Its closeness to the marshes is evident in local specialties - eels, snails, and angelica. This herb has been cultivated in the wetlands for centuries and is used for anything from liqueur to ice-cream.
We had interest in visiting Niort since this is where Jean Gobeil and his family lived before leaving for Nouvelle-France via La Rochelle. We stopped for a delicious lunch before digging into our ancestral past.
The Plantagenet keep (donjon) is referenced in our Gobeil book. This huge 12th century donjon overlooking the Vieux Pont was built by Henry II and Richard the Lion-Heart and played an important role during the Hundred Years' War, then later used as a prison. Today it now houses a museum of local arts and crafts and archeology.
By digging on the Internet, we discovered that Jean Gobeil was married at the St. André church in Niort. The church would have been less than 50 years old at the time.
St. André.
The huge arched doors welcomed us in.
The stained glass was added many years after the church was built.
We took time to light candles and pray for the souls of our ancestors, the 11 generations going back to Jean Gobeil.
The walls are ancient and deteriorating.
Richard & Marguerite.
Perhaps we have a penchant for the dramatic, at least a little, but Richard and I posed as our ancestor Jean Gobeil and his new bride might have done on their wedding day, holding on to each other and facing the future. I doubt that they realized at the time that their future would include immigration to Canada.
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