French trip 2007 - Day 5
Oct. 28th, 2007 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartI'm extremely sorry for the delay, folks - I wonder if I'd ever be able to finish this illustrated journal of mine. *sighs*
In any case, after recovering from the disappointment caused by the utter stupidity of our guide, in the next morning we started in Souillac, which is the site of an incredible Roman Style abbey, the sister house of St Gerald of Aurillac, in which Pope Sylvester II, one of the few popes we Catholics are rightfully proud of, had once lived as a simple monk named Gerbert. For us, Hungarians, he's particularly important, as he was the one who sent the crown to King Stephen I, the first Christian king of our country.
In any case, the monastery is an amazing piece of medieval architecture, famous above all else of its incredible stone reliefs. Its most famed inhabitant was a certain St Theophil, whose life is showed on said reliefs.
See below several pictures of the Abbey Church:
And then, there was the Town Hall - also a pretty thing:
I don't have pictures about the reliefs themselves - zooming is still somethig beyond my limited photographer's skill. But to get an idea, check out this page, where someone a lot better suited has made a few excellent photos.
In any case, we only spent a short time here, then we continued our journey to Rocamadour, which is, if I'm not mistaken, the second largest pilgrimage centres in France. If you follow the link above to Wikipedia, you can learn a lot about the legends and stuff; I'll just provide a few pics, which are very much my own.
This is where you enter the Religous City:
This is the sight you get from afar:
Following the famous courtyard of the seven (!) chapels of the Religious City:
The archway through which you might leave the courtyard:
The same thing from a greater distance:
Some more pics, just because the town was so very pretty:
The Great Stairway, leading from the lower town to the Religious City:
From Rocamadour, we went to Cahors, where we saw the Pont Valentré, a fortified bridge over the River Lot, as well as the Cathédrale St Étienne, which is a marvel, aside from being a national monument.
Pont Valentré (and Mum and me, both, so that you can see that we really were there):
And now the Cathédrale St. Étienne and its amazing cloister:
I'm not really sure what kind of tower this is, but you could definitely see it from the cloister:
Our last stop on this day was Moissac, with its beautiful abbey church St. Peter - again, one with an amazing cloister.
Again, proof that we were actually there *g*:
And let me assure you: these cloisters might seem all the same on my photographs, but in truth there's not two of them alike.
Next time: Toulouse, the "pink city", and Albi. Stay tuned!
In any case, after recovering from the disappointment caused by the utter stupidity of our guide, in the next morning we started in Souillac, which is the site of an incredible Roman Style abbey, the sister house of St Gerald of Aurillac, in which Pope Sylvester II, one of the few popes we Catholics are rightfully proud of, had once lived as a simple monk named Gerbert. For us, Hungarians, he's particularly important, as he was the one who sent the crown to King Stephen I, the first Christian king of our country.
In any case, the monastery is an amazing piece of medieval architecture, famous above all else of its incredible stone reliefs. Its most famed inhabitant was a certain St Theophil, whose life is showed on said reliefs.
See below several pictures of the Abbey Church:
And then, there was the Town Hall - also a pretty thing:
I don't have pictures about the reliefs themselves - zooming is still somethig beyond my limited photographer's skill. But to get an idea, check out this page, where someone a lot better suited has made a few excellent photos.
In any case, we only spent a short time here, then we continued our journey to Rocamadour, which is, if I'm not mistaken, the second largest pilgrimage centres in France. If you follow the link above to Wikipedia, you can learn a lot about the legends and stuff; I'll just provide a few pics, which are very much my own.
This is where you enter the Religous City:
This is the sight you get from afar:
Following the famous courtyard of the seven (!) chapels of the Religious City:
The archway through which you might leave the courtyard:
The same thing from a greater distance:
Some more pics, just because the town was so very pretty:
The Great Stairway, leading from the lower town to the Religious City:
From Rocamadour, we went to Cahors, where we saw the Pont Valentré, a fortified bridge over the River Lot, as well as the Cathédrale St Étienne, which is a marvel, aside from being a national monument.
Pont Valentré (and Mum and me, both, so that you can see that we really were there):
And now the Cathédrale St. Étienne and its amazing cloister:
I'm not really sure what kind of tower this is, but you could definitely see it from the cloister:
Our last stop on this day was Moissac, with its beautiful abbey church St. Peter - again, one with an amazing cloister.
Again, proof that we were actually there *g*:
And let me assure you: these cloisters might seem all the same on my photographs, but in truth there's not two of them alike.
Next time: Toulouse, the "pink city", and Albi. Stay tuned!
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-29 09:24 am (UTC)Thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-29 12:05 pm (UTC)Minas Tirith, hm? Actually, I had rather a hidden Elven city on my mind - one where the Avari had lived in the White Mountains, without being discovered by other people for three Ages or so. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-04 02:46 am (UTC)It does look like some kind of fantasy painting in some of those photos. Awesome.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-04 06:35 pm (UTC)Oh, and welcome back, BTW. You've been absent for quite some time.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-05 03:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-05 12:45 pm (UTC)Real Life can be so demanding sometimes, can't it? I'm very happy indeed to see more of "Knowledge Burns", though. Most Underworld fic is romance (of the rather forced sort), so yours is a true delight for everyone who's interested in the actual background.