IN SEARCH OF EVE

Our day didn't really start until lunchtime, when the first dish of the day was escargot!
  Back in 2005, having left the UK, we stopped in Paris enroute home to Australia.  Whilst there our daughter celebrated her 10th birthday.  When asked what she would like to eat for her birthday, we really weren't expecting her to request escargot (snails)!  Eleven years on & she has had 2 student exchanges to France & still loves the dish.

The weather widgets had contradicting views on what the weather was going to do today, so with a morning of predominantly blue skies & sunshine, we thought we'd venture forth & took the road to Autun.  The countryside was stunningly beautiful, with green vines & lush farming land on either side as we drove on.

I was enamoured with the white charolais cattle dotted around in many of the fields that we passed.  Unfortunately, we weren't in a position to stop so that I could take a decent photo of them, but I think you can get the idea of white blobs on the green landscape!!

I suppose it was predictable, but as soon as we arrived in Autun, the rain came down, and with it the wind.  WHY do they always have to hang out together!!!  I think I'd cope better with rain if it didn't include wind most of the time!!

Our first stop was St Lazare's Cathedral.  Originally this was a pilgrimage chapel, where the bones of Lazarus were entombed.  In the 12th century the current church was built in it's place.  The most notable feature was the tympanum at the front of the cathedral.  The many characters represented the idea of the Last Judgement.  I suspect the painter Bosch would have felt right at home with some of the grotesque images carved from stone in this incredible piece of work.

Inside, there were more carvings on the capitals of pillars, & with the dark interior & the height of the pillars it was quite hard to see & photograph them.  This is one of the intriguing ones!

Just across the road is the Musee Rolin, established by the very same benefactor who created the Hotel-Dieu I mentioned in yesterday's post.  My main reason for wanting to visit was to see this incredibly beautiful relief sculpture of Eve.  Imagine my wail of despair when I read that she has been taken away for a 'facelift' & will next be seen in public in the Louvre during an exhibition in September. Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! So I had to be content with this postcard....which I photographed for you!

This little museum has some wonderful treasures, predominantly Roman, which is understandable given that it was originally a Roman settlement named Augustodunum.  I took many pictures & loved many pieces, but I found this fragment of feet both beautiful & moving. Who did they belong to? How were their bodies positioned to create such an interesting placement of feet?  Did these long toes belong to women or men? Where had they been & where were they going?

Our last stop was to the remaining amphitheatre, which is clearly still in use today.  Although you cant see it in this photo, the location is quite spectacular, with a river flowing a short distance away, & views of lush pastureland.  It reminded me a little of the Minack Theatre in the south of Cornwall, even if the surrounding landscape is quite different, & ....as was pointed out to me...it faces the ocean, not just a mere river!!!!

We had a fabulous afternoon, & enjoyed seeing the land that grows the grapes that makes this region so famous!