Over the past week we have had some weather. The first few days we had
very warm weather, and as the week moved along we began to get
afternoon thunderstorms, culminating in a very dramatic thunder and
lightening storm on Thursday and finishing up with a couple of rainy
days.
Our bike rides during the hot spell were always early in the morning.
One day we rode over the crest of the hill in back of our house. We
actually went down the road D22 several miles to Bourgvilain and then
crossed over the steep hill and down the other side to Clermain. From
Clermain we traversed up the west side of the hill to Tramayes and then
back down to St.Point. We were good and sweaty when we got home.
The next day we drove over to Cluny and took the Voie Verte (Green
Route), which is a dedicated cycling-walking-skating path along the old
railroad right-of-way. We went south, through the long, cool tunnel,
Tunnel du Bois Clair (longest bicycle tunnel in Europe 1.6km), and on to
Charnay les Macon. Along the way we met the very nice Sylvie Tarallo
and her friend. We had a talk about les epines (thorns) on the route,
from the ourage (storm) while Don changed his tire. Sylvie was so
charming and friendly and she even offered us a place to stay if we came
her way. The Voie Verte is very nice cycling. Just a few small hills,
good signs and pretty scenery. We did about 24 miles.
That evening we went next door to Pierre's house for an aperitif.
There we met his wife, his daughter, Jeanne, his grand daughter, Fanny,
and his baby grandson. They are a charming family. The daughter and
grands are visiting for some time during the summer, We enjoyed a nice
bottle of wine and good conversation. Pierre showed Don his hideout in
the pigeon cote. He has made a nice little man-cave where he can escape
when he wants to. His wife lives in Paris 7 or 8 months a year and
then comes into the countryside for the hot summer. Pierre spends most
of his time in St. Point with an occasional visit to Paris.
Another hot day was predicted, so we went early back to the Voie Verte
and this time rode north. We went as far as Saint Gengoux and then we
turned around. Along the way we stopped in Cormatin and checked the
times for the Chateau, which we could see from the bike route. We had a
nice picnic lunch and headed home before the rain.
That night we had quite a dramatic thunderstorm, with crashing
lightening, flaring up the sky with bright jags of brilliant light, and
booming thunder. We ate our dinner and watched the show out the living
room window before going to bed. The booms and flashes were still in
full swing when we hit the sack.
When we got up it was still raining and gray. We declared it a day for
museums and galleries, and headed off to the Chateau de LaMartine. As I
mentioned in an earlier report, Alphonse de LaMartine was a poet,
author and statesman. At the designated hour a fellow drove up and
opened the big, white, iron gate and a group of us were allowed to enter
the grounds of the estate.
An elderly lady, (well I guess I am elderly too, but I keep forgetting that, and she did
seem so much older than I feel), with a creaky voice led us on the tour
of the receiving room, the library, the bedroom and the dining room.
Her voice was so creaky and she spoke so fast that I could only make out
50% of the story. Since the chateau is so big, Don and I felt a bit
shortchanged and that a 4 room tour was a bit scanty to justify the
price, 9euro.
Next we moved on down the road and visited the famous Abbey of Cluny,
started in 910 by William I, the Pious, Duke of Aquitane. Man, this
thing was huge in it's heyday. It was the biggest cathedral in the
world until st. Peters was built in Rome. The monks were of the
Benedictine order, a very strict group. The monastery of Cluny became
very wealthy and was an important pilgrimage stop. The monks spent
their time in prayer and copying manuscripts, just like the stereotype
we have of medieval monks. The huge monastery was destroyed during the
French Revolution and only a small part remains, however, the part that
does remain is huge, so the entire complex was the size of a medium
town. We also visited the Museum to view some of the original lintels
and capitals that have been recovered during the excavation and
restoration projects.
Time for home, beer or wine and peanuts. Enough museum walking for that day.
It was still looking very dark and cloudy, with rain predicted for
Saturday, so we kept the bikes in the car, packed up our cycling clothes
and drove over to Cormatin. There we visited the very nice Chateau.
This chateau has some amazing wall murals, that we are assured are
original, from the 16th century. They are in such good condition it is
hard to imagine.
The tour was extensive, with visits to the innovative open staircase,
the Receiving room, the Marquise's bedroom, the privacy room, and the
garde-robe. In these times the bedroom was very public and many people
could be in the Marquise's bedroom. If she wanted some peace and quiet
or a private conversation, she would go into her privacy room. All of
the rooms were fully furnished and nicely decorated with traditional
furnishings. I got an English guide for Don and was quite impressed
with the quality of the translation and the effort put into making the
visit high caliber. This is a Chateau visit I recommend very highly.
After the Chateau tour we had a bit of lunch and then drove on to visit
the medieval town of Brancion. Set high on a hill, overlooking lush,
green valleys, this town is still as it was in 1000AD (or CE if you are
politically correct.)
The ancient church offers wall murals which are in the process of being
restored. Our visit was enhanced by the lovely harp music which
resounded throughout the church while we admired the murals and
explored.
Apparently a wedding had recently concluded because the beautiful,
slender bride and her svelte groom were posing around the ancient
buildings for the photographer.
More information on Brancion:
http://www.brancion.fr/histoire.php
We thought about doing a bike ride further north on the Voie Verte, but
it looked like rain and it was windy and cold and we wanted our naps, so
home we went.
For more information on the Cormatin:
cherylSeptember 2, 2012 2:32 PMYour adventures are my adventures...Marilyn and I enjoyed talking to you today Don, enjoy the Lake area..it's beautiful there.ReplyDelete
