Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Montpellier

Since my visit to Mont St. Michel, it's been long driving days. One night in Nantes, another important college town. They host many American students. American Universities have "french" campuses there. Maybe they are worries about letting them loose in Paris.

Then it was Bordeaux for one night. I had stopped into Bordeaux a few years ago, but not this Bordeaux. I had a hotel in a very different "quartier" and it made all the difference in the world. Tonight was a nice long walk along the quai of the rivers and canals. Bordeaux, which is a variance on an old french name which literally mean, "on the water's edge" is an apt name for the place. Bordeaux is located at the head of the Gironde, a huge wedge shaped bay which opens up into the Atlantic Ocean and it is at the convergence of 4 major rivers which drain most of central France - the Dordogne, the Lot, the Vezere, and the Garonne. A nice dinner and a quiet evening in.

From Bordeaux, it was a 5 hour drive to Toulouse. I had three evenings in Toulouse. Toulouse is another great college town. It is also very important in the tradition of the Domincans. St. Thomas Aquinas in buried there in the Church of the Jacobins. Here are some photos.

The austere exterior of L'Eglise des Jacobins. This is the abbey church for the Toulouse Dominican community in its early years. Dominic founded the Dominican Order, or the Order of Preachers, in 1216. Construction of this church began in 1229 and continued through 1350. 

It is a relatively simple contruction of two naves suppoted by a single central row of columns. The main altar is in along the side of the church and not at the end of a nave.

Under the main altar lies the remains of St. Thomas Aquinas, OP. Teacher and Preacher. 1215-1274. His writings form the basis of most of the catechism and theology taught in the church for 600 years.

An interesting way to look at the ceiling. Around the base of one of the pillars, there is a large circular mirror which reflects the ceiling.

The cloister of the abbey.

The bell tower from the cloister.

A stained glass window in a small chapel off the cloister.

A very simple entrance to this beautiful place.

The minimal decoration at the entrance of the Jacobins Church

On Saturday, as I was wandering around the city, I came upon posters announcing an organ recital at the Church of Notre Dame du Taur. I was in the neighborhood and the concert was to begin in an hour, so I went. The organ recital was the last in a series, every Saturday from the first week of Easter to Trinity Sunday.

This church is built on the place where St. Sernin, the first bishop of Toulouse, was martyred in 250. Actually his martyrdom covered lot of ground in a manner of speaking. He was dragged by his feet behind an angry bull through the streets of Toulouse. This church is built on the place where his body was deposited after his death. And so the name of the this church is really, Our Lady of the Bull. "taur" the latin word from which we get the english word taurus.

On Sunday morning, I returned to Notre Dame du Taur for Mass. Again I was asked to do a reading as I entered the church. This Mass at 11:30am had many catechumens attending. I spoke to a parishioner after Mass who he catechumenate is very active in France with nearly 3 generations of unchurched French. The "new evangelization" proposed by Blessed Pope John Paul II is an important part of the life of the church here.

After Mass I continued walking down Rue du Taur towards the Basilica of St. Sernin, where St Sernin is buried. There was a huge market going on; four rows of vendors completely encircling the basilica - a big place. So I made the rounds of the market. I think this is where most people in the city buy clothes, fabric, housewares, and everything under the sun. There was surprisingly little food except for a couple of bakers, and people selling snacks to eat on the run.

The basilica was open.

Basilica of St. Sernin.

This pre-gothic architecture shows the heaviness and bulkiness that was replaced by the light and soaring gothic styles of two centurieds later.

The choir stall in the sanctuary at St. Sernin. Most cathedrals of this period have this seating at the side or behind the main altar. Cathedrals were staffed by "canons", from which we get the word "canonical", refering to something within the structure of the church. The canons were priests, brothers, and occasionally laymen who would run the day to day operation of the cathedral and the ministry from the cathedral. In many cases they were employees of the local town, who in most cases owned the cathedrals. In France today, the government owns all the major cathedrals.  

There was a museum across the street from the basilica which picked my curiosity. The museum of St. Raymond, which occupies an old hospital from the 15th century. Today it is the municipal museum of Toulouse. The large banner hanging in front of the museum was announcing an "'Ex-pot' de restauration". With this little play on words I was ancious to get into to see this exhibition of the history of restaurants. I paid my entrance and found myself in the middle of huge rom filled with hundreds of pieces of ancient greek pottery. The exhibit was not about restaurants at all It was about the "restoration" process of the ancient pottery found in archaelogical digs all over the Mediteranean. Oh well! It was a fascinating visit and I learned new things.

But I was now hungry and found a nice little brasserie.

Today I left Toulouse and headed towards Montpellier. Again I got sidetracked. There are just too many surprises happening on this experience. My GPS started to scream at one point. IT had detected an 85 minute delay ahead on the highway. If I took the next exit, I would cut the delay to only 20 minutes. That 20 minute delay turned into 3 hours. I took the exit and came across the sign pointing to Fanjeaux. Something in head said that this was vaguely familiar. And then it came to me. Sr. Joseph Marie asked me before I left if I was going to visit Fanjeaux. Frere Henri-Dominique at La Sainte-Baume had talked about Fanjeaux. A quick look in the guide book and there it was. St. Dominic had served as the parish priest there. The town is a classic small hill town in the French country side. The center of the cluster of buildings crowned of course by the tower of the church. It was 12:30pm and of course anything that would have been opened on a Monday was shut tight for repos. As I turned the corner near the church, a Domincan priest drove by. He stopped and I asked him if Dominic's house was open. He said no but he would open it for me. I introduced my self, and told him about my January/February retreat and my upcoming gthree days at La Sainte-Baume. He of course knows all the brothers there very well. My unexpected detour turned into a nearly two hour visit of the house, and the village. Fr. Yves-Henri Riviere, op. He showed the little oratory that is built in the house where Dominc is believed to have lived during his time in Fanjeaux. All that remains of the house is a large fireplace and some beams known to be 13th century.

The tiny oratory with its huge fireplace and beautiful old tabernacle made from gilt panels from the Basilica of St. Maximin. (Look up the blog from late February when I concelebrated Mass there with Bishop  Dominique Rey.)

The altar in the Oratory in the St. Dominic House. The altar is facing the big fireplace of the last photo.

The garden at the rear of the house.

After my tour, Fr. Yves-Henri and I exchanged information and he very kindly gave me some books as a gift. "St. Dominic en Lauragais" (The account of St. Dominic in the Lauragais region, Fanjeaux.), "St. Dominic, the Apostolic Life", "Saint Dominic and his brothers, Evangelization or Crusade?" and little panphlet, " The Nine Ways of Praying of St. Dominic". Also a prayer card with a photo of the beautifully carved door in the restoration of the Oratory.

Merci, Frere Yves-Henri, pour une belle visite cette apresmidi et pour le cadeau de les livres. Ces petites evenements qui ne sont pas part du plan de mon sabbatique sont les plus memorables. Je vous offert mes prieres pendant mon petit sejour a La Sainte-Baume cette semaine.





Frere Yves-Henri Riviere. OP

 Here are few pictures of the little village of Fanjeaux.

The church in Fanjeaux

Fanjeaux Main Street.

Le Halle: the covered market place a block away from the church.

The rest of the afternoon was on the road to Montpellier where I will spend the night before leaving for La Sainte-Baume Tuesday monrning.


As I'm thinking I am winding down on this sabbatical, the new discoveries and surprising events just keep happening.
Blessings all of them!

A demain.