Road Trip Part 1 - The Abbey

     I packed so much into the long weekend in the Loire Valley that I decided to divide the trip into three blog posts so that I could really do justice in sharing the adventure with all of you.  I left on Friday morning in a thick fog.  And was very thankful for my GPS which arrived the day before!  It was so foggy that it was hard to read the road signs, especially in the round abouts which made it very nice to have someone telling me which exit to take.  (Otherwise, I might still be going around in circles! ha!)
     I was so sad that I couldn't see any of the countryside because of the fog.  I was lucky to see the lights of the cars on the toll road!  The toll roads in France are wonderful.  It cost me about $40 to take the toll roads for most of the 300+ miles from the cottage to Chenonceaux village where I stayed for three nights - as their only visitor!  CoCo and I had the place to ourselves which was probably good as the walls in this old building were pretty thin - we could hear the neighbor's dog barking so imagine what the place would sound like if all the 30 rooms were filled.
     Saturday morning, the entire breakfast spread was on my table!  Usually the plates with the meats and cheeses and breads and juices, etc would be on the buffet table as you walk into the breakfast room, but as I was the only client, they just put everything on my table.  I felt like a queen!
     After breakfast CoCo and I headed to the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud (also spelled Fontevrault) - again in the fog.  The "abbey" was actually a 12th century monastic city, the largest such compound in Europe - with four monastic complexes, all within a fortified wall.

The front of the Abbey church

     It was an unusual combination of monks and nuns living under the authority of an abbess (and always an abbess, not an abbot) while observing the rules of St Benedict.  Men and women lived completely separately within the abbey walls.  Four communities lived here until the Revolution (the end of the 18th century) and in 1804, Napoleon made the abbey a prison, which actually helped preserve the buildings.  It functioned as a prison for 150 years and was designed to house 800 prisoners.  It was notoriously harsh and was usually a "death sentence" to anyone sent here.
     After passing through a courtyard, I entered the ticket office and rented the audio guide (always a good idea!) before heading towards the 12th century abbey church.  At the end of the long nave are four sarcophogi belonging to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henri !!, their son Richard the Lionheart and their daughter in law Isabelle d'Angouleme (wife of King John).

The side entrance to the church

Looking down the long nave towards the front of the church

Looking the other direction towards the choir

Sarcophogi of Eleanor and Henry II

Sarcophogi of Richard the Lionheart

Another view of Eleanor

     I have been fascinated by Eleanor for many years.  She was incredible and considered one of the most beautiful women of her time.  She actually accompanied her husband and sons on crusades.  She was wealthy in her own right as Duchess of Aquitaine and had power over an entire kingdom as well as the connections provided her due to her marriages - first to the King of France and then to the King of England.
     After leaving the church I walked (with CoCo in her little bag!) towards the back of the grounds where the gardens were kept and then back into the rest of the buildings and areas.

Looking at the back of the abbey church from the gardens

A small section of the abbey gardens

    The cloister was in the center of the abbey - a square pillared area open to the sky -  where the nuns read, exercised, and washed for meals.  Benedictine monastic life was simple: prayers at regulated times, readings, tasks, and at least one meal a day.

The beautifully designed cloister

The well for washing hands and face before eating

     The chapter house is beautifully painted with scenes from Christ's last 24 hours on earth.  This is where they met for their regulated prayer times and daily readings.  The community room/treasury was the only heated room in the abbey, where nuns needed warm hands to embroider lace and linens.

The impressive entrance to the chapter house

The paintings and vaulted ceiling are wonderful

A corner view of the chapter house

One of the floor tiles - the fleur de lys - symbol of the Bourbons

     The nearby refectory, built to feed 400 silent monks/nuns at a time (but never at the same time!) was later the prison work yard, where inmates built wooden chairs.  The daily ration for the monastic residents was a loaf of bread and a half liter of wine per person, plus soup and smoked fish.  The tables were set up so that they never faced another person and ate in complete silence.
     The last place visited before leaving the abbey was the kitchen, an odd shaped and designed building attached to the end of the cloister.  It has five large areas for fires and roasting, covered by 18 chimneys to evacuate smoke.  You can also visit the upper areas that were built to house the prisoners when the abbey came to an end in the late 1700s.

