Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Lopinot


The welcoming sign at the Historical site of Lopinot is paled by the Immortelle trees blooming in the mountains.
It’s a cool Sunday afternoon, no bird whistles, no swishing breezes just that quite tone which nature uses to whisper to our hearts.
At The La Reconnaissance estate, the voice of our tour guide fills the afternoon with the tales of Charles Joseph Count de Loppinot (1738-1819) "Loppinot was a young knight who rose to the rank Lieutenant-General in the French army. He left France to serve time in the North-American French colony of Acadie (which is today combined with the Canadian territory of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island). His service and travels led him to Louisiana, the Caribbean- Jamaica, Santo Domingo (known as Dominican Republic and Haiti today), and Trinidad…”
He was soldier, voyager, slave owner, planter, landowner.
Memorabalia at the site includes the grave sites of the count and his wife. There are no photos of him but a photo of his ghost takes a place of prominence in the small museum, as well; well preserved furniture from the 19th Century, alongside parang musical instruments of present day made by residents. "Lopinot is the home of Parang" boast our tour guide"and parang is part and parcel of every day life; sung at wakes, funerals, birthdays, weddings; not only during Christmas Season ".
He leds us in a sampling of his parang expertise and we join in, singing lustly, filling the afternoon with the musical hearbeat of the people.

near the cashew tree
on a picnic bench
busy ants

Lopinot is located about five and three quarters miles north of Arouca.



6 comments:

Angelika Kolompar Renville Bygott said...

Yes, your part of the world is filled with these interesting stories. On a grey and foggy day here, i find i long for a white sandy beach on a blue-grey sea.

Late Winter day
the cold of the sea
meets the warmer air
fog surrounds me
outside and inside me

Angelika Kolompar
Vancouver Island
Canada

Unknown said...

I feel much charming on the color of your photos that is a kind of green.
I have never seen such green in japan.
It is still and lonesome as well as pleasant.

Thank you Gillena san fo sharing.

sakuo.

Cindy Tebo said...

for him
it's just another day
the growing shadow
of Count Lopinot
looking for his boots

This is an interesting place, Gillena. Googling "Lopinot" it mentions there are also caves nearby.

voyance gratuite said...

The article is very interesting & true, I really like it, now a day’s is very expensive.

NatureFootstep said...

lol, I see why I did not know. Thanks for the link :)

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