Aubeterre sur Dronne (14/9)

Sky trails at sunrise - a benefit of an early morning run!

Allan went for a a run this morning, and Jill was a little concerned because she could hear the sound of gun-fire not so far away. She assumed that the locals were out shooting, but had no idea where they were in relation to where Allan might be. He duly arrived back in one piece, and he had been a little worried himself.

It was washing day, so we headed off the Chalais to find a laundromat. They seem to be few and far between here. Whilst the washing was doing its thing, we walked across to the supermarket for a few things. There are many brands on the shelves here that we recognise from home. One thing we couldn't find on the shelves here though was muesli. Oats were the nearest thing to muesli that you could buy.

Bugatti

After completing the washing we headed for a small town called Aubeterre sur Dronne, famous for the intriguing church of St Jean, carved out of a hillside by monks in the 12th century. Of course we arrived during lunch so had to fill in three-quarters of an hour whilst waiting to visit the church. This wasn't difficult because Aubeterre is on the 'most beautiful villages of France' list. The village is sited on a steep hill, so much of it is pedestrian walkways. We wandered down the hill looking for a snack and came across a carpark down at the base of the village were five Bugatti racing cars, an Alvis, and an Alpha Romeo, all probably circa 1925-30! The restaurant across the road was booked out!

These houses cling to the cliff and are
entered at all levels.  The former laundry
in the foreground now a fishpond.

We therefore worked our way back up the hill. Some of the houses rose for three storeys clinging to the hillside, and some of these were medieval structures with balconied verandas which are uncommon. The communal laundry is still in one of the squares, although it is now a fishpond. It is quite shallow so I think the carp must cook in summer. We bought a delicious gelati on our way to another 12th century church, the collegiate church of Saint Jacques. It was consecrated in 1171 in response to the number of pilgrims passing on their route to Compostella. The facade dates back to the 12th century, but the interior was restored in the 1970's. Because of the topography you stepped down into this church which was very simple inside, with a restored timber ceiling sitting on the original beams.

The whole church has been carved out
under a cliff.  Note the relative size of the people.

After visiting the church of St. Jaques we made our way back to that of St. Jean. This has to be one of the most intriguing churches we have visited. As mentioned it was a cave carved out of the hillside and it was huge with the nave being 20m high. There is only about one third of the original "building" remaining, the majority of it having collapsed over the centuries, and the front part may have been external to the cliff. There were originally twelve gigantic pillars holding up the roof, which was carved to look like the underside of a dome. Off to one side of the nave is a free-standing lantern about four metres high which is hollow. This is thought to have been carved out to form a reliquary to house relics that a were going to be brought back to France from the crusades, although this never happened. At some stage the church fell out of use as a place of worship, and became a necropolis. During archeological work more than 160 graves have been unearthed. The skeletons are undergoing scientific examination to try to establish what their origins might be. At least one is thought to be that of a pilgrim because it was buried with a scallop shell which is the symbol worn by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostella. There is also a crypt, very simple, with an alter space at one end. This wasn't discovered until the 1970's. The whole site is a very different place to visit.

Cyrano

We headed south to Bergerac after leaving Aubeterre, travelling through rolling countryside. We parked close to the cathedral because it is usually sited close to the town centre and went for a walk. Soon enough we found the old quarter and wandered through this down to the river. Again the medieval nestled alongside the Renaissance and the modern. We found two statues of Cyrano, one modern and one traditional. It was Sunday, so we were a little unsure of what our choice of eateries would be available, but we found a pizzeria after which we headed home. Our route took us down some back roads, and in one place got glared at by a group of shooters. No doubt we were disturbing their game, but we found them a bit disturbing. They were all wearing bright fluoro jackets which is fine for them, but anyone else not knowing they were around wouldn't be, and they were shooting from the road by the looks of it. Anyway, we arrived back at our hotel without buckshot in our tails.