A visit to Île de Ré Island in France
I love research trips. In 2022 I discovered my ancestor Ann
Dodin was a Fille du Roi who came to Quebec from Ile de Re off the
port of La Rochelle. She, like hundreds of other poor French girls were
shipped off to assist in King Louis XIV th ’s project of breeding
new generations of colonial settlers.
I felt a need to explore the land where my ancestor came
from, and went on a pilgrimage to Île de Ré. I was curious about Ann. Most
of the Fille du Roi came from the Salpetriere orphanage in Paris, where
they were learning to be seamstresses and housemaids. Ann came from this tiny
port along the Atlantic coast. Her father had died a month before she left,
perhaps leaving the dowry to her. There is no mention as to what he did for a
living. But I keep wondering what drew her to board a boat as single woman and
go off to a land unknown. So many questions...
Ile de Re is known as a salt producer in France. I was excited to explore these
"salt gardens" as they are known, where the people of the area have
been harvesting salt to make a living for generations. Much of my artwork
involves the use of salt as a medium. This was another interesting connection.
I decided to take video footage of the Atlantic ocean while there and
layered it with video footage from the Bay of Fundy, connecting where she came
from to where I now live.
It was such an incredible experience, being in her village, travelling by bike
around the marshes and finding the small catholic church where I found the
baptism font I believe she must have been baptized in. My favourite part was
staring out to sea, imagining, imagining, imagining...
The salt garden and what grows beside it
The beach, the sound for the video was recorded here
Her parish church, I think...
The baptismal font
Sipping Pineau des Charentes after a very wet bike ride.
Taking refuge from the rain for a bit in another church, sipping more
Pineau
Back in La Rochelle I found some Kim graffiti which seems to follow me wherever I go...
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