Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries

No, it isn't a mistake, it's Saint Mary in the plural, however you write that in English.   It's a village on the coast of Provence which got its name from a legend that Mary Jacobe, mother of James and sister to the mother of Jesus; Mary Salome, mother of James and John;  Sarah their handmaid; Lararus and his sisters Mary Magdelene and Martha; St Maximinus; and Cedonius all drifted ashore in a boat.

The group built a small oratory on the spot and most of them went their separate ways.  But Mary Jacobe, Mary Salome and Sarah stayed and were eventually buried there.  Their tomb became an attraction for pilgrimages and eventually in the 9th century, the oratory was replaced by a fortified church. 

The building of the fortified church was supervised by the Archbishop of Arles.  One day the Saracens raided the town and kidnapped him.  The ransom they demanded was quickly paid by the townspeople so the Saracens returned the Archbishop on his throne, before leaving with the payment.  It was only then that the people realised he died died while in captivity and that the Saracens had carefully returned a dead body.

The card is a reproduction of Van Gogh's "Boats on the beach at Saintes-Maries" 1888.  The original hangs in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.  The card was sent to me from Finland, an unusual choice for December 2009, but very welcome because I visited Saintes-Maries last summer, and the beach really does look very like this.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday.