A Houston Artist Abroad - Pt 3: Mont Saint-Michel and Rennes
Emma Richardson Cherry in Brittany, the Loire Valley and Paris, 1925.
This is the next leg of our virtual Centennial recreation of the journey made by Emma Richardson Cherry (1859-1954), the Dean of Houston Artists, and her traveling companion, Clemens Tanquary Robinson (1897-1963), to Brittany, Normandy, the Loire Valley and Paris in the summer of 1925. For other stops on the journey, see my Substack section titled Emma in Brittany and Beyond, 1925-1926.
Part 3: Mont Saint-Michel and Rennes.
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1925 – MONT SAINT MICHEL, FRANCE – “We suddenly decided last night to go to Mont St. Michel. It would cost so very little and we felt we should see it on the way.” “This place is almost unbelievable. It is as tho the whole edifice sprung up in one jet under the direction of a single master.” “My darling I put two great white candles on the altar in the Chapelle de St. Michel. One for you my love and one for your work. Their little yellow flames reflected on & from the golden image of St. Michel with his sword thrust down the throat of a golden dragon. His head is encircled with a halo set with precious stones and he stands full size in an arched niche nicely and intricately carved.” Clemmie Tan (as Cherry nicknamed her) Letters to her Husband, Geroid, #2 & #3.
SUNDAY, JULY 5, 1925 – RENNES, FRANCE – Congrès Eucharistique
“We planned our arrival in Rennes – its on the way from Caen to Guérande – in order to see the Congrès Eucharistique on the great day – the last of five – a Sunday, when the Messe Pontificale and the Triumphal Procession would take place. Apparently all the abbés in France have come, as well as great numbers of monks and nuns.”
“Beside this, rich Breton peasants from every side have flocked in and the streets are full of ladies in white coiffes of a hundred different patterns, black dresses with black velvet sleeves and full silk aprons – brilliantly colored ones on the young girls. It has been one of the fullest days I ever spent in my life and we attended only about 1/3 of the ceremonies. We leave tomorrow morning very early for Guérande where we expect to settle down for good and all, if it turns out to be as interesting as it is said to be, and as much out of the beaten track.” CT Letter #4. Clemmie Tan describes the scene and sketches the great altar; Mrs. Cherry sketches a Breton coiffe.
