Here is the first Tomb we found. Our great-grandfather Antoine Régis Chabal had 2 children die young. His son, Regis Caslmir Chabal in 1920 at the age of 19 years old and his sister Germaine in 1929 who was just 30 years old. So he bought the crypt for his young children. They are the ones with the fancy portraits. But there was room to spare so in 1946 my grandmother Jeanne joined in; she was only 48 years old. In 1955, room was made for his wife Marie Méry, who died at 84. At that point, the crypt was no longer considered for the young ones. In 1972 his son Louis Pierre Regis joined, and lastly his granddaughter Suzanne Chabal in 2017.
I have heard stories from my mom, Simone, who heard them from her father, Marcel, that the bodies would turn to ash over time, and those remains were swept aside when a new family member was laid to rest. A living member of the family had to preside over the procedure. And it often fell upon Marcel's shoulders.
Ironically, Marcel's dad, Antoine Régis Chabal did not want to be buried here. He made specific instructions to be buried in the country with only R.C. etched on his grave. And so here is a photo of resting place in the Vieux Cimetìere des Angles.
We found this cyclamen plant growing wild at the bottom.
Next we visited the Tomb of the Grand Ancêteres. This included Chabals plus the parents of Marie Rieusset. We surmised that he was the one to be the first to enter and probably bank rolled the cost as well. Pierre Rieusset died in 1889 and his wife Elisabeth died in 1884.Oh boy it is a tangle story and will took my a long while to unpack. I hope to revisit their lives in the future. I find their past fascinating. And it is also frustrating because photos and dates and only tell you so much. At some point a little imagination will be necessary be bring them back to life.
And here are the inscriptions of the two people I knew as a child. My grandfather Marcel and his second wife Lucette. Why are they in the Tomb of the Grand Ancêtres? We think it is because Marcel was worried about having two wives in the same Tomb. So since his first wife, our grandmother, was in the younger tomb, then he went to this one.
My mother's generation had no interest in burial. They were all cremated and left numbered photos and life stories instead. This cemetery was established in the 1820's. I have no idea what happened before this. Less people, less money and certainly less elaborate tombs.
And now on to the Hebrard Family
In 1944, during the Second World War, the Allies mistook a railroad track for another road further south and consequently, 450 civilians died. This photo shows the day of the people who went to the enormous number of funerals and burials that day. As it was close to the end of the war, moral must have been quite low. Our own grandmother died in 1946, just after the war. She had TB. At that time, antibiotics were available for soldiers, but it wouldn't be until 1948 that antibiotics would be available for civilians. Gulp.
Below, Vero and I looked to take a photo in the same spot. We got pretty close but surmised the photo was taken high up, perhaps on a truck.
or perhaps it was here.
