I got to the Abbaye a bit early, and had time for an almond pastry for breakfast.
The complex of buildings and grounds that make up the abbey is large, and once you have your ticket you can wander at will. The abbey church contains four effigies – Henry Plantaganet, count of Anjou and King of England, his wife Eleanor, and 2 sons – Richard the Lionheart and King John. I was really taken with the bit I learned of Eleanor’s story. I like that her effigy is reading.
Between the cloisters was this structure, called a sculpture, that looked like a roller coaster, only it’s for walking along.
More of the towers I love.
Shale was being used as mulch for the roses.
This ceiling decoration is similar to something I saw in the mosaic garden.
In my driving I came upon a windmill that reminded me of Rapunzel’s tower.
In Loudun, I saw the shape of a door mirrored in the paving.
I had lunch in a square where a priest had been burned for witchcraft, and a number of exorcisms had been performed in the nearby church. It was a site of hysteria concerned the supposed mass possession of nuns by the devil in 1634. Today the square looked quite innocent. Lunch was a Kir apero
and a pancake filled with cheese and ham and potato.
One of the things I wanted to see here was a medieval inspired garden – but a photo through barred gates was as near as I got.
I was umming and ahing as to whether to pay the entrance fee to the Chateau de Brissac, but the decision was made for me, as it was closed for a family wedding. I was still able to get some good shots from the road.
On the way home I stumbled across a wonderfully derelict windmill.
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