Category Archives: Churches

Visiting Brussels

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Day 18     Wednesday, Sept 17, 2025

We have fairly relaxing morning. We call our bank and sort out an issue with our debit card and last night we had to call one of our Mastercards because it got blocked…because we are in Belgium.  Yet they don’t want to know that we are travelling anymore!  So it caused problems when we tried to add it to our Apple Wallet.  Same thing has happened to our other Mastercard, so we still have that to sort out tonight. I guess we should have done some things before we left home…like putting our email address as the contact to verify our cards when we  use them online instead of it being our home land line!  But who knew?

Once we sorted that out I worked on my paper journal, drawing some animals at the Lille Zoo from photo reference.  Not as much fun as drawing at the zoo but it was cold and windy and we didn’t have a lot of time there.  Drawing from reference photos is a good way to familiarize myself with the shapes and anatomy of animals and birds. This helps when I am able to draw at zoos in person. I set a time limit for a page so that I don’t spend too long. It is more like drawing live that way.

We catch the train into downtown Brussels which involved a 20 minute walk because in order to use Brussel’s busses or trolley cars you need to have a contactless debit card or use Apple Wallet. Our problem is our Debit cards should work after we called the bank last night to sort out the problem, but they still don’t, so we can’t use them. My MC won’t load onto Apple Wallet because of problems trying to verify it! So we walk to a train station were we can buy a paper ticket. Unfortuntely there doesn’t seem to be any place near us to purchase paper tickets for the bus or trolley cars.  

A half hour later after a very smooth rain ride we arrive in Brussels.  First stop is to see the Mannekin Pis Fountain.  It is the most famous fountain in Brussels.  The last time we visited this little statue was 46 years ago on our first trip to Europe. 

I used to have the cutest little wooden plaque with sculpture of the Mannekin Pis but somehow lost it. I wanted to buy a new one…well that sure didn’t happen! All the souvenirs were incredibly tacky, and ridiculously expensive as you can see in this photo.  So no souvenir for me.  We did buy two postcards to send to our grandchildren and after we left the store the owner chased me down about a block away from the store.  He insisted that I had stolen one of the key chains that we had been looking at. He said he had it on camera, so we went back to the store and I told him, in French, to look at his camera. I said that I am not a thief and that I didn’t even touch the key chain he was accusing me of stealing. I am sure I looked guilty, I felt hot and I am sure my face was red. After a few minutes of conversation and looking at his security footage he admitted that he made a mistake and apologized. We chatted a bit more, and all was well. I shook his hand and said I understood how hard it must be when he does have people steal from him almost every day.  

We see one of the big pink sculptures that we saw all over Paris two years ago. The enormous  candy-pink sculptures created by Philippe Katerine are now on display in Brussels.

The Grand Palace Plaza is surrounded on all sides with very ornate buildings…

….including the City Hall…

…and the Brussels City Museum.  I am done in and need some tea and pastries. I think being accused of stealing was rather emotionally exhausting. It wasn’t easy to find a coffee shop. We had to walk several blocks but found one with a quiet table away from all the smokers.  We had a pot of mint tea with real mint leaves and the most delicious croissant and Portuguese tart.  

We pass a shop with these ‘toy’ cars in the window. The white and red car are €219.90 each, and the green and orange ones are ‘only’ €579.05 each!  This is $941.61 Canadian! I wonder who buys these expensive model cars.

The Cathedral Saints-Michel-et-Gudule is another enormous cathedral. 

The Nave stretches into the distance. The statues on the pillars are the Twelve Apostles. There are many stunning stained glass windows surrounding the ornate altar.

This sculpted scene called ‘Entombment’ is beautiful. Cathedrals often have amazing art work.

The pulpit is an intricately carved wooden masterpiece.

We are hungry and head back to this little square to buy some of Brussels famous frites with mayonnaise.  No photo, we were hungry and they were gone in no time. Bob is walking towards the train station.

We took a wrong turn on our way to the train station and discovered this enormous white Smurf. Of course we needed a photo!

I had a little rest beside several of these beautiful flower towers.

On our walk from the train station back to our apartment I see another sign that Autumn is coming.  It is still unseasonably cool for this time of the year. 16 Celsius and windy.

There are many very large houses along the walk home.  This one has its own magnificent tree.

We have never stayed in a neighbourhood with so many large houses…maybe mansions would be a better term?

There is such a variety of styles. Some traditional and some more modern looking.

