The view from Brancion over the countryside of southern Burgundy
One of France's best- preserved Cistercian abbeys, 12th-century Fontenay
The heart of the abbey was the beautiful cloister
The monks lived in long, open dormitories above the cloister
The abbey church reflects the belief of its founder, St. Bernard, that decorations distracted the mind from prayer
Our Lady of Fontenay, carved in the late 13th century
The tomb of English bishop Eborard of Norwich, who died at Fontenay
In the abbey's forge, a waterwheel outside powered a hammer inside . . .
. . . which was used to break iron ore quarried nearby
The hamlet of Lournand, which we passed while walking to Cluny one hot afternoon
The old lavoir (laundry house) in Lournand
A tower in the walls that surround the former abbey of Cluny
This bell tower is one of the few remnants of the huge abbey church built around 1100
The abbey's cloister and dormitories are now a school of engineering
Students just back to school look out their dorm window
Old Testament prophets in the abbey's Jean de Bourbon chapel
Vineyards in the village of Peronne, near Macon, where we stayed with hosts
The local Chardonnay grapes were just a few weeks away from harvesting
Chris next to the church in Peronne
Strange animals carved on the outside of the church
This boundary stone by the church showed that Peronne was under the authority of Cluny Abbey
Flowers on a tiled roof in Peronne
And by Peronne's old covered laundry house
Our host family in Peronne
The great modern cathedeal of Macon
The 11th century Abbey of St. Philibert in Tournus
A very old Madonna and Child in the abbey church
A chapel beneath the present church
Carvings on the steeple of the abbey church
Brancion Castle and its tiny village on a hilltop near Tournus
The castle belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy
A great old house near the castle gate
Flowers in bloom in early September
Chris and our host's aunt touring the castle . . .
. . . and posing for a picture
Looking down on the village from the tower of Brancion Castle
The simple 12th century church of Brancion
With remnants of frescoes
This tourist was posing perfectly in the doorway of the church