The French Connection... Who Knew !

Earlier this month the City of Jacksonville celebrated the landing of the explorer Jean Ribault and Jacksonville's connection with France. To mark the occasion several tall ships were in the area, both at the dock downtown and Mayport naval station. A chance to view old sailing ships and take some pictures... I could not resist! As usual, click each picture for a better view. 

The schooner L'ÉTOILE and her sister ship Belle Poule were built in the shipyard of Fécamp, France in 1932. They were both used by the Free French Forces during the Second World War  

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being shorter or the same height as the rear masts.This was the type of ship the explorer Jean Ribault used in 1562 to lead an expedition to the new world and explored the mouth of the St. Johns River in modern-day Jacksonville.

During the 16th to 18 centuries, the golden age of piracy, I discovered the schooner was a popular craft for pirates, as it could carry up to eight or more cannons, and was sleek and fast despite the fact it weighed around 100 tons. It usually had a crew of about 75.

There were plenty of other people just as curious wanting to view the ship and the crew members were very helpful and friendly.. What struck me was how compact the ship is. The adventurer and his crew definitely had close quarters.

These ships were built stout and sturdy and for that reason were selected later as navy training ships. Today French naval officers get their sailing education on them.

All in all the viewing made for a great afternoon of hanging out on the river and I learned something in the process about Jacksonville's French connection!

Oh Savannah...

I almost forgot I had pictures from our last outing in Savannah over a month ago. Things sped up after our return and I never had a chance to post them. Now seemed as good a time as any. What we discovered on our second trip was that we had covered all the historical sites so this time we decided to focus on a few monuments but primarily architecture. As always, click each photo for a better view.

First, what would a trip to Savannah be without a photo of our old friend Oglethorpe. The more I read about the man, the more I like him.

And then it was a mad dash off into the city to see what we could find. I included this one because it made me smile. Which time would you decide to follow?

I'll confess and say I saw these two doors and could not help myself. One is titled the noble door....and the other is the pink door. They were within blocks of each other near one of the squares (parks) and just sort of called to me.

Near downtown, we ran into this old building done in the Louis Sullivan style. Sullivan is considered the father of the modern American skyscraper and is known for creating bold designs for banks and other public buildings. The flourishing around windows and doors is his signature.

further downtown, St Mark Cathedral's facade seemed to go up to the heavens and I tried to get this shot to give the impression that it is growing before your very eyes.

By now it had really heated up and we decided to park our bikes and visit the Maritime Museum to escape the heat and southern humidity. They had three floors of miniatures of every tall ship, paddle boat or ship you could imagine....

but the most interesting was a room size miniature of Titanic!

There was a tremendous attention to detail, right down to the life boats and ice in the water.

While going from room to room I saw this shot and stitched together several shots to give the sense size and color that made you stop and savor the view.

By now we had walked a good distance going through every room in the exhibit. Once outside, I took a candid shot of Alex taking a break under a shed on the grounds of the Museum. With the hat on his knee and his position, he looks very much the Southern gentlemen.

And, back to the bikes and a few more locations near the riverfront. We ran into this vase near the Cotton Exchange which provided a degree of curious visual interest, both from the plants growing out of it and the face on the sides. The face below seems to be looking back at you just as much as you are looking at it.

And finally the Haitian Chasseus Volontaires statue. It celebrates Haitian volunteers, under French leadership, who aided America during the war for independence from England. the statue is quite noble but difficult to photograph because it is shaded by a huge oak tree and light is defused. But, we both kept running around it taking shots like children around a Christmas tree until I finally got a shot that illustrates the emotion of the piece.


By then we were more than ready to head back to our hotel and rest. Happy that we had ventured beyond the usual tourist spots and really dug into more reasons Savannah is such an interesting place.