Looking at Poitiers...

[fajrdrako]

I have always loved maps. As a kid, I loved atlases almost as much as dictionaries. Still do.

So this evening I was exploring Google Earth, which maaseru has, and I was totally fascinated by the details, the easy usability of the program, and the wonderful photos. It played to all my fantasies of flying anywhere, going to any place my heart desires... I checked out London, Lusignan, Poitiers, Ateret (in Israel), and Albany, New York - the last because it's the site of the Donald Strachey movies and books. We found the part where Donald met Timmy (but not the fateful tree), the street with his office, and the street their house was on. Not to mention more obvious places, like the State Legislature.

And France! I was very excited to see Lusignan and Poitiers. Loved the links to details, like this wonderful picture of the doors of the Church of Notre Dame de la Grande, Poitiers, with its gorgeous carving. And that lovely 12th century locality also has places like this and this and this.

I was intrigued by a reference I found in passing (in an item about Poitiers) about Hugues de Lusignan (probably Hugues X?) challenging King Louis of France (probably Louis IX). I wonder what that was about? What does it mean by "challenging"? Must look it up.

Days like this, I love the Internet.

Comments

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

On Sunday, B--- brought up the neighbourhood where I grew up on Google Earth. It was annoying to see that they seem to have demolished the 1920s school I went to for a couple years and put houses in its place. And the highways nearby seem to have got way bigger since I had to jaywalk across them to get to high school.

But I agree -- it is so cool to see other cities. I must admit I'd never though of looking at historical Europe. I must do that soon.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Poitiers has some lovely buildings, judging by the pics in the Romanesque architecture books.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

And part of the joy is that these Romaneque buildings seem to have been preserved very well - goodness knows how, as the area has had its share of warfare.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd always assume that Google Earth was just a glorified version of Google Map - which I assume it is. But using it - the difference is amazing! It's like using the Encyclopedia Brittanica when all you've had was the Golden Book of Knowledge.

I think I want to get Goodle Earth, but I'm afraid that I will spend (waste?) hours per day just looking at all those cities of Europe and Asia that I've always wanted to visit.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I too enjoyed (and still enjoy) maps and atlases, especially historical ones. Germany prior to the Nazi takeover and India during the Raj were particularly odd places in the cartographic sense.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Some of my favourite reading when young was my father's set of "The Book of Knowledge". It was published in 1922 and had a great deal of information about "The Great War" and the geography and flags of that time. Fascinating!

It also had a lot about folklore, literature, art and ancient history.