This is the lane behind our bnb, which has a huge corner lot. This black cat was determined to cross my path as we returned from getting groceries, but I figured we had enough challenges for the day so I managed to avoid him!

Our bnb has its very own little robot lawn mower…it the cutest thing as it maneuvers itself about the yard cutting the grass.

Amiens, France

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Day 13.    Friday, September 12, 2025

It is an hour drive to Amiens from Arras where we will visit Jules Verne’s house, the largest cathedral in France, and take a unique boat ride.

We luck out and find a parking space right beside the Jules Verne museum.  Parking downtown in French cities is very difficult, there are more cars than spaces available.  We have our picnic lunch in a little park right by the museum but these chestnuts were falling and landing with a crash around us…the spikes on the green fruit are very sharp and we decide to move to a safer bench.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright.  Jules Verne is the second most translated author in the world, ranking below Agatha Christie and above William Shakespeare.  His novel Around the World in 80 Days is printed in 18 languages.

The winter garden was the original entrance to the Jules Verne house.  Tropical garden plants were moved indoors here to spend the winter.

The dining room and salon on the main floor.

One of the second floor rooms was a reconstruction of his first boat.  Jules Verne loved to sail and his first boat was a 9 metre long.  His second boat was 20 meters in length and the third was 30 meters!  

This second floor room was a library. The second photos shows the original library with over 12,000 books.  When he read these books Jules Verne wrote notes on index cards to use as reference information for his novels.

From 1882 to 1900 Jules Verne wrote every day from 5:00 am until 11:00 am in this little room.

Climbing the tower which was added to the house by Jules Verne.  It allows access to all three floors of the house.

The third floor attic has a collection of original movie posters…

…and other memorabilia.  I look like I am one of the exhibits!

Bob and a fictional flying machine from one of Verne’s novels.  A view from the front of the house showing the winter garden.

it is a short walk to the Amiens cathedral. Notre-Dame d’Amiens is the largest medieval cathedral in the world.  It was built in 1269 and is twice the size of Notre Dame in Paris.

The sculpted decorations in the portals have survived in a remarkable state of preservation…

…and the 16th century wood carvings of the choir stalls are unique in the world.

Sandbags were used to protect the exterior and interior of the church during WWI.  The stained glass windows were removed and stored elsewhere.  Unfortunately there was a fire and some of the windows were destroyed.  A bomb did fall directly on the church but it did not detonate. Whether by faulty fuse, divine intervention or sheer luck, the cathedral stood unharmed.  Info and photo~ church heritage.eu

This is a massive cathedral…

…with stunning stained glass windows.

Do you see the people? They give a sense of scale.

Looking towards the richly decorated altar…

and in the opposite direction, the organ that was built in 1549…

which has just been cleaned and restored.

Love this statue of Joan of Arc.

There is also a labyrinth from 1288.When we leave the cathedral, I look up and there are the gargoyles!  I am very fond of gargoyles.
We have time to walk back to the car for tea and cookies and a little down time before we get ready for our boat ride at the Hortillonages.

Shaped by generations of market gardeners known as ‘hortillons’, this site is the only one of its kind in France. The Hortillonnages are made up of a multitude of small cultivated islets surrounded by water, accessible only by boat on a network of waterways

We spend a relaxing 45 minutes travelling these waterways. We see market gardens, private gardens, cottages and some islands that look very wild and unkept.

The Hortillonnages have been here since ancient times. They are located on the naturally marshy terrain of the old bed of the River Somme. The site’s name has its origins in the Latin ‘hortus’ meaning garden. Nowadays, the ownership of this 300-hectare site is shared by over 1000 individuals who use it for market gardening or leisure activities such as gardening, fishing, and observing nature.

Walking back to our car we pass yet another war memorial, a reminder of the war and those who fought and died for France.

The Boves, World War I Cemeteries and Vimy Ridge Memorial

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Day 11.    Wednesday, September 10, 2025

This is a bit of a long post…it was a very full day.

On our walk to Arras City Hall this morning we pass a ‘Bloquons Tout’ (Bock Everything) protest march.  This march is much calm, but people are very angry with the government’s austerity budget.

It is not just young people who are upset and protesting.  There are people of all ages in this protest march that is blocking the streets for more than three blocks.

We are going on a guided tour of the Boves this morning.  The Boves are the tunnels and caves that were excavated under the city of Arras and the surrounding countryside.  The stones for building the churches, City Hall and other large buildings  were excavated from these caves and tunnels.  We are given hardhats to wear, but Sue is content to sit on my shoulder for the tour.  

