France - Day 20

18-Jun-2007

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France - Day 20
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France - Day 31

 

Day 20 - Friday 20th May 2005 

The gardeners arrived to mow the lawn this morning so we were up a little earlier.    Today's tour took in part of the north of Burgundy and started off in Vezalay, a town built along a ridge overlooking the Cure valley.  It was established in 878 and become a major pilgrimage site around the 12th century.  We parked at the bottom of the town and walked up through narrow winding streets to the basilica of St. Madelaine.  Its an imposing place with an impressive carved facade.  We went inside and made our way around the interior and down into the crypt.  There was a small chapel in the crypt and a glass niche at the back containing relics of Mary Magdalene.  When we left the crypt, a choir of monks and nuns were singing.  It was beautiful.  We sat and listened for a while, I wasn't sure about taking pictures till I spotted the elderly nun in front of me clicking away, her younger companion grinned at me in embarrassment.  There were great views from the back of the basilica.  We had lunch at a little cafe just outside the basilica and then set off down the hill.  We hadn't gone halfway when Jude came across a rather stylish couturier and went in for a fitting, she came away with some elegant slacks and a nice top.  Our next stop was the village of Montreal, a pretty place that does not appear in any tourist guides.  We drove off the main road up through the old city gate, and on through winding walled streets to the village gate at the other side and through to a great lookout adjacent to an old church.  It was a pleasant view over the rolling green farmlands.  The churchyard contained some very old tombs.  We continued on to the Abbaye de Fontenay an Cistercian Abbey constructed in the 12th century.  It is now privately owned.  The gardens were designed by an English garden architect and look it.  It was a centre for industrial manufacture and the forge and massive chimneys have been restored, the mill race used to power the forge hammers is still there but the water wheel is gone.   With the sunny grassed cloisters it is a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon.  We picked up some more delicious comestibles on our drive home.

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