Poitiers today is a country town set on a hilltop overlooking two rivers. This was the home of that other great woman, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had lived here almost three hundred years before Joan’s arrival. Eleanor’s ancestral home still stands and serves as the Palace of Justice.
I met Joan in the amazing Church of Notre Dame. It seems every second church in France is called Notre Dame, but this one was definitely unique. It was difficult to take my eyes off the patterned and brightly coloured columns and the very human sculptures. We seated ourselves on one side of the church, and Joan began to speak without waiting for questions.
“I was happy here. It seemed I was getting closer to my goal of helping the people in Orléans, but, I must admit I came close to losing my temper a few ti
