Churchday

All the reports I saw on Friday predicted rain for Sunday, but we lucked out. Not that it was sunny at all. Not wanting to hike in the gloomy woods, we said we'd get out of the car for a walk up on the heights. 

We did stop, and walk about 10 feet from the car, and then got back in again so M could show me some delightful little parish churches before they locked up after mass.

Look, here's one! (would have to get out a map to figure out where we were) Mass was just letting out, so we'd be sure to get in for a look around before they closed the doors.

Inside, they were setting up a baptism, with lots of family and a photographer with a gigantic camera and two guitarists. So we didn't hang around much once they started the ceremony. Which was fine with me. Half an hour was already enough. Saw the windows, the capitals, the layout, the paintings. Very nice, but I'm just not that into catholic history.

Next town, another little jewel, with its bells all in a row and the main entrance at the side of the nave & not at the foot. Another baptism underway, though, and this one was packed so there was not even any discrete wandering about the back. Aw. I was slightly more interested in what was across the street.

We never did stop for lunch. Having had breakfast late we weren't hungry at noon, and then there aren't a lot of places open on Sundays, and none after 2. In Langeac, however, there were two bakeries open still at 3:30. When I saw the first one I was tempted to go in and just take whatever they had (a blueberry tartlet looked acceptable), because you can't count on finding a second bakery open after noon in a town as small as Langeac. But M knew a place that was usually open, so we went on. I figured we could always come back to the first if need be. She was right, though, and they had cookies in the shape of rabbits (two please) and one last square of blueberry crumble-cake (take that), and raspberry crumble cake (one piece please), and one last blueberry crumble cake to serve 6 (yes, we'll be having that too, for later).

M would have been happy to tour every church and abbey on the route back, but there are many, many, many of these. Three visits and many more seen from the outside is definitely enough for me. Didn't get back to Aubière until nearly 7 as it was.