them, they're magical!



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