This is the entrance to the Boves.

It is damp down here, 80% humidity and about 12° Celsius. Some of the tunnels have moss growing on the walls.

In places these very narrow spiral staircases are used to go between levels of tunnels.  There are three levels, one at 4 metres, one at 8 metres and one at 12 metres.

Graffiti covers many of the walls, both modern day graffiti and graffiti from the days of the First World War.  The fleur-de-lys and the French Crest, which once had 2 lions on it are very old, the rest unfortunately are from recent tourists who visit these tunnels.

One of the many staircases on the tour.

Many of the staircases and tunnels are now blocked off for security reasons.

There are some informative posters in one of the caves.  During World War I more tunnels were built to connect the caves. This gave Allied troops a way to move underground very close to the German front so that a surprise attack was possible. There are over 20 km of caves and tunnels and 24,000 soldiers gathered in these tunnels and caves for a week in order to attack the Germans. The Arras Attack was a diversion tactic for the more important battle at Vimy Ridge.  This map shows the caves and tunnels used in the attack.  The dark line on the right side is the German front.  We enjoy our tour but it does feel good to be back outside in the sunshine.  I can’t imagine having to stay underground here for a week like the soldiers in WWI.After our underground tour and lunch at our bnb we drive about half an hour to La Nécropole National de Notre Dame de Lorette.  Bob says we have to visit this site first.  I have no idea what is behind this big black wall.

We pass through the entrance, this is what I see, and I start to cry.

This memorial was inaugurated on November 11, 214. This World War I monument gives those who fell in battle  in this area a place of remembrance…a place where their names ( Allied and German) are preserved, commemorated and honoured.

This is about 1/4 of the Ring of Remembrance…579,606 names.  It is overwhelming.  All these young men dead. Sons, brothers, husbands, fathers…a whole generation of men that were no more. It is an incredibly powerful memorial.

We walk over to the cemetery and there are thousands and thousands of crosses of fallen French soldiers, as far as the eye can see.

A photos is not able to show the size of this cemetery.  It is enormous and covers 25 hectares and holds over 40,000 bodies, half of which are in individual graves and the other half are in seven different ossuaries.  More than 150 battlefield cemeteries were moved to this location.There is a basilica onsite…

with more names of the dead inscribed on the walls.

I realize that I didn’t take a photo of the lantern Tower.  It is 52 meters tall and has a chapel in its base that contains the remains of over 6,000 unknown soldiers. At night there is a light that shines and rotates from the top of the tower.There is a small museum the Lantern Tower with personal items, photos and excerpts form diaries.  They are upsetting to see.  I can not imagine having to live through these experiences.  

There were several photos showing the horror of war…gathering their dead comrades for burial.

We drive from this cemetery to Vimy Ridge which was an important Canadian battle in the First World War, where we tour the underground tunnels and trenches.  This was on the wall of the memorial building, which is staffed by young Canadians.

It is unfortunate that no one seems to have listened to his words.  By this time I am feeling quite overwhelmed and I only took two photos here. Tunnels were dug thirty feet deep under Vimy Ridge so that soldiers could place explosive devices under enemy lines.  This is a replica of one of those tunnels being dug.In some places the front lines of The Canadians and the Germans were only 20 meters apart.  This is the view from one of the German trenches towards the Canadian trenches beside the Canadian flag.  The soldiers were able to hear each other talking, they were so close together.

“”The battle began at 5:30 am on April 9, with the first wave of around 15,000 men advancing under the creeping barrage of almost 1000 heavy guns. Most objectives were taken on schedule, and by afternoon most of the ridge was captured, with the notable exception of The Pimple, a high point at the North end of the ridge, where defenders held out until April 12.

By April 12, the Canadians had taken all of their objectives, as well as 4,000 prisoners. The Canadians held Vimy Ridge. This victory came at a high cost as 3,598 Canadians lost their lives, and 7,000 were wounded during the four-day battle. April 9, 1917 is still the bloodiest day in Canadian military history.”  ~ The VImy Foundation

We drive a short distance to the Vimy Memorial. It overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge and was designed by the Canadian sculptor Wallace S. Allward.We didn’t see the front walk so took the long way around to the back of the memorial.Climbing the  steps we see more names of the dead.  So many names!  The name engraved here are of the 11, 285 missing Canadians who died in France during the Great War.

The monument looks over the surrounding valley.  Even the back of the sculpted figure on the ledge looks sorrowful.

