A heroine’s footsteps

Tributes to Joan of Arc can be found all over France in statues, streets, museums and restaurants, but there is no official network or integrated signage to promote cultural-heritage tourism to the sites associated with the country’s national heroine.

So much is known about Joan of Arc probably because the papers associated with her trial were preserved in London and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Scholars and writers have studied them for centuries, and there are many books and movies about Joan’s life, but I have a favorite.

I became interested in retracing some of Joan’s footsteps upon reading Mark Twain’s “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc.” He originally published his work on Joan, as well as writings in Harper’s Magazine, under the pseudonym of the Sieur Louis de Conte — as if it were a lost manuscript discovered in the national archives of France and translated by a scholar.

Twain considered this book on Joan his most important literary contribution. He spent 12 years in research and many months doing archival work in Paris and London.

Twain wrote: “I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none.”

In the past hundred years, Twain’s book has had several publishing lives and is available from Ignatius Press in San Francisco. This is one of the primary resources I used in planning my itinerary.

KEY PLACES

With thousands of namesake sites from which to choose, I confined my pilgrimage to the key places in Joan’s life. These include her birthplace in Domremy and also nearby Vaucouleurs; Gien, a natural crossroads during her travels through the French countryside and now home to popular earthenware of the same name; Orleans, which she recaptured for the dauphin Charles de Ponthieu — the future Charles VII — and France; Chinon, where Joan recognized the disguised dauphin; and, finally, Rouen, where she was imprisoned, tried and burned at the stake. I did this trip in eight days but would recommend a more relaxed approach.

ALONG THE MEUSE

Christened Jehanne, Joan was born on Jan. 6, 1412, during the Hundred Years’ War, a time when England laid claim, through conquest and marriage, to parts of France. This also was the era of the Great Schism, when the papacy was divided between Rome and Avignon, France.

She was born into a peasant family in the village of Domremy-la-Pucelle in Lorraine. The River Meuse cuts through the rolling hills, creating a beautiful pastoral scene. Domremy is a sleepy town known primarily for its connection to Joan.

As you enter the small, empty yellow house where she was born, it is hard to imagine what life would have been like so long ago.

Next door is an interpretative center, but most of the commentaries are in French, as it is not geared for international tourists. It was here that I learned that Joan’s given name was Jehanne. At the museum, you can see examples of her flamboyant signature.

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