A trip to the Berry (part 3 and last)

Apart from what was no my homework list, courtesy of “Bourgogne Romane”, I had found (in my newly acquired travel guide) some more thing to be visited.
Those places were in Cher (18) Bourges and Noirlac, and in Indres (36) La Berthenoux and Vic.

Cathedral - Bourges

We had planned Bourges (18) for an outing with the three of us, and that was an excellent choice. The centre of Bourges is interesting, with lots of half-timbered houses, and also the gothic cathedral, with a Romanesque tympanum was more than worth the visit. A pity it was so cold that day!

Abbey church - Noirlac

Noirlac (18) we visited the same day; the Cistercian abbey there is still in reasonably good state. Although not as impressive as the three sisters in Provence (Le Thoronet, Sénanque and Silvacane), the sobriety and simplicity of these huge complexes always impresses me.

Frescoes - Vic

Vic (36), part of Nohant-Vic, turned out to be a golden find. The church boasts an impressive collection of frescoes, covering the walls of choir and apse almost completely. The frescoes were only discovered in the 19th century, and George Sand, who lived in a château nearby, has seen these frescoes just after they had emerged from under a layer of plasterwork.

Left and right : narrow passages berrichons - Le Berthenoux

La Berthenoux (36) boast a number of interesting capatals, and has two very narrow passages berrichons (resp. 45 and 60 cm wide). We have spent only four days in this area, but in those four days we managed to see quite a lot of interesting things!

The link to the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle can be found here.

A trip to the Berry (part 2)

My homework list for the Berry region contained the following place names:
Déols, Ardentes, Châtillon-sur-Indre, Neuvy-Pailloux, Neuvy-St-Sepulcre, Saint-Gaultier, Saint-Genou.

Berry

A quick look on the map and the calendar (to check the time available) showed that we certainly would skip Châtillon-sur-Indre; that was just a trifle too far away from where we stayed. We had chosen Bourges for a day out with the three of us, and the other churches we might be able to fit in during the time my son was occupying himself. Because we did not have a Michelin Green Guide for this area, we purchased one and found some more interesting things to visit in the area. Below a very concise summary, including a link to the appropriate Picasa album.

Lanterne des Morts - Saint-Genou

Déols : an interesting part of an abbey church, with some remnants of the abbey buildings surrounding it.
Saint-Genou : an interesting church, inside as well as outside. On the edge of the town we found a Lanterne des Morts, a sort of beacon possibly in memory of the dead. There are more in this area; the origin and purpose of these structures is rather obscure. Most of them have been built in the 12th century and are mainly concentrated in the area which formed the Duchy of Aquitaine in the 10th century.

Apse - Neuvy-Pailloux

Ardentes : the church there was locked, but when we came back a few days later, we obtained the key without any problems from the town hall. Interesting church.
Neuvy-Pailloux : most of the church had been demolished. The apse however has an interesting ceiling painting.
Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre : the first rotunda church I have seen in France. The church was built based on instructions of Eudes de Déols, who had seen the Saint-Sépulchre church in Jerualem.

Rotunda - Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre

Because the example was a round church, the “old” rectangular building was partially demolished. However, when new pilgrims arrived from the holy land, they had seen that the church in Jerusalem had a rectangular part as well. That was the reason why demolition of the old rectangular church was stopped.
Saint-Gaultier : interesting church, with nicely decorated chevet.

Chevet - Saint-Gaultier

For the churches not on my homework list, see the next blog.

The link to the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle can be found here.