Sunday, June 21, 2020

Lavaudieu -- One of France's Most Beautiful Villages


 

On the banks of the Senouire River stands Lavaudieu, one of the "most beautiful villages in France". This picturesque 11th century village of 250 citizens provides visitors with an exquisite experience of a time long past as it intersects with the present. French families frequently visit here to eat a picnic lunch on the grassy green river banks or just wander through the village.

 

 

The entrance to the village is a winding road upward from the public parking lots down below near the river.


  

 

 

The narrow medieval streets wind around the old stone houses and buildings that were typical of the regional architecture. The Haute-Loire Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions captures daily medieval life in this region.

 


 

 

 

An old twist on "the Golden Arches" which marks the entrance into the village.

 

 

 

 


Another view of St. André Church with remnants of a stone wall. Below are some well-kept riverside community gardens as well as a few private gardens.







 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stone houses with red round-tile roofs line the cobblestone streets.






 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wandering around the village's streets reveals some interesting and unexpected sights.

  






 

 

 

 

 

 

History of Lavaudieu 

    The abbey (right) with the church's prominent bell tower on the riverfront

Lavaudieu was founded in the 11th century by Robert de Turlande, a Roman Catholic priest from the Order of St. Benedict. In fact, he built this Benedictine abbey for women in Lavaudieu and one for men in Chaise Dieu 18.5 miles eastward. The nuns remained here until the French Revolution (1789-99)

 







 

 

 

The village square highlights the entrance to the former cloister (center) and St. André Church (left). The iron cross was erected in the mid-eighteenth century.

 

 








 

 



 The church is rather unremarkable except for the two-storey Romanesque octagonal bell tower that tops it. The bell tower was truncated during the French Revolution in order to display the Phrygian cap at its summit.


 

The abbey is considered a perfectly preserved Romanesque cloister and the only one of its kind in the Auvergne region. The Roman-style cloister has two levels of arches: those on the ground floor that are more decorative and those on the upper storey that are simpler. A quadrangle or courtyard sits in the center.

  

 

 

Both the cloister and church feature several interesting wall paintings derived from the Italian School of the 14th century.

 "Christ in Majesty" is a 12th century fresco located in the cloister's refectory.
 
Virgin Enthroned, fresco in Chapter Room in former Abbey of Lavaudieu, France, 12th centuryClose-up of the "Virgin Enthroned" (below Christ) who is surrounded by the Apostles
 

Crucifixion


Piétà







                          Resurrection


The Black Plague is personified as a woman who carries arrows that strike those around her, often in the neck and armpits where the buboes commonly appeared



 

 A sculpted capital in the Abbey church

 

 

 


Lavaudieu abbey is closed to the public from late autumn to late spring.

 

Lavaudieu is designated in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“the most beautiful villages of France”), which is an independent association created in 1982 to promote tourism in small rural villages with a rich cultural heritage. As of September 2016, there are 156 member villages.

Membership requires meeting certain criteria: (1) the rural nature of the village (a population of less than 2,000 inhabitants), (2) at least two national heritage sites, and (3) local support. Each village must pay an annual fee to the association and the mayor must sign the association’s Quality Charter.

 

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

French Pop Songs -- 2020


La Corrida

Francis Cabrel

  

 

Aller Plus Haut

by Tina Arena

 

L.E.J x Trianon \ Showcase

Je Vais T'Aimer

Michel Sardou & Lara Fabian 



Puisque Tu Pars
Jean-Jacques Goldman

 

 

Les Planètes

M. Pokora

 

À Nos Souvenirs

Trois Cafés Gourmands

 

La Grenade 

Clara Luciani



On Se Sait par Cœur (We Know Each Other by Heart)

Calogero & Clara Luciani

 

J'ai cherché (I Sought)

Amir

 

Foule Sentimentale  (Sentimental Crowd) 

Alain Souchon

 

Sans Bruit (Without Noise)

Patrick Fiori

 

Salut les Amoureux

Joe Dassin


 
 

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Saugues and the Beast of Gévaudan


The tiny town of Saugues with a population of less than 2,000 has a long and interesting history complete with war, religious inspiration, commerce, and even a legend about the Beast of Gévaudan. Twenty-eight miles west of Le Puy, this sleepy, little town is tucked comfortably among forests and between the Margeride Mountains and the Allier Valley.

