Looking for churches and other France adventures.
Posted in Church Reports, Drome - Churches, Google Map - Drome Provencale on Feb 22nd, 2008
Last year I wrote a “Church Preview” on this beautiful church in Drome Provencale, but all the research in the world could not prepare one for the beauty of this church, perched overlooking the Rhone and on every side, exquisitely manicured gardens on terraces on many levels.
We arrived at the church and there were [...]
Posted in Church Reports, Drome - Churches on Feb 12th, 2008
The experience of of seeing a Romanesque ruin is very unique. The air of mystery surrounding the church is almost palpable. Contrary to what you might think, ruins are not that common. My guess would be once a church collapsed centuries ago, the stones might have been used for other construction.
Here are some [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches on Feb 7th, 2008
Last year we visited Drome Provencale and Ardeche, but I did not post much after our return because I somehow ruined the memory card with all my photos. What a disaster! I could see the photos in the camera but my card reader would not recognize the “device”. My colleague [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches, Uncategorized on May 29th, 2007
The Cathedral of Notre Dame & St Paul was classified as a historic building in 1841 then restored under Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870). Its construction dates from the 11th century and lasted until the beginning of XIIIe, i.e. at the height of the Romanesque architecture characterized by a “imposing sobrietyâ€.
Built out of calcareous stone, the dimensions [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches on May 27th, 2007
Notre Dame of the Roare
Although a precise date of construction is not available for this chapel, its style is of the earliest type of Romanesque construction. In addition, historians of the church connect to it to Benedictine history–it is part of the order of Cluny and nearby churches were established in Pont St Esprit in [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches on May 27th, 2007
This is a very curious little town. There’s not much out there on this town, but there is a homegrown site by the grandson of Eugene Martin, a famous Provencal writer. The town has an old town, partially in ruins, on the top of the hill and the newer village is below.
Besides a romaneque church [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches, Roman Ruins on May 25th, 2007
I found this description of a walk from Clansayes that takes all the glories of this ancient place.
From the Randoguide of the Drome.
The circuits are marked by yellow and white triangles with the number of the circuit on the inside.. (Maps are available and free at the Mairie.)
Toronne La Templière :
On the traces of the [...]
Posted in Dolmens & Other Archeological Tidbits, Drome - Churches on May 25th, 2007
Finally it’s time to go into Clansayes in detail. This tiny town is just chock-a-block full of interesting things and promises a full day of enjoyable exploration.
First, let’s talk about the mammoth tower. Clansayes is perched on a rocky outcrop, a strategic advantage in the wild and wooly dark ages. This tower was built in [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches on May 23rd, 2007
Two kilometers outside of town ( on the D572 A) east of St-Michel chapel, on the are the ruins of the 12th-century Chapelle de Val-des-Nymphes. In Gallo-Roman days this spot was probably a pagan shrine, as the name implies.
The roof and arches of the single-aisled Romanesque chapel are gone, but it still retains its character.
The [...]
Posted in Drome - Churches, Drome - Other Items of Interest on May 23rd, 2007
La Garde-Adhémar is an ancient village just several miles away from our rental house. In addition to being labeled one of ‘the most beautiful villages in France’, it has not one, but TWO Romanesque churches. The Romanesque beauty atop the walled village, perched on a promontory overlooking the Rhone, is Eglise of St. Michel. It [...]