Friday, May 13, 2016

An Aqueduct and a Discovery

I am sure many of you have seen, at least in pictures, the well preserved aqueduct Pont du Gard, built by the Romans in the first century.
Water ran along an elevated channel 50 kilometers from a spring to the north, to arid town of Nimes, further south.
After thoroughly enjoying our visit to the Aqueduct, we continued on to the village were the spring sprang forth.. Uzes, France in the province of Languedoc.
It is easy to see why this place was a favorite excursion on our river cruise. For starters, they had a castle with a real Duke...and the flag flew when he was in town. Note the flag,
 and not only was the weather perfect ,but the village was bustling with happy well heeled people.
I could have just stayed there, and people watched all day long.
I then and there decided it was a place I definitely wanted to come back to.

When we returned to the ship I posted a few pictures, and told about my day. What a shock!
You see, on my mother's side, my ggg-grandmother was French. I knew this from doing genealogy. I wasn't aware that my Mother's first cousin Milton had traced our family all the way back to France. Not just France, but to this VERY VILLAGE! Louis Chapalier was a Protestant minister in Uzes, France. He and his wife Simone were killed in a purge of Protestants in the seventeenth century. Their son Isaac escaped to England, and became a doctor in the Royal Navy. Isaac's son, Isaac jr. immigrated to the U.S., and the rest is history. Can you believe it?! I now have the line of succession right down to ME from Uzes, France!
Thank you again Milton for filling me in on this cherished information.

9 comments:

  1. Belas fotografias gostei de ver.
    Um abraço e bom fim de semana.
    http://andarilharar.blogspot.pt/

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  2. It would have been a wonderful time four you. Thanks for sharing the information!

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  3. Yoy certainly must have felt your ancestors roots there in Uzes, that is because you felt so happy there! Love to see your photos of the trip.

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  4. That is exciting Janey and very cool. I am totally convinced that way back I have roots in France also, I feel such a connection!

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  5. That is exciting Janey and very cool. I am totally convinced that way back I have roots in France also, I feel such a connection!

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    1. Ok, don't think me weird. Yrs. ago when I was heavily into genealogy,I was at a luncheon and a professor was speaking on who knows what. I was more interested in my chocolate ganache dessert.Out of the blue she said" You folks, that are so into genealogy. Well that is no accident. It is your ancestors calling you from the grave.Grace maybe you too need to go to France.

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  6. What a beautiful place to spend time in, Janey... and explore your roots!

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  7. Dearest Janey,
    Isn't it a special feeling when something deep inside you is tugging at your soul and you find out later WHY!
    What a lovely place but also a very tragic story about how and why they had to leave.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  8. One of our favourite hotels is just down the road from Uzes. Such a lovely place and so convenient for visiting many places of interest, Orange, Arles, Avignon, Nimes and of course Pont du Gard.
    It must have been a strange feeling to suddenly learn of your family connections to Uzes.

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