 

Saugues is the source of the Borne River that runs through Le Puy. The Borne is a tributary to the Loire River, France's longest river (630 miles), which empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Saint Nazaire, just south of Brittany in northwestern France.  


 

 

 

Saugues is located on the Via Podiensis, one of the oldest of paths leading to Santiago de Compostela. 

 

 

 

 

 

The area of Saugues was once populated by the Gabli, a Gallic tribe from which the former province's name Gévaudan is derived. The Romans took over the Gallic city, Anderitum, near Saugues and renamed it Gabalum. The territory changed hands several times until it was taken over by the Bishop of Mende in the 12th century and served as a military stronghold under the Bishop of Mende and the Lords of Mercœur. They built a castle that lasted until 1788 when it and the historical city center were destroyed by fire. In the early 16th century Gévaudan was extremely wealthy, but collapsed during the religious wars. The Huguenots (French Protestants) settled here around 1550. Gévaudan ceased to exist after the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, when it became the Department of Lozère.


The Confrérie des Pénitents, or the Confraternity of Penitents, was founded in Saugues on 14 May 1652. The confraternity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation with statutes that prescribe various penitential works including fasting, the use of the discipline (a small whip), the wearing of a hair shirt, etc. 

 

Saugues has many houses that are centuries old. The Tour des Anglais square was built in the 13th century. The tower takes its name from an episode of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) when a troupe of English Routiers besieged the town.


 

 



 

 

 

 

St. Medard Church was built in the 12th century and extended and renovated between the 13th and 19th centuries. It contains a 12th-century Virgin in Majesty and a 15th and 16th-century polychrome wooden Pietà.


The church features a shrine of St. Benildus with a replica of his body. He was a teacher during the 17th century. He grew up in Clermont-Ferrand, about 70 miles north of Saugues.


Craft artists of Saugues are famous for producing clogs or wooden shoes through woodturning. This process entails wood placed on a lathe and sculptured for shape. Items that can be made on the lathe include tool handles, candlesticks, egg cups, knobs, lamps, rolling pins, cylindrical boxes, Christmas ornaments, bodkins, knitting needles, needle cases, thimbles, pens, chessmen, spinning tops; legs, spindles and pegs for furniture; balusters and newel posts for architecture; baseball bats, hollow forms such as woodwind musical instruments, urns, sculptures. bowls, platters, and chair seats.

However, Saugue's most interesting feature is its history with the Beast of Gévaudan. The beast was an unidentified animal or group of animals (perhaps a wolf), that lived in the mountains near Saugues between 1764-1767. Nearly 100 people were killed and devoured by it. 

The first recorded attack occurred the summer of 1764. Marie Jeanne Vallet was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest when she saw the beast come at her. However, the bulls in the herd saved her by charging and then driving off the beast. Shortly afterwards 14-year-old Janne Boulet was killed. Several other attacks occurred for the rest of the year and panic gripped the people. Reports noted that the Beast seemed only to target the victim's head or neck regions.

Descriptions of the beast were extraordinary. It had a long tail with a tuft at the end. Its fur was tawny or russet in color but its back was streaked with black while its underbelly sported a white heart-shaped pattern.

Several people tried to kill the beast and news of the area's disturbance even reached Louis XV who promised his aid. On September 21, 1765, François Antoine killed a large grey wolf measuring 31 inches high and 5 ft 7 inches long and weighing 130 lb, which was much bigger than a typical wolf. The wolf was nevertheless stuffed and sent to Versailles. Antoine also promised to track down and kill the female and her two pups, which he thought he did. He returned to Paris and received a large sum of money as well as fame, titles, and awards. However, on December 2, two boys were attacked and a dozen more deaths occurred. On June 19, 1767, Jean Chastel, a farmer, shot the beast during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d'Apchier. The body was brought to his castle and stuffed by Dr. Boulanger, a surgeon of Saugues. His post-mortem report known as the "Marin Report" (named after his transcriber) noted that the animal's stomach contained the remains of its last victim.