The interestingly shaped kitchen

     When I visit places like this, I try to imagine what life was like for the people who lived there.  Not everyone who was a monk or nun chose that life.  Many of them were put there by their families for a number of reasons.  Remember, there weren't a lot of choices for professions back in the Middle Ages even if you were of nobility.  If you were a younger son who would never inherit the land, then you were usually sent away either as a soldier or as a monk.  An advantage to being a monk was that you would be taught to read and write which very few people could do in those years.
     One last comment on the abbey.  I thought it was really interesting that the abbey was always run by a woman, even with the number of monks who were there.  It was very unusual in that time period for a woman to have power over men.  But the first four abbesses were of royal blood so they had the approval of the King.  And no one spoke out against the King - until, of course, the French Revolution, but that's for another history lesson!
    Stay tuned for next week when I tell you about my visits to the Renaissance chateaux.  And following that, I'll tell you all about the Zooparc de Beauval - wonderful!  Thanks for coming along with me on my adventures.  It's a pleasure to share them with you.  Merci!

Zoo, Train Station, Mountains, Fortress

   This week I have been on different adventures - a zoo near Bordeaux, a train station in Agen, the mountains near St Bertrand de Comminges - very different places but all were rewarding in their own particular way.
     I have been wanting to visit the Zoo de Bordeaux since I moved here.  It takes a little over 2 hours to get there so I needed pretty much a full day for the drive and the visit.  I should say at this point that I have not yet received the second GPS that I ordered after finding out that the first one was lost somewhere in northern France.  So I have been relying on my map skills and google to get me where I need to go.
     Hélène had warned me about Bordeaux, saying that if at all possible, I should avoid it as it's very confusing to navigate.  I checked my Michelin map and found where the zoo is located and it seemed like I could get there without any major difficulties.  So Tuesday morning I headed out to find it.  (Had no problems finding the zoo, but had a terrible time finding my way out of Bordeaux to head home!)
     It is a wonderful zoo!  It's not very big and not many animals.  However, the enclosures are very inviting and the animals all looked healthy and happy.  The animals I found the most endearing were the white tiger and the two white lions (siblings).  They had a number of big cat species which I have not seen in a long time - a black leopard, a serval, cheetahs, fishing cats.
     I enjoyed my encounters with an eclectus parrot who played peak a boo with me and two African Gray Parrots who sang and whistled with me. I loved seeing the tiny baby gibbon.   And there's a dinosaur encounter area - with dangerous raptors!  In the summer they have scheduled encounters with different animals.   I spent a fun 3 hours there on a rather cloudy day - but that meant that I pretty much had the zoo to myself!  Here are some photos for you.  Let's start with the big cats.

The beautiful white tiger, Raj

Mawi, the handsome white lion

His sister, Sana

A serval

One of the three cheetahs

The black leopard was having fun with the cone

One of the fishing cats

     Here are the parrots that I "conversed" and played with, and the raptor area.

The beautiful eclectus parrot that I played peak-a-boo with

The African Gray parrot who wanted to talk to me

This is apparently an authentic skeleton

Enter to find the raptor area

And there they are!

     I also enjoyed seeing the gibbon family with the tiny baby, the African grazing enclosure, the maned wolf and the  meerkats.

Learning to climb

Mom, Dad and baby

The grazing area

The maned wolf

The always entertaining meerkats

     A lovely day at the Bordeaux zoo.  And trying to find my way home was a sign that I needed to find another way to take the train to Paris.  I am NOT going to go into one of the largest cities in France to find a train station - I'd never find my way out!  Hélène to the rescue once again!  She told me that I can take the TGV train from the station in Agen which is only an hour from me and in a much smaller town.
     So on Thursday, I decided to drive to Agen to find the station so I know what to do to get to Paris - the easy way - or at least, easier.  Even without a GPS I had no trouble finding the train station.  There's a large parking lot at the station so that's very convenient.  And nowadays you can buy your train tickets online.  So there's no waiting in line at the station.  You show up and wait for your train, and in 4 hours you're in Paris!   Will try that soon.
     Today, I needed mountains.  So, CoCo and I took off this morning and drove to St Bertrand de Comminges - a wonderful medieval walled town at the foot of the Pyrenées.  So I will leave you with photos of mountains and a fortress.  Thanks so much for coming along on my adventures!  And, I wish you all a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving.  Next week I'll tell you how I spent my Thanksgiving weekend - a road trip.  Stay tuned.  Merci!

