Tuesday 22 August 2006

Loire Visit - August 2006 - Orléans


Two very different statues in Orléans - the first of Jeanne d'Arc outside the Hotel Groslot shows Jeanne in pensive mood with her skirt dented by 20th century bullets. The statue is actually by the daughter of Louis-Philippe, last king of France. The second, La Beauce, stands on the north side of the cathedral square and depicts the flat agricultural region north of Orléans in the form of a buxom woman holding golden ears of wheat. A third statue by the father of Jean Paul Belmondo can be found sporting herself on rue Royale.
Statue la baigneuse par Paul Belmondo, rue Royale, inaugurée le 23 juillet 1955.
Orléans doesn't just have statues - it has shops (like Armand Thierry) which my wife will testify to. What it doesn't have is a great jazz club called les cats - which has closed since I was last there. :-(