On the march with Joan Of Arc

As last autumn’s let-fall crunched underfoot, Joan of Arc’s presence was palpable amid the oak forest through which she had once ridden. It was February 1429. The 17-year-old was obeying voices from God telling her to travel from Lorraine to Chinon in the Loire Valley ton convince France’s disempowered king to take back his rightful crown from the English usurpers whom she would soon defeat in battle.

But her journey was fraught with danger? Perhaps the barking stags I now heard in this forest near Fronville sounded to her like the hunting dogs of English men-at-arms or the treacherous Burgundians? Maybe, we shared similar exultation upon leaving the forest’s dark recesses to see the same marvelous church at Blécourt that exist today?…