We were back in Saint-Aignan by mid-afternoon that Saturday in March, after having spent a good part of the morning in Brioude. The weather cooperated, and we had just a little bit of rain on the 3½ hour drive on autoroutes past Clermont-Ferrand (home of Michelin tires), Monmarault (Callie's "home town" — remember Callie?), Saint-Amand-Montrond (at the geographical center of France), Bourges (fantastic cathedral), Vierzon (a railroad town), and then on east to Saint-Aignan.
Here a last couple of photos of the Basilique Saint-Julien in Brioude. They somehow never appeared in the posts I've done over the past week. I guess they are a little redundant, but here they are quand même. The tour group above is the group I followed into the church and tried to sidestep as I was taking photos.
Below is a last Brioude slideshow. The church is the star of it. Today is Sunday, after all. It's just eight photos I had left over. The first one shows that same tour group as the group entered the basilica. In other photos, you can see from the outside some of those contemporary stained-glass windows that were installed in the church in 2008.
I wouldn't mind going back to Brioude one day. There are several châteaux in the area, as well as some religious buildings including La Chaise-Dieu. But I'll probably never go back. We've been to the Auvergne three times over the past 10 years. The first trip, in 2009, was to the Cantal, which is the southwestern part of the region. We went with our friends Evelyn and Lewis, and their friend Linda. We had a great gîte, enjoyed the town of Salers, drove up to the top of a mountain, the Puy Marie (in the rain), walked out into a pasture to see the cows being milked (stepping carefully), and went to a dairy farm to see the cheese-making process. In 2018, Walt and I spent a few days in the Allier, in northeast Auvergne. And then this year the Haute-Loire, in southeast Auvergne. It has all been fun, but it's time to move on to other regions for our mini-vacations.
This is certainly a most beautiful church, outside and inside. I'm really sorry I missed it on my way South those many years ago. Unfortunately you can't see everything. As Donnie would say, sad!
ReplyDeleteYes, we can't see it all, but I'm really glad to have visited the Cantal with you and Walt!
DeleteI really loved that 2009 trip — the village, château, and village at Tournemire; the cheeses and seeing how they're made; Salers; Le Château du Val on the lake; seeing the cows being milked in the pasture; driving to the top of the Puy Marie in the rain; and on and on. I also remember so clearly and fondly the 2011 trip to the Perche region, with the horse show at Le Haras du Pin and the tour of the Château de Carrouges.
Delete(I think that should be Puy Mary, not Marie. Sigh...
DeleteI have seen the château de Val in early 1944, before the Bort-les-Orgues' Dam was built. There was no water around it, just the Dordogne River way below it. On n'arrête pas le progrès. At the time I was a would be photographer un apprenti photographe at the Barrage de l'Aigle, down river from Marèges and Val, which was under construction.
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