Modern scholars believe that the public hysteria at the time of the attacks contributed to widespread myths that supernatural beasts roamed Gévaudan. The deaths attributed to one beast were more likely the work of a number of wolves or packs of wolves. Attacks by wolves were a very serious problem during the era, not only in France but throughout Europe, with tens of thousands of deaths attributed to wolves in the 18th century alone.

The Beast continues to capture people's imagination. A French film was made about the Beast entitled "La bête de Gévaudan." The opening scene gives a taste of the terror that people experienced during this time.




The Fantastic Museum of the Beast of Gévaudan tells the story about this period of time. White paw prints on the sidewalks help visitors find the museum's front door.

 


Many stores in town capitalize on the Beast of Gévaudan theme, like this restaurant named the Bête de Faim (the beast of hunger). The table's placemat featured a picture of The Beast. Other shops include a manicure establishment, an electrical repair store, and an optician's store.







 

 

 A marker on the sidewalk that recalls the Beast of Gévaudan.

  


 

Saugues may be a small town, but its history--and its legends--make it an interesting place for a day visit!



Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Lyon and the Start of Our French Adventures



Rhônexpress sur son quai de départ à la Part-Dieu © Tim Douet
Rhônexpress  © Tim Douet 

After months of anticipation for our 3-week journey in France, my friend, Tracy from Kalamazoo, finally arrived at Lyon's Gare Part-Dieu (train station) on the Rhône Express. We had been planning this trip since the previous summer which would include Lyon, Le Puy, and the south of France.

We walked to our AirBNB apartment on Chaponnay, the same street I lived on two years ago when I was taking French classes. I knew the neighborhood, the transportation system, and several key points of the city so I acted as tour guide. The only glitch in our arrangements was parking the car. Every morning on my way back from the boulangerie to pick up a fresh baguette for breakfast, I fed the meter.

 
Machines regulate parking and you must be sure you account for your time. Evenings are free from 7 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next day. We were fortunate to park across the street from our AirBNB, however, parking cost about 35 euros a day. Had it not been for the train strike, we would not have used the car in Lyon.






Of course, the first stop in Lyon is the old city or Vieux Lyon, as it is called. Old Lyon has a variety of restaurants, shops--and St. John the Baptist Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon.

 




Groundbreaking took place in 1180 on the ruins of a 6th century church (the half circle arch).









 


During the French Revolution, churches were targets for destruction. Many of the statues, for example, lost their heads. Some churches became grainaries since their large spaces provided a warehouse-like function.

Inside the cathedral is the Astronomical Clock (to the left of the altar). The 9-metre 14th century clock is an astrolabe, which indicates the date and position of the moon, sun, and earth, as well as the stars. The first documentary evidence of an astronomical clock in the cathedral dates from 1383 but it was destroyed in 1562. In 1661 it was reconstructed by Guillaume Nourrisson. During the French Revolution (1789-99), all royal insignia was removed. The last restoration in 1954 reset the clock's perpetual calendar to 66 years. The clock has been inactive since 2013 but is currently under repair.

When the clock is running, it is quite an animated sight to see as this description illustrates:
The clock's central tower octagon supports several automated figures. After the angel on the left turns the hourglass, an angel on the right keeps the time for the three angels who strike bells to sound the hymn of Saint Jean-Baptiste. The Virgin Mary kneels in a chapel, and turns to the Angel Gabriel as he opens the chapel door, while a dove descends, representing the Holy Spirit. A Swiss Guard rotates around the dome. Movement stops at the sounding of the hour. 

For more on Old Lyon, see Kostas and the Yummy World, a very good travel blog.