As we leave the monument three police pass us on their rounds. The three policemen are barely visible on the left side of the monument as we head back to our car and head home.  it has been a heavy duty day.

Driving to Arras

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Day 9.    Monday, September 8, 2025

Arras is only185 km from Paris but we like to stop and see sights along the way. I am navigating and I see this beside our road on Google maps.  I have no idea what it is!

When I zoom in, I realize that this is a gigantic car park!  A bit of Googling and we discover it is a carpark covering more than 28 hectares and containing more than 22,000 new vehicles!  

We arrive at Beauvais to visit its Cathedral but the first order of business is finding a bathroom…not always an easy task.  Then we walk through a huge square towards a carousel.  European carousels always remind me of a trip we made 46 years ago when our oldest daughter was only four years old.  We stopped for rides at every carousel we saw!  Travelling with Sue is similar, she squeaked and squawked until we let her have a ride!

The Beauvais Cathedral was completed in 1272.     

The cathedral was damaged during the Second World War but remained standing and was restored after the war.   The inside soars high above our heads and the light streams through the stained glass windows.Many of the pillars are still decorated with intricate painting.

The centre of the church is under renovation so we are only allowed to walk around the aisles and ambulatory behind the altar.  Bob is dwarfed by the tall pillars.

I take a photo of the altar by putting my phone through the grating in the above photo.Bob took this photo with this light shining through the stained glass windows into this side chapel.

This “clock was built between 1865 and 1868 by Auguste-Lucien Vérité.  It is 12 metres high, and 6 metres wide. The 52 dials display the times of the rising and setting sun and moon, the position of the planets, the current time in 18 cities around the world, and the tidal times.” ~Wikipedia  We wait for it to turn 3:00 but not a lot happened other than three chimes and a few areas of the clock lighting up.

“In the 1990s, the choir started to become very unstable. In some places, the pillars had moved more than 30cm. The north transept had four large wood-and-steel lateral trusses at different heights, installed to keep it from collapsing.

Since 2000, scaffolding has been continually put up around the cathedral to overcome these problems. Also, the main floor of the transept is punctuated by a much larger brace that juts out of the floor at a 45-degree angle. It was placed as an emergency measure to give additional support to the pillars in an effort to stave off any further movement. Presently, Columbia University is performing a study on a three-dimensional model using laser scans of the building in an attempt to pinpoint where the weaknesses are greatest to see what further can be done to shore up the building.” ~Frenchmoments.ca

We take the smaller highways from Beauvais to Arras instead of the toll highway and see this Sommes cemetery.  This is the information plaque.  It is hard to comprehend that over a million soldiers were killed here.  I think that ghosts must walk these fields.

The headstones seem to stretch forever and so many of these young men were never able to be identified.  They are only “Known Unto God”.

I think it is important to visit these cemeteries and honour those who have died but they are  difficult and emotional visits.

We continue our drive and arrive in Arras at 6:00 to meet our host for our Airbnb.

Notre Dame

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Day 5, Thursday, September 4, 2025

The morning didn’t get off to a good start. We tried to purchase an online e-SIM from Orange. I think it took almost two hours! Seems we need to confirm the purchase on our credit cards by entering the code they send to our phone number. Only problem is the phone number they have on file is our home land line! It took forever but we finally got it done, so now we have two different cell phone providers…hopefully at least one of them will be working when we need them. It poured rain this morning so at least we were still home when that happened. After the rain we set off to visit Notre Dame.

The restored Notre Dame is now open for visitors. I last visited the inside of Notre Dame in 2014 when I spent a month in Paris. It looks amazing, it is pretty much impossible to tell what is original and what has been replaced because of the fire. Our first view of the interior is stunning.

The Rose window on the south side of the Church.

This sculpted wall from the 14th century depicts scenes from the life of Christ. It forms a separation between the choir and the ambulatory. This is just one small section of the long carved wall depicting the story of the life of Christ.

The side chapels have been cleaned, repaired and repainted.  They are absolutely stunning.

I love the sun shining through the stained glass windows.

Another view of one of the two rose windows with dancing lights from the stained glass.

Looking up towards the second floor galleries I see more coloured light.  The chandeliers provide a warm glow as well.

We are impressed with the restoration.  Notre Dame is back!  It took 700 million euros and one thousand artisans to complete the restoration.  We stay for Vespers and listen to the organ music and a young woman with the loveliest voice singing the Psalms. This is how cathedrals should be visited, when they are full of music and prayer.

