Jeanne d'Arc

Living near Orléans, it is impossible to avoid images of the city's most famous female former resident. No, not Marion Cotillard. Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) is sometimes called the "maid of Orléans" and she made her name in 1429 (at age 17) during the Hundred Years' War at the siege of Orléans and in several other battles at that time. A giant statue of her sits in the central square in Orléans, place du Martroi. Interestingly, a plaque on that statue states that it was the city of New Orleans that helped fund the restoration of the statue after WWII.

Molly made a statue of Jeanne recently. Just 'cause.

At the beginning of May every year, there is a week-long festival in Orléans, the festival de Jeanne d'Arc. As part of this festival, there are a whole bunch of reenactors of various aspects of 15th-century life.

We especially liked the blacksmiths, who were heating ordinary re-bar and bending it to make (we think) a key. The guy in the picture wearing brown was very friendly and explained that at the time, blacksmiths were of course the locksmiths and thus literally held the keys to the kingdom. Thus, it was a rather tightly controlled profession -- for instance, each blacksmith had to be located across the street from another blacksmith, and it was illegal for one to work under cover of night or while the other was closed (the idea being that each could keep an eye on the other).

The big event of the day we spent at the festival was a parade featuring Jeanne herself (seen here in a blue dress for some reason), who is apparently chosen every year from among many teenaged applicants in Orléans. There is also apparently some political intrigue involved in this selection from time to time, as the daughters of various elected officials just happen to wind up with the coveted honor.