A Publication for the faculty, staff, administrators and friends of California State University, Chico
Feb. 10, 2005 Volume 35 / Number 5

Only on the Web

Three Frances

HFA trip travels through French History

Larry Bryant, history, who received a PhD in French History from the University of Iowa, will be the faculty-in–residence for the Humanities and Fine Arts trip to the Loire Valley, Provence, and Paris from May 31 through June 9. Bryant’s interests are in the culture and political thought of the French Renaissance. He studied in Paris for a year in 1972. On various visits since, he has traveled in Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley, and Burgundy. His studies have interested him particularly in royal and noble buildings. Bryant helped plan the customized trip to give a sense of the flavor of three distinct worlds in France. He comments below on those "three Frances."

Provence

In Provence, the oldest part of French civilization is preserved in the Roman monuments—as those at Arles. As one views the towns and villages from the 12th century forward, there is a sense of the shift in culture from Roman to Medieval Christian and medieval romance. Avignon is a good representation of this. There was a rediscovery of Provence in the 19th and early 20th centuries as painters and travelers turned to the land and seascapes of the area. Antibe—a very old town-on the Mediterrean Sea, for example, was Picasso’s wartime home in WW II. Picasso has his museum in a 900 year-old castle.

Paris

One cannot really sense France without Paris—in the Renaissance it was said, "If the world were an egg, Paris would be its yolk," and there are many ways in which this is still true. Paris, too, has Roman buildings, but its glory is found in the architecture, literature, and government that began in the middle ages. An evening cruise on the Seine is an ideal vantage point for viewing the great gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, and the architecture and sculpture of several of the famous bridges on the Seine,

Paris was the intellectual and cultural capital of Europe. The Kings of France frequently aspired to make it the political capital as well. Napoleon briefly succeeded and now has a splendid tomb in a building that Louis XIV built a century and a half before Napoleon's death. It’s an example of the French habit of bringing all their history together in striking ways.

In addition to all of the riches of France that are gathered in Paris, superb food and drink are abundant. Also, Paris houses the greatest art collections in the world in its museums, The Louvre Museum and the Museum d’Orsay are two of the most famous.

Loire Valley

The heart of medieval and Renaissance culture in the Loire Valley is the Cathedral at Chartres. Beautiful sixteenth-century chateaux in the Loire Valley provide a contrast to the architecture of Provence and the city of Paris. On the trip, we will visit some of the great chateaux of the kings of France and some less overpowering and more jewel-like chateaux of the nobles, who, with a sense of scale appropriate to their position, created their own little wonderlands of pleasure.

Of course, the Loire, too, has vineyards, and its cuisine comes from a tradition of satisfying kings and nobles. This is the France of good taste and aristocratic style that turned this area into the garden of France.

Course Credit

Tour participants can make arrangements with Professor Bryant for course credit. He will provide suggestions for reading, discussion, and writing on topics related to the history of France as seen in the sites of the tour.

For more information about the trip to Provence, the Loire Valley and Paris, contact Thomasin Saxe, director of special projects, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, at 530-898-4642 or e-mail her at tsaxe@csuchico.edu.