You can see from the attached (not very good) photo that on our way to more earthly pleasures last night we also had time for a bit of cultural reflection, coming across the place in Toulouse where Jean Calas lived. His story is a link between the place I live, Ferney-Voltaire, and Toulouse. In 1762 he was executed for the murder of his son - it was claimed that he strangled his son because his son was intending to convert from Protestantism to Catholicism. At his execution he continued to protest his innocence.
Voltaire took up the case and as a result of it published his treatise on tolerance. This very discreet plaque, 3 metres up a wall in one of the streets here links together many of the things we have been talking about - conversion, religious /state violence and tolerance.
Last week, for the first time in the 14 years I've been living there I went on a guided tour around the small town I live in. It was good - and they do them in both English and French. It was fun for myself and Theo, another colleague who often gives tours of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, to actually be on the receiving end of someone else's wisdom. I've also been reading Ian Davidson' book Voltaire in Exile which particularly deals with the Calas affair, you can get a sneak preview of it be going to the link below. http://books.google.com/books?id=08ps0RPkmM8C&dq=voltaire+in+exile&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=ZuSLtymraQ&sig=hUgaPewg4vh6am5lblPGi8wWEyk#PPP1,M1
There's also more about Voltaire in both French and English at the folowing two links.
InFrench
http://www.site-magister.com/afcal.htm
InEnglish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Calas
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