Fortevraud Abbey, sitting in the sun, Troglodyte dinner!

Another beautiful and warm day in the Loire Valley.  We had an expedition to the Abbey Fontevraud today.  The abbey forms the biggest group of monastic buildings in France.  The place was founded in 1101 by Robert d'Arbrissel, who wished to be a hermit.  But, because of his preaching, he did not lead a very isolated life.  He became the head of a group of several hundred people from all walks of life, the majority of them women, very unusual for the time. And, his ideas were also radical for the time.  Luckily for him, the nobles of Anjou supported him generously and a community was formed.

Robert was a restless person and did not stay in the community very long; he took to the road, only occasionally revisiting the community he founded. But, in a very unique gesture, he left the community under an abbess, Hersende de Champagne.  This began a tradition of the community being headed by women; in all, there were 36 abbesses of the Abbey, many of them related to the nobility.

The abbey was unusual in that there were three sections, or monasteries, for women and one for men.  But, even the monks were under the rule of the Abbess.  And, some of the Abbesses treated the monks unequally, giving them less food and less clothing than what the nuns were given.

The abbey was in existence for over 700 years. Despite clashes between the monks and the various Abbesses, the submission of the men lasted until the Revolution.  Under Napoleon, it became a prison and it remained a prison until 1963!  Hence, the buildings have undergone many changes.  Nevertheless, there was a lot to see. The kitchens, built in the 1200's were very interesting with 7 hearths, many chimneys and a fish-scale roof design.

The three convents were:  The Order of Mary Magdelene for previously married women and former whores; an order, Saint Lazarus for those who worked and took care of lepers and the sick; and the order for the cloistered nuns who took vows of poverty, chastity and silence.  Theirs was the "Grand - Moutier." They had no connection with the outside world.  We saw the dormitory area where they lived, as well as the cloistered courtyard, the refectory where they ate and the chapter house where major decisions were made.

During the 12th Century, the abbey was associated with the Plantagenets.   Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had been the Queen of France and then, of England, is buried there, along with her English husband, Henry II, and her son, Richard-the-Lion-Hearted.

The abbey continued to prosper and grew very wealthy.  Louis XV entrusted the education of his four daughters to the abbey.

But, the abbey became a notorious high-security prison during the time of Napoleon.  Many of the buildings were demolished, such as the men's monastery. During the 1840's there were 1600 people there, including women and children, even though it had been built to accommodate only 700 prisoners. The author Jean Genet made the prison infamous in his novels after his imprisonment there in the 1830's. (The Miracle of the Rose.)

Anyhow, after the long educational day, we went to the cafe near the castle of Saumur and had some baguettes, went home and had some iced coffees in the garden and naps.

In the evening, we all went to Les Cathedrals de Saulais, a place recommended by Celine. She wrote, "If you have to do only one thing in this region, please go to this place.  It's a restaurant with really typical food that you will only find in the Saumur area."  It was quite an adventure as there is just one comprix menu.  ( 26 Euros each).

We started out with an aperitif wine that had roses in it, followed by a particular bread from the oven, called fouace. It came with every course, I think.  But, the appetizer course included the bread with some wonderful stuffed mushrooms that are grown in Saumur, although they are called Paris mushrooms.  It was yummy.  Then, we had a coarse textured pork pate, again with fouace.  It was okay.  The main course was:  a piece of duck, a piece of blood sausage, a piece of bacon-like pork strip, a white bean and carrot dish, and salad.  We were all a bit sketchy about the blood sausage, but it actually was pretty good, particularly with the fouace.  Michael didn't much like it, though.  Red wine came with the meal, too.  The next course was strong chevre cheese from the region which I quite liked, but the rest of the group found it too strong for their tastes.  And, we were all too full to have any more fouace which probably would have helped with the cheese. Finally, we had a caramel cake which was delicate and creamy and a cup of espresso.
It was a lot of fun altogether and it was in an amazing series of underground caverns (troglodyte)  The restaurant consisted of several rooms, but, as we left, they directed us through another series of cavernous rooms.

A good day.