Pages

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Le Lavoir, The Washing Place, Moiry (Nièvre) France, more images



More Images of Le Lavoir, The Washing Place, Moiry, Nièvre, France

The lavoir no long exists in Moiry. When I visited Moiry with my parents in the 60's it was there. It was not so picturesque then with a tin roof and ads pasted on the walls. One or two women still used it then. Lavoirs are now protected as historic places. One exists in St Parize le Châtel, the commune of which Moiry is a part. I love to run the 3 km from Moiry to St Parize to refresh my face in the water of the lavoir.








The Lavoir in Moiry in 1918


The caption on the back of this photo as written by Rebecca Goethe DeVries:


Le Lavoir, Moiry, Nièvre, France. The young girl looking on is myself Rebecca Goethe. The man with the wooden shoes near the house is my father, Jean Baptiste Soupet. This was taken about 1918.


After WWI this photo sent into the American Legion Magazine by William Felton who had been a Sergeant in the American Expeditionary Forces at Base Hospital 48 located in Mars Sur Allier in central France towards the end of World War I. After the war Mr. Felton was doing research on Base Hospital 48 for a history. My mother, Rebecca Goethe DeVries, then married to her American love and living in the U.S., saw the photo in the American Legion Magazine and began a long correspondence with Bill Felton. They never met.


After my mother’s death I corresponded with Mr. Felton. He sent me old photographs of Moiry and the U.S. Hospital Camp and copies of “The Martian,’’ a newspaper published at Base Hospital 48. Mr. Felton identified the soldiers in the photo as Dick Ridel on the left and Frank Moran on the right. The young girl looking on with her hands on her hips is my mother, Rebecca Goethe. The man with the wooden shoes near the house is her foster father, Jean-Batiste Soupet.


1 comment:

toni fesel said...

Each addition to your retelling of your mother's story is such a treat. Please continue to make Moiry and all its inhabitants so alive and fascinating. Thanks, Toni Fesel