Baby in a basket

In the 1920s a working mother had to take the baby with her to the fields. It doesn’t look too comfortable, but Ré island is small so there wouldn’t have been far to go.

For newcomers to this blog, the donkey is wearing pyjamas to protect its legs from mosquito bites.

A real donkey in Pyjamas

In June I wrote about Donkeys wearing Pyjamas on Ré Island. well here is the real thing!. In the background you can see windmills - they’ve all gone now.

Donkeys in pyjamas

A little bit of local culture. Across the way on the Ile de Ré, the donkeys have always worn pyjamas! Even today you can find them if you know where to look. This might seem to be a strange idea, but in the past the working donkeys were troubled by mosquitoes biting their legs. This card shows a donkey with his mistress and the caption reads: “Around here everyone wears the trousers… even the mistress.”

Prison

On the Ile de Ré, which is just across the bridge from here, there was a notorious prison. Do you remember the 1973 film Papillon with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman? In the film ‘Papillon’ was deported from the Ile de Ré. This card shows prisoners arriving around 1907, A little earlier than the story took place. There is still a prison on the Ile de Ré today.

Unfortunately, although interesting, the postcard is in a very poor state. The stamp has been torn from the front of the card and there are lots of creases.