a college student's five month quest to see europe and soak in la vie française

a college student's five month quest to see europe and soak in la vie française

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

fontevraud

another excursion, another rainy day... i'm beginning to believe it's impossible for our group to experience good weather in our travels. this fifth excursion was to the abbey of fontevraud, considered revolutionary for its placement of monks and nuns in the same establishment. napoleon I turned the abbey into a prison during his reign, though today it is a purely historic site.
a crucifix constructed in the fourteenth century. think about how old that is!
the rooftop of the kitchen at the abbey, rife with chimneys.
the ceiling of the kitchen from the interior.
pretty architecture...
...pretty landscaping.
one of several lovely courtyards at the abbey.
les égouts (the sewers) of the abbey.
murals of religious life at the abbey. would you look at those ceilings?
the light-filled eighteenth century church.
isn't it incredible?
another courtyard at the abbey. i love the gridlike hedges!
the convergence of the loire and the vienne.
my host brother, paul, ready for his cotillion dance and me in the process of getting ready for carl's birthday party.

7 comments:

  1. I don't know which I think is cuter: the abbey and its landscape and architecture or your host brother!

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  2. i love the history of europe... here in arizona you are hard pressed to find a building built before 1950!

    i did a study abroad in austria and the netherlands and just loved it... i'm glad to see you are soaking it all in!

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  3. these are beautiful photos! i love the courtyards and the bright green. :)

    thanks for sharing!
    erin :)

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  4. Beautiful pics! Sounds like you're having a wonderful adventure.

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  5. These pictures are lovely :D

    Happy Weekend! xx
    http://hopechella.blogspot.com/

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  6. Interesting architecture.
    Have a nice week.

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  7. We just stumbled across your blog and we love, love, love it!!
    Great post too!!!

    http://brunchatbarneys.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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