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Antoine de Saint Exupéry and the Little Prince
I can’t count how many times I’ve read Le Petit Prince by pilot and author Antoine de Saint Exupéry – in English and in the original French. So, I was thrilled to discover the two honoured in a bronze sculpture by French artist Madeleine Tezenas du Montcel (1936 – ) in the Jardin Royal in Toulouse, France.
My travel choices are often a bit haphazard: as much reliant on timing and opportunity as they are on interest and desire.
I’ve found it doesn’t really matter: wherever I go, there are interesting things to see and learn, and surprising connections to my own life-so-far.
Take Toulouse, in Occitania, in the south of France. Before arriving there, I had no idea it was the fourth-largest city in France, and – more importantly for my husband – the centre of the European aerospace industry and the headquarters of Airbus. I knew from reading Night Flight (Vol de Nuit), that author Antoine de Saint Exupéry was a pioneer of early international postal flights, but I had long since forgotten that he flew between Toulouse and Dakar, in North Africa.
We were not there for those reasons. We were only there because work had brought us to France, and we decided to follow that up with two weeks walking La Randonnée Pyrénéenne – the Cathar Trail through the Pyrenees, finishing up in Foix (see: Il était un Fois à Foix).
Toulouse seemed like an obvious next stop on our way home. I had chosen a modest hotel near the railway station, and we set out to explore with a city-map from the front desk; this was long before I had a smart phone, and before sites like Tripadvisor had been invented!
We found plenty to keep us interested – do join us:
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Place Roland
Small parks and public art are everywhere. A short walk from our hotel, we came across this fountain in the middle of a small triangle of green.
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“Chanson de Roland”
The marble work by French sculptor Jules Jacques Labatut (1851 – 1925) refers to a long song, telling the story of Roland, a Frankish military leader, and his friend Olivier, in the battles against invading armies: Saracens or Basque – depending on the version you read. I have no idea what the added blindfold signifies.
Roland à Roncevaux
The sculpture has referenced the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 CE; a relatively minor battle under Charlemagne, which has been glorified in the epic 11th-century poem/song (see: AnthroWiki).
House Fronts
Even the buildings in the city centre are works-of art: beautiful façades with ornate iron-works lining broad boulevards full of leafy trees.
Lion on the Balcony
Monument aux Combattants de la Haute-Garonne
Sometimes called “Toulouse’s Arc de Triomphe”, this tribute to the combatants of Haute-Garonne who fought during WWI, was built between 1920 and 1931 under architect Leon Jaussely (see: MIT Libraries).
1918 – Bas-Relief by Camille Raynaud
Three sculptors: Camille Raynaud, Andre Abbal, and Henry Raphael Moncassin, created the bas-reliefs that pay tribute to the soldiers lost in the battles to defend and reclaim the area.
La Victoire – The Victory by Camille Raynaud
La Chienne – The Female Dog
A short walk away, in the shady circular Grand Rond park, a cast iron sculpture of a female dog with pups, growls across a path …
La Louve – The Female Wolf
…. at a snarling wolf with her cub. French artist, Pierre Louis Rouillard (1820 – 1881), known for his sculptures of animals, installed these in 1865.
Spring Flowers
The park is dotted with bright and colourful garden beds.
A Bee in the Poppies
White Poppy
Poppies are my favourite! The fragrance on the warm spring air is glorious.
Fountain – Jardin des Plantes
Across the road, the seven-hectare Jardin des Plantes is home to a stream with ducks, swans, and geese. A lovely fountain sits amid more flowers. (I’ve shared a picture of this fountain before in Les Couleurs de Printemps.)
Flowerbed – Jardin des Plantes
The ancient trees and colourful spring blooms make the park a delightful place to stroll.
Mixed Flowers
Created in 1794, the garden was originally planted with medicinal varieties so that medical students could make their own remedies.
Another Bee in another Poppy.
The garden still displays around one hundred different botanical species – but I keep coming back to my favourite.
Golden Poppies
Le Retour – Les Amoureux Éternels – The Return – Lovers Eternal
In every corner of the Jardin des Plantes, we find a gem! This marble statue is by Auguste Seysses (1862 – 1946).
Dedicated to French Composer, Déodat de Séverac, by Auguste Guénot (1882-1966)
Across another road, we find ourselves in the Jardin Royal (Royal Garden), surrounded by more art and flowers.
Duck House on the Pond – Jardin Royal
In the Park
These connecting parks make a wonderful outdoor space in a city where apartments are likely to be quiet small.
“The Spreading Chestnut Tree”
The chestnut flowers made me remember the childhood song I used to play on my xylophone!
“Antoine de Saint Exupéry – Writer Pilot”
Exupéry, French writer, poet, journalist, and aviator, is not buried here: in 1944, while flying for the Free French Air Force in North Africa during World War II, he took off from Corsica in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and never returned. Wreckage of his plane was recovered in 2000, but the cause of the crash remains unknown.
Terre des Hommes and Le Petit Prince
Exupéry was always a part of my household: several books in various translations were on the shelves. And then, Canada’s 1968 Expo in Montreal was named Terre des Hommes (Land of Men), after his award-winning book, known in English as Wind, Sand and Stars.
Bridge over the Pond
It’s time to backtrack through the Jardin Royal and across to the Jardin des Plantes.
Musician
Smiling music follows us as we go.
Le Soir de la Vie – The Evening of Life
We came across another marble sculpture by Auguste Seysses (1862 – 1946): this time a bas relief which was carved in 1907 and installed as a feature on a fountain here in 1910.
Monument aux Combattants de 1870 – Monument to the Fighters of 1870
Toulouse has been the sight of many territorial wars; this monument honours those who fell during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71.
“Aux Enfants De Toulouse … To the Children of Toulouse …”
The monument, sculpted by French artist Théophile Barrau (1848–1913), is dedicated to all the children of La Haute-Garonne who died for their country.
Monument de 1908 de la Haute-Garonne
The monument is topped by a bronze representation of the French Republic on her pedestal.
Statue of Joan of Arc
No French city is complete without a monument to the national heroine and local Catholic saint; this bronze equestrian statue is by French sculptor and painter Jean Antonin Mercié (1845 –1916).
Something for everyone!
You – you alone will have the stars as no one else has them… In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night… You – only you – will have stars that can laugh.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Le Petit Prince
Pictures: 24April2011
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