The Pic du Midi with snow

The Cathedral Marie in St Bertrand de Comminges

One of the streets of the village

A nearby mountain stream

The Cathedral Marie

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - Or How to Get From Here to There

     There are some definite advantages to living in a rural area of France.  It's quiet - no motor sounds except the neighbor's tractor or Giuseppe's lawn mower.  You can see the stars at night, unless it's overcast which it has been a lot the past month.  You're surrounded by nature - the rolling hills and wooded areas, the calm beauty of vineyards and farmland.  It's really quite peaceful.  And I'm enjoying it.
     However, I am realizing a definite drawback.  There is no train station or airport for many miles and to get to one of those I must drive and leave my car or rely on the kindness of neighbors to give me a ride.  So I haven't done much traveling other than in my car to visit nearby sights.
     I have used all three transports (in my title) in the past few months.  Of course you all know about my multiple flights getting here.  I told you about the train trip in Frankfort which was stressful, but turned out ok.  And I do enjoy train travel.  The day I picked up my car I took the TGV - Train de Grand Vitesse (the really fast train!) - from downtown Toulouse to the nearby town of Montauban.  The TGVs are amazing and get you where you want to go very quickly, much quicker than driving as they can reach speeds of well over 150 mph.
     So, lately I have been trying to decide what is the best way to get to Paris.  I'd like to do a trial run before Beth gets here in February.  After looking at many options I think I will drive to Bordeaux and leave my car in the secured parking area at the train station.  It's about a 21/2  hour drive from me to get to the train station in the downtown area of the city.  (I know that because google tells me!)

Ahhh,  Paris!

     Then I can take the TGV from Bordeaux to Paris with no stops in between and get there in a little over 3 hours!  It would take about 10 hours to drive it!  And the cost of the ticket is much cheaper than gas would be if I were to drive it.  So taking the train to Paris is a no-brainer, in my opinion.
     Now, I could drive to Toulouse and get a direct flight into Paris, which would get me there in half the time of the train, but it would cost more and it would not put me in the center of the city like the train does.  So I would still be out money and time to get from the airport (about 40 minutes outside of Paris) into the city center.   So, the train it is!  I'll get tickets as soon as I get my new US debit card in the mail.  (That's another story, folks.  Just like to say "thanks" to the fraud dept at ENT Credit Union for finding the .39 charge so quickly.  But now I'm without a debit card until the new one arrives, hopefully by the end of the week.)
     The other places I want to visit I will drive to.  First is the seaside city of Biarritz.  Oh, how I love Biarritz! (About a 2 hour drive from here.)  I've only been there during the summer when it was most wonderful to hang  out on the lovely sand beach.  The first time I was there, many years ago, I was impressed with the beauty of the town.  It has elegance  - and yet it's casual.  People were going everywhere with their beach attire.  I look forward to seeing it during a different season.  I think Andy and I will make a day trip there when he comes in January.

Biarritz is the surfing capital of Europe

     I also want to visit the Zoo de Beauval.  My dearest friend, Nora, recommended it as she knows how much I am missing my zoo friends.  It is considered to be one of the best zoos in all of Europe and is the most visited zoo in France.  This will have to be an overnighter as the zoo is about a 5 hour drive from me (and no easy way to get there on a train).   https://www.zoobeauval.com

     At some point I want to get to Nice, which is clear across the country from me, unfortunately.  I have always loved that city and have been there many times.  I could take a train - it would be about 10 hours due to the many stops.  I could fly - it would cost quite a bit and there would be a layover somewhere as it seems there are no direct flights from Toulouse into Nice.  (There's also the issue of leaving my car parked at either the train station or the airport).

     I think I'd like to drive it. It's about a 7 hour drive along the major toll road in the south of France. But I would take longer as there are so many wonderful sights all along the southern coast of France that I would enjoy seeing again - Carcassonne, Nimes, the Pont du Gard, Marseille, Cannes, St Tropez.  The town of Montpellier is about halfway between and I could spend the night there so I don't have to feel rushed.

Carcassonne

The Roman Pont du Gard

     There's so much to do in Nice - I wrote a guide book about it!  And it's been many years since I've been back.  I might save this trip for March when, hopefully, we'll have some sunny weather again.
I still enjoy driving all the little winding roads in my part of France.  But I need to start branching out further.  I want to do as much traveling as I can and see as much as I can.

My Book

     Thank you for joining me on my journey, whether it's by plane, train, or automobile!  Merci!
    