Outside we take our first selfie of this trip. Unfortunately the rooftop is not yet open.  I loved the time I spent up there in 2014, visiting the gargoyles and enjoying the wonderful views of Paris.  There are 387 steps to climb in the south tower to visit the rooftop.  It is supposed to open September 20th.  We are planning make time to do this on our return to Paris on the way home.We walk towards the Louvre and find a place for tea and a snack.  We stroll along the Seine and find a place to sit, but it was very busy, lots of cyclists, joggers and people going by so we walk to the Tuileries Garden just west of the Louvre. The name comes from the tile kilns which occupied the site before the palace.  

  On the way we walk through the Flower market, just before they close.

This lady was making the most fantastic bubbles, they were huge and there were so many of them blowing in the wind. I would love to know the recipe for her bubble mixture.

This bride and groom were having their wedding photos taken but I thought they weren’t very comfortable following the photographers cues.  There were lots of retakes.

The sun is setting on the Olympic Cauldron…very impressive.

Time to head home and we walk a few blocks to our metro line, which Bob can’t find….I see it right away…it is kind of hard to miss!

Le Mans, France

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Day 85,  Tuesday, November 21, 2023

We are taking the TGV High speed Train to Le Mans.The train station with all the tracks and overhead electric lines that power the trains.

This link to a short video which shows how fast the countryside was flying by.  The vehicles on the highway are going 130 km an hour and we fly past them!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wt-AzdJG54

We are travelling 282 km an hour!

I thought I should snap a photo of our train.We are in Le Mans.

Just one of the many beautiful buildings in Le Mans.

We decide to wander and see where we end up.  Notre Dame de la Couture dates mostly from the 12th century.

We were the only people visiting the church, which seems even larger inside than it did outside.

The pillars in the church are beautifully decorated.

We don’t really get tired of visiting all these magnificent old churches.  Each one has something different and interesting to see.

So many of the churches we have visited are undergoing restoration of some type, this one is no different.  I think if you are in the restoration business in France there is no shortage of work.

I loved this simple sculpture.

We sat in the sun with a view of the Cathédrale de Saint-Julien de Mans to enjoy our picnic lunch.

This cathedral was built between the eleventh and the fifteenth century in a mixture of architectural styles and has some of the oldest stained glass windows in France still in their original location.There are also many sculptures in this church that retain their original polychrome finish.  We are so used to seeing bare stone sculptures that it is easy to forget that many if not most sculptures were originally painted in realistic colours.  These are some of the most beautiful that we have seen on this trip.

This Madonna and Child was stunning, as were the other polychrome sculptures in this church.

Some of the buildings in town have started to decorate for Christmas.  This one was rather unique!

Another interesting old building…I wonder what the inside looks like? There are cobbled streets everywhere,

There aren’t many people out and about in the old town…we are the only people on the these streets.  It feels strange, like the place is abandoned.

The old town is on high ground and we walk over this road which somehow passes beneath us…a tunnel perhaps?

More very old buildings, but everything is closed…too bad.

We finally see a few other people!

Even this beautiful, ornate merry-go-round is closed!  I love riding merry-go-rides. Too bad I won’t be able to try this one out.

After much searching we find a Paul’s and have some hot chocolate and yummy pastries….only 22 euros, or $32.00 Canadian!!  At least it was all delicious.

We walked past this beautiful variegated holly bush which was very Christmassy on our way to find the Musée de Tessé.We have seen several tree sculptures in different towns by this artist, whose name I have forgotten!  I quite liked them all.

We find the Musée Tessé and are surprised that there is no admission fee.  It isn’t a big museum, but it is just the right size for an afternoon visit.  This museum opened in 1799, and is one of the oldest in France. It has a collection of French, Italian and Flemish paintings from the 14th to the 20th century and a unique space dedicated to ancient Egypt.  Each era has a room dedicated to that period with a nice selection of work…not too overwhelming which suits us well today.

I liked this little portrait by Théodore Gericault…

this tempera on wood painting of Saint Agathe from 1315…

and this terra cotta sculpture of Saint Antoine from the last half of the 17th century.

We make our way to the basement down several flights of stairs to discover an area which has the reconstructed tombs of Nefertari and Sennefer.  The photos with their light reflections do not do this area justice.  It really reminded us of our time in Egypt. We were able to visit the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens.  This reconstruction is not the same as being in the real tomb but we really enjoyed seeing it all anyways.

These are canopic jars that contained the organs of’Ânkhouahibrê  that were removed from the body in the process of mummification: the lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach.

