Althouse: "In the small village of Bélâbre in central France sits the room of Hubert Rochereau, untouched for nearly a century..."

December 30, 2014

"In the small village of Bélâbre in central France sits the room of Hubert Rochereau, untouched for nearly a century..."

"... as a memorial to the fallen solider, who died during World War I."

8 comments:

Wince said...: Reminds me of that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode when Jeff asks Larry to retrieve his porno collection from his house in case something happens to him during emergency surgery.

In the hospital after a routine checkup, Jeff says he needs emergency bypass surgery and asks Larry to hide his porn collection from [wife] Susie (Susie Essman) in case something happens to him. But when Larry is enjoying this stash... near the end, it's Jeff's folks who catch him.; 12/30/14, 10:08 AM
MadisonMan said...: Are we meant to visit there now? What does the NY Times say about that?

Very poignant story. Good for the owners to maintain the room in accordance with dead peoples' wishes. I wonder if they'd haunt it if they didn't.; 12/30/14, 10:57 AM
David said...: Such a comfortable room, with books and art and wide windows. And look at the size of the trunk he took to war.

It is a wonderful thought to maintain it for 500 years, but over that time textiles can turn to dust and so can memories.; 12/30/14, 11:07 AM
Big Mike said...: As it says in Ecclesiastes, "all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."; 12/30/14, 11:14 AM
Big Mike said...: And me an atheist. Yet some truths are self-evident.; 12/30/14, 11:15 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Very cool though I question the "exactly as he left it". I guess I've read too much First World War fiction as the lives and deaths of the participants seem to have a special poignancy that I don't feel about the, equally tragic, victims of other wars.; 12/30/14, 12:34 PM
CWC said...: Typo alert: solider vs soldier; 12/30/14, 11:33 PM
David Blaska said...: How many mothers in how many wars have done the same; but unusual to have survived this long. France would do well to maintain it as a national monument; more evocative than any graveyard. This was a young man's life and his parents' grief. (BTW: I am not a robot and I can prove it.); 12/31/14, 8:23 AM