Where's the trip? (Day 2a)

Day 2: We're in Mialet, France, in a nice hotel, just down the road from the Musee du Desert.

This first thing you notice is that you can't figure out where to go. I mean, there are signs and you'll get there if you follow them, but...is that somebody's house right there with the dog in front?...it's just confusing.

Another sign...turn the corner...

We're supposed to go down there?

Oh, look. Somebody already got their mail this morning.

We finally found the entrance. My one word of caution, if you should go for a visit:
Remember how you came in.
Some people, we heard-some family with three boys or something-
sort of-I don't know-got lost on their way out the first time.
Or something like that.
It was probably nothing though.
Forget I said anything.
Where were we again?

We actually could use this picture for that newsletter we never write.

If you hadn't guessed, the building that houses
the Musee Du Desert
is really old.

Older than 1680 at least.
The sign reads:

In this house was born,
the 3rd of January 1680,
Pierre LaPorte called Roland
Chief Camisard
Killed the 14th of August 1704

So, this museum is in the very home of Roland.
Fascinating, isn't it?

But then we couldn't take anymore pictures.
I'm not going to detail all that the museum had on display and
all the events during that time. But I will say that the Musee du Desert is worth your time.
The admission fees were reasonable and our children were free.
Also, they provide printed material in several different languages,
because of course, the museum is in French.
Also, it's closed during the cold months. You'll know why when you visit.
Something about all the windows and doors being wide open and no heat comes to mind.

Some highlights (from my memory):

• The actual paper edicts that were posted all over France (from around 1661-1680s) proclaiming which rights were stripped from French citizens, just because they were Protestant
• the hiding place for ministers in Rolland's kitchen, in a hole under his china cabinet
• The family Bible (of Roland's) that stayed in this house (that became a museum) until the 1800's
• The tini-tiniest psalm book. It would fit in a man's hand-closed. Small Bibles as well.
• Very Large Bibles
  
• A portable pulpit that, at a moment's notice could be torn down and folded up to look like a wine barrel. (The Huguenots would carry them out into the "desert" (read: wilderness) to worship since they were forbidden to worship anywhere but in the Catholic church.
• Along the same line as above, they had wine goblets for communion that could be un-screwed and separated so they wouldn't look like communion wine goblets.
• Communion tokens for the different regions or towns. Used as a way of identifying the believers.

I could go on but I think that's enough without pictures.

I loved driving along roads like this.
And I love how the French plant trees.
They're so perfect looking.

I was determined to remember which town had this in the middle of a round-about
but I can't remember anymore. Mr. French drove around it about
three times so I could get a picture.


Then, we went to McDonald's. Where else would we go out to eat in beautiful
Southern France?

By the time we finished wrestling and threatening our children through
a fascinating museum
they were not really in a great mood.
They were in a rotten mood.

McDonalds apparently has super-powers.

Next, we decided to drive to the Tour de Constance. I'd heard about it, but didn't really know what it was or the history of it. In fact, I didn't even know we were planning to visit it until after the Musee Du Desert. We got in the car and Mr. French asked how to get to Aigues-Mortes. I said, "that's all you know, the town name? What if it's a big town?" So, he went back in and got some more directions and a little brochure for it and off we went. Although we needn't have worried.

You can't miss it.