I thought these bird mummies were interesting.  I have seen cat mummies before but cannot remember seeing any bird mummies.

There are  bronze plaques of the ’24 Hours of Le Mans Race’ winning team’s hand prints set into the sidewalks of Le Mans.

All too soon it is time to catch the train back to Paris.  We didn’t have time to go visit the Le Mans Race museum as it was on the outskirts of town and it would have taken too long to go and visit, but we are happy with our day in Le Mans.

Catching the metro home…the station was very busy!  It has been full day and we are happy to be back home in our Paris apartment.

Reims to Paris

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Day 80, Thursday, November 16, 2023

Today we drove to Pairs, in the rain!  This will be our last stop before we fly home.  It is a two and a half hour drive and we both just want to get to our next airbnb and get settled.  Sightseeing in the rain isn’t much fun.

There is no way I would want to be navigating using a paper map.  The roads can be very complex…like this interchange below.

We pass through several tunnels with lots of traffic. Bob does an excellent job following my navigational instructions, but I think we will both be quite happy to return our car tomorrow and use the metro to get around Paris.  

These two buildings, or maybe it is just one, looked so wonky.  Not sure why anyone wants a build a high rise that looks like it is falling over?  It is still pouring rain. but we are almost to our destination.

On our way to our bnb we passed a church with four angels high on its steeple.

I wasn’t able to find out the name of the church, but really liked the angels.

This lovely house with its beautiful fall colours was just down the street from our bnb.  

We parked on the street close to our apartment to unload but needed to move the car for the night.  As Bob pulled into the parking spot the car made a strange noise.  Upon investigation we realized that a rough curb had caught the side of the tire, tearing it and scraping the hubcap.  We return the car tomorrow morning…we almost made it the whole three months without any car issues….this little incident problem ended up costing us $500!

Our twelfth and last Airbnb on this trip.  It was difficult finding a place when we were booking last Spring.  Our apartment is very small, probably the smallest that we have had on this trip.  In the photos it actually looks a bit bigger than it is in person!  Not ideal for the end of our trip but it will do.

 

Musèe D’Art Sacre and Musèe de la Vie Bourguignonne, Dijon France

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Day 73, Thursday, November 9, 2023

Our bnb host kindly sent me information for a nearby doctor and I was able to make an online appointment for this afternoon.  Bob goes out exploring and visits the Museum of the Sacred Heart in the morning, and I stay home.  Here is his post……

The Musée D’Art Sacre (Sacred Art) is installed in a Monastery Church and contains Catholic religious sculptures, paintings and gold works from the 12th to 20th century.  There are many varied representations of the Virgin Mary.  This wooden sculpture is from the 15th Century.

A 16th Century depiction of Saint Sebastien who lived in the 3rd Century and is called upon to fight plagues and epidemics.A 15th Century painting of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, the swords are symbols of the sorrow she endured while witnessing her son’s crucifixion.

A 15th Century wood sculpture of Saint George the dragon slayer.  I find it interesting that Saint George was a legend, yet was worshipped by the Church.

A 16th Century depiction of John the Baptist.  Notice how the young girl is not the same proportional size as the others.

Trudy here now…We walk to the doctor’s for my appointment.  It is only three blocks away and surprise, no waiting.  I sit down and within minutes I was called into the doctor’s office. All I really wanted was a prescription for Otrivin, but I was very surprised to find out that it is against the law for any doctor in France to prescribe decongestants for anyone who has Covid!  Go figure…apparently it can cause permanent loss of smell, which is  interesting because on the internet in North America, decongestants are recommended for nasal congestion caused by Covid.  So instead of a little bottle of nasal spray I walk out of the doctor’s office with four prescriptions!   Methylprednisone pills for the Covid, some other pills to protect the stomach from the Methylprednisone as it is hard on the stomach, a nasal spray that has cortisone in it and Paracétamol for aches and pains and headache!   The good news is that all only cost less than 20€.  I am already starting to feel a bit better than I did the last two days , so I wonder about taking all this?

On the walk home we pass this mural…

and very old buildings still in use.

These half timbered houses are from the 15th century…and they are still in use today! The Notre Dame church of Dijon is just around the corner from our apartment. The interior has beautiful stained glass…

but it is the front of the church with its 51gargoyles, or grotesques, that catches my attention.

I love gargoyles and this church is loaded with them, although the ones on this side of the church are decorative rather than water spouts.

