Our Thursday morning in Burgundy, last October 23, was a disappointment. It wasn't that the sights weren't worth seeing. It was the weather. In Môlay early in the morning, it was gray but dry. I had a good walk around the village with the dog.
We wanted to see the Abbaye de Fontenay near Montbard.
By the time we headed out for the day's touring, however, a light mist had started falling. We were headed southeast to the town of Montbard, 40 km (25 mi.) from Môlay. It was a 45-minute drive, according to Google Maps. And as we drove, the mist turned into drizzle and the drizzle turned into rain. It wasn't predicted.
White cows in a pasture near the Abbaye de Fontenay
Our plan was to go take a walk around the grounds of an old religious complex called the Abbaye Royale de de Notre-Dame de Fontenay, out in the country just east of Montbard. We got kind of lost driving through the town, but I wanted to get a glimpse of it anyway, so it didn't matter. We ended up on a tiny winding road through cow pastures, but we finally found the place.
Despite the rain, we did manage to peek inside the front gate.
This wasn't the first time we'd tried to see the Abbaye de Fontenay. CHM had told us about it more than 20 years ago, and on one of our trips to Provence in the mid-'90s we had stopped in Montbard and found the abbey as we were driving back to Paris at the end of our stay. We drove up right at 6:00 p.m., just as the gates were being closed for the night. Raté.
This stitched-together image isn't perfect, but it gives you an idea of the view through the main gate.
This time, we had Callie in the car, and it was raining. I had read on a web site that you could take your dog on the walk around the grounds and see the exteriors of the buildings as long as the dog was on a leash. That was our plan. With with the rain, it wasn't possible. The worst thing would be to have a soaking wet dog in the car after such a walk. And we didn't want to go on the guided tour of the buildings. Raté.
More tomorrow...
I currently have up, as my desktop picture, one of Walt's photos of cloister columns (some in shades of pinkish rock) with gorgeous foliage capitals, that I think were from Fontenay. Googling, however, does not bring up the photo, so I may be wrong. Might be Fontevraud, but Googling that didn't bring up this photo, either :) Either way, they're gorgeous, and your post reminded me of where they are (maybe?) from :)
ReplyDeleteCould it have been at Le Mont St-Michel?
DeleteJudith
DeleteMay be from his November post:
http://www.wcs4.blogspot.ca/2014/11/a-glimpse-of-abbaye-de-fontenay.html
I didn't remember that W. had posted a picture of that same UNESCO sign.
DeleteKen and The Beaver, no, neither of those!
DeleteThe photos are quite nice (love cows and cloisters) despite the rain. Merci.
ReplyDeleteSuch a tantalizing glimpse.
ReplyDelete(Had some trouble commenting; hope this doesn't appear twice.)
No, not twice. Wish we could have seen more of Fontenay. We'll have to go back for a third attempt.
DeleteHi, Ken. The white cows are Charolais (originally from the area around the town of Charolles in Burgundy). Growing up, my grandad in Missouri exclusively raised black Angus while his neighbors on the other side of the fence had white Charolais. Such was life in the South in the 60's, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteYes, Charolais. But I'm not sure I think Missouri is southern. Midwestern.
DeleteHistorically, I think of Missouri as a Southern state due to the fact that prior to the Civil War, it was legal to own slaves there. A true border state, by the end of the Civil War Missouri had supplied nearly 110,000 troops to the Union and about 40,000 troops for the Confederate Army. Of course, ask people in Seattle today where the state of Missouri is located and they largely reply, "Back East".
DeleteAnd, up north in Minnesota, they they think of us in Missouri as "the South", too. I honestly think sometimes folks from elsewhere just lump the "Miss..." states together (Missouri and Mississippi) *LOL*. We definitely don't sound like folks in Mississippi, though :) But... truly, we are technically the Midwest. However, in my opinion (as someone originally from New England and New Jersey), southern Missouri is very hick and backwoods southern... not elegant southern, like Evelyn ;) I'm disgustingly snobbish against hicks and probably offend lots of Missourians :)
DeleteDean France, where in MO was your grandfather's farm?
Hi, Judy. The family farm is 40 miles west of Hannibal and only 18 miles north of PARIS...(MO, that is).
DeleteDean France, there is some lovely countryside up there!
Delete