After a nice sail from the Golfe de St Tropez, rour first stop was the nice "Isles De Lérin" just south of Cannes. These islands are small, but have a big and dark history. One advantage of the anchorage is that the water is Christal clear; wonderful.
First we stopped on the N side of the biggest island Ile Ste-Marguerite, where there are only a few people living, but it has an imposing "Fort Royal". Its history is interesting. Not long after it was build in the 17 th century by Richelieu, the Fort accommodated its most famous prisoner, the "Man in the iron Mask". Actually the mask was not made of iron, but velvet, though this does not detract one bit from the mystery of who he was.
His identity has never been established for sure, but there have been numerous theories. Among the popular candidates are the following: that he was the illegitimate son of Louis XIV; Louis' twin brother, born several hours after him, a minister of Duke of Mantua who attempted to trick the king in negotiations over Piedmont; and accomplice of Madame de Brinvilliers, a notorious poisoner; and a black sheep of nobility.
There are a number of other suggestions which are less likely, but more intriguing. One is that he was a doctor who performed the autopsy on Louis XIII and found him incapable of producing offspring, the doctor's son indiscreetly releasing the state secret and being imprisoned for his indiscretion. Another tells of a son sired by the "Man in the iron Mask" and a female prisoner, the son immediately being whisked away to Corsica to foster parents. To be "entrusted" in French is "remis de bonne part", in Italian it is "di buona parte", and so the tenuous argument goes, the child was the great-grandfather of Bonaparte.
I set out below a photos taken at the prison and that shows a list of the possible candidates. Click on the photo and you should be able to read the names on the left hand side. Note that Moliere is listed, which I find doubtful.
The "Man in the iron Mask" ended his years in the Bastille. Mr de St-Mars, the Governor of Fort Royal whose special charge was the mysterious prisoner, didn't find life very entertaining on the island and eventually wrangled the post of Governor of the Bastille in 1698. His prisoner went with him and spend his final years with him until he died in 1703.
You will also see that I set out photos of the prisoner cells, which to me are rather large and well lighted. Some have been decorated, but I did not find out why, when and by whom.
The watchful Chris on duty.
A nice classic yacht at the anchorage.
Click on the photo to enlarge it so you can read the list I mentioned above.
The Fort by night.
The next Island is Ile St-Honorat, which also has an interesting history. On it is a Monastery founded in the 4th century by farther of the French monasticism, who decided to settle on the tiny island to live a life in solitude. It proved to be a fruitless exercise as his popularity was such that his followers soon discovered where he was and joined him on the island. Relenting, he founded the monastery, and in time it came to be one of the most powerful and influential in the land. It produced 20 saints and a staggering 600 bishops. One of the Saints was St Patrick who studied at the monastery for nine years before embarking on the task of converting the heathen Irish and founded numerous monasteries in Ireland.