We took the funicular up to Fourvière, which was once the site of the Roman forum of Trajan in Lyon or Lugdunum, as the city was called. Gaul (the future France) was conquered for the Romans by Julius Caesar between 58 and 53 BC and Lugdunum was subsequently founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. Within 50 years the city increased greatly in size and it became Rome's administrative center of Gaul and Germany and the western half of the Roman Empire for centuries. Between 69–192 A.D. the city's population may have numbered 50,000 to 100,000, and possibly up to 200,000 inhabitants. For a portrait of life in Lugdunum, the Gallo-Roman Museum is just down the street from the funicular and it has one of the best preserved collections of Roman art anywhere. Next to the museum is an amphitheatre. These days, summer concerts are held there.












Archeological evidence shows that Lugdunum goes back to the neolithic era. It later became a Gallic settlement with continuous occupation from the 4th century BC. The people there traded with Campania for ceramics and wine, and the use of some Italic-style home furnishings before the Roman conquest.

Fourvière was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to whom is attributed the salvation of the city of Lyon from the bubonic plague that swept Europe in 1643. Each year on  December 8, the day of the Immaculate Conception, the city of Lyon thanks the Virgin for saving it by lighting candles throughout the city in what is called the Fête des Lumières or the Festival of Lights. The Virgin is also credited with saving the city a number of other times, such as from a cholera epidemic in 1832. 

The Notre Dame Basilica now occupies the top of the Fourvière hill. The church that "looks like an upside down elephant" because of its four towers was built between 1872 and 1884 in thanksgiving for victory in the Prussian War in 1879. The basilica was financed with private funds. Today, it offers guided tours and contains a Museum of Sacred Art. Two million people annually visit the basilica.

 
The basilica interior


Confluence silhouette

We went to the very end point of the Confluence where the Rhône and Saône Rivers meet.
The Rhône, one of France's five great rivers, starts in the Swiss Alps and runs south 813 km (505 miles) to the Mediterranean Sea. In Arles, the Rhône splits into two branches and forms a delta, which constitutes the Camargue region of Provence. The Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône, starts in northeastern France and converges at the Confluence in Lyon. The Saône runs 473 km (294 miles).



The Museum of the Confluence (background) is a modern building based on deconstructivist architectural design. It is built in a newly-developed area of Lyon that was formerly industrial. The design of the building is said to resemble a floating crystal cloud of stainless steel and glass.

Deconstructivism, first appeared in the 1980s and illustrates the fragmentation of a constructed building characterized by an absence of harmony, continuity, or symmetry. Instead, the finished visual appearance is characterized by unpredictability and controlled chaos. The museum certainly illustrates the point, however, it does have a lovely design. Really!


Silk was the major industry in Lyon. It was centered in Croix Rousse up on the city's other hill that  overlooks the Rhône River. The L'Atelier de Soierie on the Place des Terreaux near the center of town specializes in silk screening. Here are some beautiful and colorful handmade scarves. The shop also provides visitors with demonstrations of its silk screening process. 


Near the Place des Terreaux is Ikon, a chocolate fondue shop that can bring anyone to a state of ecstacy and utter decadence. We tried the fruit plate, which is really designed for a group of four people. After we finished our gouté (snack), we were quite overwhelmed by the chocolate--for days.






 

Lyon is one of the great centers of French cuisine. After over-doing it at the chocolate fondue shop, we resorted to eating our main meal in the afternoon and have salads in the evening. This is a very French thing to do. Lyonaise salad (foreground) is the city's specialty while Tracy had a salmon salad.




 
On one evening, we met Sisters Marie Phillippe and Rose for dinner. These sisters had hosted me twice at their apartment when I was taking French language lessons. They served duck with stewed chestnuts, which was very good. For dessert, they served a Noël busch cake while we brought some yummy pasteries....and a chocolate shoe.
 









 







 
One day we had lunch at a restaurant near the French language school that I had attended in March 2017 and January 2018. Tracy had scrambled eggs and yogurt, and I had a salad and special coffee. We visited the shop that has the best French fries in the world. Unfortunately, we were too full to order some. Better luck next trip. 


 





















 
 The Rhone riverfront continues to be a dynamic and beautiful setting both day and night. Walkways run up and down the river. On Sundays, many families take a walk along the river.


 

Lyon was only the beginning of our time together. Tracy and I would return to Le Puy for a few days and then head south to Avignon and Nice.