The Abbey at Cadouin is reputed to hold a peace of the cloth that covered Jesus, but don’t they all say that? What interested me was the cloister, which is meant to be one of the most beautiful in the area. I’d read in the guide the tourist office sent me that it was closed until July, but I decided to take a detour anyway and see what the abbey was like from the outside.
.jpg)
I wasn’t expecting much of the village itself as it doesn’t seem to be mentioned in any of my guide books, but what a gorgeous little place. The square is dominated by the abbey which is absolutely huge, but there is also a beautiful ‘halle’ (ancient market place), a couple of café/restaurants and even a wine cellar where a jug of the house wine costs just 2.50€ - what a bargain!
.jpg)
I’d read on the information panel that the cloister was in fact open in June, but not until 2pm so I decided on a quick Panini and glass of Rose while I was waiting – for tasting purposes only of course. 2pm came and went, and a number of visitors were milling about the information board waiting for them to open. By 2:15 we began to suspect that there was a problem so having got nowhere enquiring at the town hall, the lady at the wine cellar pointed out ‘except Tuesdays’ in tiny writing below the times. Drats!
.jpg)
Luckily, when I explored the abbey earlier in the day I discovered that the door leading to the cloister from the church had a Perspex window which was slightly broken at the bottom. Risking injury (or perhaps being hailed as a stigmata when I slashed my wrist), I stuck my hand through the gap and snapped off a couple of shots.
.jpg)
.jpg)
I wasn’t expecting much of the village itself as it doesn’t seem to be mentioned in any of my guide books, but what a gorgeous little place. The square is dominated by the abbey which is absolutely huge, but there is also a beautiful ‘halle’ (ancient market place), a couple of café/restaurants and even a wine cellar where a jug of the house wine costs just 2.50€ - what a bargain!
.jpg)
I’d read on the information panel that the cloister was in fact open in June, but not until 2pm so I decided on a quick Panini and glass of Rose while I was waiting – for tasting purposes only of course. 2pm came and went, and a number of visitors were milling about the information board waiting for them to open. By 2:15 we began to suspect that there was a problem so having got nowhere enquiring at the town hall, the lady at the wine cellar pointed out ‘except Tuesdays’ in tiny writing below the times. Drats!
.jpg)
Luckily, when I explored the abbey earlier in the day I discovered that the door leading to the cloister from the church had a Perspex window which was slightly broken at the bottom. Risking injury (or perhaps being hailed as a stigmata when I slashed my wrist), I stuck my hand through the gap and snapped off a couple of shots.
.jpg)
There was just time for a spot of quick window shopping at the antique type shops opposite before heading off again. These shops where chocked full of the things that we English think of as typically French and therefore absolutely love, and it reminded me again of the heavy British influence in this area.
.jpg)
What a shame it was Tuesday and also that Cadouin is just a little too far for a return visit another day.
.jpg){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment