We wandered into Saint-Valery-en-Caux, I can't remember why, and were immediately struck by the Maison d'Henri IV. It's not often you seen a half-timbered building this old, or this size. The structure was built in 1540, and was said to have once hosted Henri IV,
le bon roi Henri, the first of the Bourbons (by the Salic law of succession, in case you were wondering), a Protestant who eventually converted to Catholicism ("Paris is worth a mass") but was known for his tolerance in those intolerant times. Said tolerance got him twelve assassination attempts, the last of which was successful. But it's a really nice old
maison, even though it contains the city museum, which has, alas, a stern
no fotos policy. And not in English too.
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| The undulating horizontal lines generally suggest great age |
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| What really impressed was the carving all over the building |
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| Thus |
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| Thus |
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| And especially thus |
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| Ditto |
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| Ditto again |
1 comment:
What a great house.
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