The owl is very important in Dijon, there are even owl cookies.  More on this later.I go home to rest and Bob goes out to explore a bit more.  Dijon is a very pretty city, very walkable and our apartment is only a block away from the old town. I hope I feel well enough to be able to see more of it.

Back to Bob…In the afternoon I visit a heritage museum (Musée de la Bourguignonne)  which displays the community and culture of Dijon from 1880 to 1930.  Objects of daily life reflect the agricultural  and urban history and traditions of the times.  Surprisingly there is little mention of Dijon Mustard.

A typical home with a 4 poster bed to help trap the heat.

A 19th Century clock that is about a metre tall.

Marionettes for the children’s theatre in the 1890’s.  They are about 10 inches tall.

The Charite Hospital had a wing for the Daughters of Sainte-Anne.  They are girls who, “having an infirmity (not explained) cannot be placed in the countryside”.  The charter states “we will carefully try to raise these girls to fatigue, and in a way that makes them fit for the functions of the household and families”.  Not sure what this means, and there were no pictures of these girls displayed, so I am not sure how successful their rehabilitation program was.

These ornate walking sticks were related to the La Mere Folle festival where 20 foot versions of this larger character were paraded through town.

A 1920’s beauty salon that sold wigs tied to the status and age of the wearer.

I don’t understand why such a small clock face has such a big wind mechanism.  It must have run for days without needing winding.

 

Lyon to Cluny and Dijon

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Day 70,  Monday November. 6, 2023

This morning when Bob is taking our stuff out to the car he meets the sniffer dog in the hallway.  He was quite excited to start his bedbug hunt!  I’m sure he gets treats when he does his job well.

Today we are driving to Dijon with a stop in Cluny.   It is cloudy and rainy today and we are surprised to see these sunflowers still in full bloom.  They were finished and harvested over a month ago elsewhere.

In just an hour we arrive in Cluny, find a parking lot and paid .15€, which is about 24 cents,  for all day parking!  What a bargain, although I wondered why they even bothered to charge anything.  It is quite a walk to the Cluny Museum and it is raining and cold.

These medallions set in the road and sidewalks help us find our way…kind of like our walk in Vincent’s footsteps in Arles.  They were really helpful, and before too long we arrive at the museum.  We find out that the museum closes in half an hour so we barely have time to see everything.  Good thing it is a small museum.

The museum is all about the Cluny Abbey,  the oldest Abbey in France.  It was founded in 910.  This is a model of the Abbey in 1250 when it was at its peak.

The lady who works at the museum suggested we visit the library before it closes.  It has a lot of very old books and manuscripts but the room is not climate controlled, and I think the books are suffering because of that.

The books on display have warped, wrinkled pages…from moisture I wonder?  It seems a shame but everything costs money and I don’t think this little museum would have the funds to make the library climate controlled.  As soon as we left the library they locked the doors behind us…they kept it open so that we could see it.  Nice!

In the museum we see this carved stone with the same symbol as the bronze medallions that helped us find our way earlier.  It is called the ‘keystone of the paschal lamb’.  I looked up paschal and it means relating to Easter and the Jewish Passover.

There were interesting carved panels that lined one of the museum rooms.  Every circular design was different than the others.

These reliquaries were interesting.   The relic is usually so revered that the reliquary is traditionally made of precious metals or gems like these two below. Relics may include pieces of bone or hair, pieces of cloth, or natural objects that were significant in the lives of a saint or holy person.  The bottom photo is of two unusual portrait reliquaries.We have a rather quick look a the rest of the museum and then we are told that they need to close up so we go outside to find the ruins of the Abbey.  On the way we walk by a lovely medieval herb garden.

By the time of the French Revolution, hatred of the Catholic Church led to the suppression of the order in France in 1790 and the monastery at Cluny was almost totally demolished in 1810. Later, it was sold and used as a quarry until 1823!  This plaque shows what is left of the Abbey Church…only the black bits remain today.

The Abbey Church was the largest church in the world until the construction of the St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  These are the remains of a few of the church pillars.

Our entrance to the museum also gives entrance to the Abbey.  There is a fantastic 3D film that shows the construction of the Abbey and we walk through many of the existing Abbey buildings.  Today only part of the transepts and bell tower remain of the Abbey Church. There is only 8% of the Church still in existence today, but that little bit is spectacular.  

It is 30 meters up to the vault above us.

Around 1100, Cluny and its monastic order held authority over 10,000 monks and 1,500 monasteries across Europe. The decline set in from the end of the Middle Ages. The abbey became the target of an entrepreneur who used explosives to demolish the buildings, and sold the stones as building materials!

