Walk: from our apartment to the abbey, La Tour des Fromages, and around town, 3 miles
Accommodation: Les Florales (Airbnb)
A rest day. That meant lots of cups of coffee and reading in bed, a late breakfast, laundry, bill paying, catching up with email, route planning, and accommodation updates--for me. Ken made the coffee and breakfast, joined in the reading, and made a grocery store run.
About noon, we were both ready to get outside. It was an absolutely beautiful, sunny day. We toured the Cluny Abbey, which was established in 910 by William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine. Archaeologists have been unearthing items from that era and even as far back as the Neolithic age--incredibly detailed and delicate jewelry and other artifacts. The abbey reached its peak in the 12th century, then went into a period of decline that was accelerated by the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century. In the 18th century, there was a move to take down the old remnants of the monastery and rebuild it in a classical style. The new buildings were barely used before the French Revolution put an end to monastic orders, and the buildings were sold off. Since then, the complex has suffered from the effects of the world wars, time, and economics. The tiny fraction that remains is incredible. I cannot imagine what Cluny was like before.
We loved exploring this site. It was Monday, and September, and this is a more remote location, so there were a few other visitors but no crowds. Many of the descriptions were in English (as well as French and other languages), so we could understand what we were seeing. And we had all day, with nothing else to do.
After wandering around the abbey for an hour or so, we found a restaurant for lunch. Then we went through the abbey museum, which was small and mostly interesting because of an exhibit of silk pieces from the Silk Road.
We paid a little extra to climb the 120 steps to the stop of La Tour des Fromages (Cheese Tower) and view the city.
Back to our apartment to watch the CBS Evening News, eat supper, and get ready to hit the road again tomorrow.
We like Cluny. Our apartment is clean and comfortable, and we have had a nice rest here.
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| The Cluny Abbey. |
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| The Abbey Museum had a display of weavings from the Silk Road. |
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| Relatively little is left of the abbey, but even that little bit is huge and impressive. |
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| Views of Cluny from the top of La Tour des Fromages. |
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| Cluny also had beautiful working fountains with potable water. |