I Could Have Been a Monk

     Well, actually, there are numerous reasons why I could never have been a monk, but I thought that would get your attention!  And the monastic life has been on my mind as I make visits to nearby churches, cathedrals and an abbey. 
     I have long been fascinated by the time period we refer to as The Middle Ages.  It roughly covers the time just after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD until the Renaissance in the 15th century AD.  That's 1000 years of a very turbulent and yet creative time in history.  Turbulent due to all the wars on the continent of Europe fighting over whose land is it this century and the numerous crusades to the so-called Holy Land - again fighting over land.  And yet so creative when you take the time to visit the hundreds of churches and cathedrals that were built during the late Middle Ages, the 12th through the 15th centuries.

15th Century Church in Eauze

Inside the Church in Eauze

     I am surrounded by this kind of history in my little village of Vic Fezensac in the SW region of France referred to as Gascony.  Gascony is the home of d'Artagnan of the Muskateers who were King Louis XIII's personal army.  It's a wonderful story (some believe it to be absolutely true!) of a young peasant farm boy making his way to Paris and proving himself worthy to be included in this prestigious group of fighting men.

D'Artagnan in Auch

The Four Muskateers in Condom

     Just about every village within a 30 minute radius of Vic has either an old church or parts of a castle or fortress dating back to this time period.  It's one of the many reasons I love France.  There are cathedrals in Condom and Auch.  A cathedral must be designated as such by the Pope himself and is given an Arch Bishop.  Cathedrals are therefore much grander than a mere church.  Although I am just as impressed by the small churches, perhaps more so knowing that the small churches did not receive any monetary help from Rome, but were built from the meager assets and enormous faith of the people, the workers and the artists of that village.

Inside the tiny 15th century Church in Montesquiou

Inside the Cathedral in Condom

     Last week I visited the Abbaye de Flaran, a 12th century Cistercian abbey, one of the best preserved abbeys in the SW of France.  Obviously, since 1151 AD the abbey has suffered from wars and the French Revolution and, quite simply, time, until, in 1972, it was bought by the Departement du Gers (the name of this region) and has been lovingly and historically preserved.
    When I visited last week it was a foggy morning which gave the feeling of having stepped back in time.  You enter a walled and gated courtyard in order to buy a ticket (only 5 euros!).  Then you enter the monastic building.  The visit is a combination of the ancient walls and rooms along with a modern power point presentation and a miniature replica of the abbey, the gardens and the surrounding area.

The Abbey Church

Entering the courtyard of the Abbey

The Abbey Cloister

The Abbey Kitchen

The Chapter House with columns dating from the Romans

    As I walked through the main floor of the abbey I decided that if I had been a monk I would have wanted to work in the kitchen - it would have been warm there!  The cloister is still a place of meditation.  You want to be quiet and still and take in the stark beauty of the stones, the columns and the grassy area in the center.  All the other rooms come off of the cloister, including entrance to the church.
     There's a second story which was the dormitory for the monks.  I love that today those rooms are used as art galleries.  They have a permanent display which includes a Monet, a Cezanne, a Rembrandt, three Dali sculptures, and a wealth of lesser known artists, mostly Impressionists.  And all this for 5 euros!!
     The church was empty of just about everything that one associates with a medieval church - no stained glass (they were Cistercians!), no ornamentation of any kind.  But  . . . I learned something wonderful from the blank stones.  I saw the stone masons' marks.  It seems that each mason was allowed to make his own mark or symbol on the stones that he had carved and these are seen quite clearly on just about every stone in the church.  I shall now look closer at stones in other churches that I visit.
     Abbeys were meant to be self-sufficient so they had vegetable gardens and fruit trees and animals - most likely chickens and goats.  I highly recommend one of my favorite authors, Ellis Peters, and her series of novels set in 12th century England.  A monk named Brother Cadfael is her main character and he is the herbalist at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury.  I love these books.
     As I walked through the Abbaye de Flaran I felt like I was walking in the footsteps of the 12th century monks - perhaps someone just like Brother Cadfael.  These layers of time surround me here.  I feel like a speck in time - 1000 years of the Middle Ages!  And before that the Romans and before that the Celts and before that the prehistoric people who left beautiful paintings of animals in the caves in this part of France.
     That's for another blog post!  For now I leave you with these thoughts and photos of a time and place where people existed only to serve each other and their God.  Thank you for joining me on this short trip back in time.  It is humbling to be a part of something so much bigger than my existance.   Merci!