There is a small chapel with sculptures of biblical figures.  Some of then still have bits of their original paint.  We are used to seeing sculptures as bare stone and it is easy to forget that they used to be colourfully painted.

We marvel at this intricately carved stone and wonder at the skill it would have taken to carve such delicate work.

The remaining abbeys is currently a trade school.  Here are some of the hallways around what used to be a cloister.

The granary has the most amazing wooden roof that was constructed using wooden dowels, which you can see in the bottom right photo.The basement of the grainery was used for storage.

Parts of the remaining abbey are shown their age and really need major repairs.

The cloister looks quite lovely… but when I hold my camera up to a broken panel in one of the doors along the cloister walkway this is what is inside!  Not what I was expecting.  I thought these doors would open into rooms but at least some of them seem to be storage rooms…for what looks like junk.

On our way back to the car we pass an artists studio, which is closed but I sneak a photo through the window.  

It is another two hour drive to Dijon and we see a lot of army trucks on the highway.  We wonder where they are going. 

Notre Dame of Lyon and Lugdunum

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Day 67, Friday, November 3, 2023

It is still not very nice outside but tomorrow is supposed to be even worse, so we take a bus and the metro to visit downtown Lyon.  Public transportation in Europe is so easy to use and much better than driving and trying to find a place to park.  We walk across the bridge over the Rhône River towards Notre Dame de Fourvière, the church high on the hill in this photo.

The funicular to the top is 3.50€ each and well worth it.  Sure saves us a lot of stairs.

Notre Dame de Fourvière is impressive.  It took 25 years to build, was completed in 1896, and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site has over 2.5 million pilgrims and visitors each year.

We walk into the church and stop to stare in wonder.  This is one of the most richly decorated churches we have visited.

Everything is in immaculate condition, there are barely any signs of damage or wear.  The column are beautifully carved with magnificent capitals.

The floor is made of many small mosaic tiles interspersed with marble tiles.

A view of the altar and ceiling.  Gilt, marble, stained glass and coloured mosaics cover almost every surface.

On the sidewalls are six 50 square metre mosaic panels. Those on the left illustrate Mary’s relationship to the Church, and on the right, Mary’s relationship to France.

They are spectacular…but difficult to photograph.

There is so much to look at.

Here is a closeup of part of the ceiling…

which is also incredible.

We spend quite a while here, it is an awe inspiring church.  

This close up of one of the pillars shows their intricate decoration…all painstakingly carved from stone.

I need a photo beside these magnificent columns on the church steps.  It is quite cool and windy up here on the hill.  I am wearing 5 layers!

The crypt is closed today as they are setting up for some special event…we have not had much luck visiting crypts this trip.  But just outside the crypt there are these interesting molten candles.

We spend a bit of time at the lookout beside the church…

along with many others…but it is really cold and windy …

so after a selfie we head inside to a nearby café for hot chocolate, regional mushroom soup and a couple pastry treats.  It was so nice and warm inside!

Warmed up, and fortified, we set off in search or some Roman ruins.  These wishing trees are in the courtyard beside the church.

Nearby I spot this little fountain, just for dogs!

There are four church towers and each one represents one of the virtues…Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice.

It is a short walk to the Lugdunum site.  Lugdunum was the capital of Roman Gaul in the 1st century.  During the Middle Ages it gradually became known as Lyon. These ruins are from the oldest theater in Roman Gaul and it is also one of the largest (108 m in diameter). we are pleasantly surprised that there is no fee to visit these ruins. It is a long ways down, and no railings. This theatre held 10,000 spectators.

Photos show where the theatre was completely concealed in 1933, partially excavated in 1934, and a view of the uncovered theatre in 1946.

Bob spotted these  bits of remaining marble that once covered the stone surface.

We wander through some of the back rooms and alleys, imagining what they must have been used for.

Pretty sure this was a takeout restaurant.  We saw very similar rooms in Pompeii where patrons could buy prepared food.

It is getting dark and the gates close soon so we walk back towards the funicular.

Everything looks different lit up for the night.

We decide we should walk about and see some of the old town of Lyon tonight.  The wind has died down and it is nicer than it was earlier in the day.  There is another huge church here and although it is impressive it looks so bare after visiting Notre Dame on the hill.

Interesting motto!

There were a lot of interesting little shops to peek into, although many of them were already closed for the night.  

We really enjoyed our leisurely stroll through Old Lyon.  The city is pretty at night, but it is getting late so we head home.