Belloc's old home...

   

Belloc's Family home in the suburbs of Paris

A friend of mine was wandering around La Celle-Saint-Cloud, recently, and he took a picture of Belloc's old Family home. The area is now effectively part of Paris, whereas in 1870 it was outside the Capital. Belloc was born here on the 27th of July 1870 during a thunderstorm. Hence his early nick-name 'Old Thunder' (although this also had something to do with the fact that he was a noisy little fellow). The forces of Prussian militarism were just about to flatten France and, in the process, Prussian soldiers trashed his home on their way to Paris. Belloc never forgave the Prussians for this: hence his life-long loathing of Germania (by which he meant Prussia).

I have compared the photograph with an old illustration of his home. It's much as it was except for some plastering at the front, which covers some wooden timbers.