Friday, January 28, 2011

Chateau d'If

Chateau d'If on the Il d'If, site of Alexander Dumas' famous novel, The Count of Monte Cristo :
Marseille, FR

You may have noted in one of yesterday's pictures, a tiny island with a fortress in the far distance. Lying just outside the harbor of Marseille is the infamous Il d'If, home of the equally infamous Chateau d'If. The island, its fortress castle, and its most notable (non)prisoner were made famous by French author Alexander Dumas in a little book called The Count of Monte Cristo. Edmund Dantes was the fictional prisoner and Dumas crafts a story about how this man, doomed to imprisonment for a crime he didn't commit, escapes and wrecks vengeance on his enemies. While it was bright and sunny in Marseille the day we were there, it was also bitterly cold and windy. I can well imagine imprisonment on such a rock would be quite unpleasant!

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/11

3 comments:

Maya said...

Too bad it was so hazy that day. Nice shot with the sailboats!

Janet M Kincaid said...

I know! And I was even using my polarizer and I enhanced it in post-production. Thank goodness for the sailboats. They redeem this photo.

Cele said...

It reminds me of Alcatraz, but grander, more stately and probably well preserved