TravLog, stardate: 01-05-05a

Scriptorium
Originally uploaded by Epiphany.

~Part 1: Epiphany finds her happy place~
Today Doc took me and Matthieu (her lovely 8 month old son) touring around Bourgogne. At Michel's recommendation, we went to the museum at Chatillion sur Seine, to see the Vase de Vix (pron.: vahs duh veeks). It's an Etruscan vase, found in a tomb discovered in the 1950's, that dates back to 2500 years ago.

Yes, the sixth century before Christ. Jesus Christ could have seen it in a museum and said "wow. that's old." ...except that it wasn't in a museum then. it was still buried. but that's notmypoint. ...hang on. I need a moment to stuff my BRAIN back into my HEAD.

The Vase is about 5 1/2 feet tall, and maybe 4 feet in diameter. Actually bigger than my apartment. Also discovered in the tomb were the remains of a Celtic princess, and all the swag she was buried with, including a great big golden tiara, some bracelets, dishes, coins, etc. A Celtic princess with Etruscan bling. Very cool.

We went to lunch at a restaurant filled with birds and testosterone. Seriously. There were literally about 8-10 birds I could see from the front door, and a bar, and about 5 men, watching sports. So Me, Doc in all her motherness, and Matthiew in all his babyness installed ourselves in a corner booth. I noticed that the three men at the table next to us shared a look of," Great. Chicks. and a Baby." But about 30 minutes into lunch, one man noticed that he'd not heard a Peep out of the baby, and he looked over at Matthieu, who flashed him a charming smile that said, "what up, dawg?" One cynic down. I ordered the sampler plate of MEAT. Two down, one to go. And I'm not at liberty to say what Doc did to thaw the third cynic, but suffice it to say, it's not something you'd expect from the mother of an 8 month old child who's sitting rightthere! After the men left, it was just the three of us, and the waitress, and then her young daughter came in, and the place was awash in warm girliness. Our job here done, we headed to the next spot on our map - L'Abbaye de Fontenay.

Fontenay Abbey was founded by Saint Bernard in 1118. It's Cistercian, which means that the monks who lived there sought peace and simplicity and seclusion. They felt that all of the rich decoration and sculptures found at Benedictine Abbeys went against the vows of poverty and encouraged pride, one of the deadly sins. Fontenay is... to be honest,...one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It's set in a valley, isolated from the sounds and interruptions of the modern world. There are fountains on the grounds, so you can hear the water wherever you go. The architecture is early gothic, so there are plenty of arches, but they are all very simple, and dignified. The sense of calm is all around. In the church, there was a recording of monks singing, but it was playing low, so you felt like it was the imprint of those who had gone before, still echoing through the stone walkways.

I headed out to the cloister, which is basically a covered walk around a square garden. The 12th century monks would come here for some quiet reflection and meditation, and shelter from the weather. By this point, Doc and Matthieu had headed off in their own direction, and I was alone with the cloister, and the quiet, the sound of the hills, and the mist of a rain. I sat down on a step, facing the garden, and felt a tear slide down my cheek. I felt a bit of sadness, that I had to come this far to find this place, but mostly I felt relief -- Calm, and Peace, and Rest from the burden of everyday life. Eight hundred years ago the monks felt it, and on a Wednesday in January in 2005 it still filled this valley.

We ended the tour at the gift shop, and in an attempt to take a little of the place home with me, I spent over 65 euros on 'souvenirs.' I got a cd of the monks singing Cistercian songs for Vespers and Complines, a package of illuminated manuscript paper, and a very cool model of the Abbey that I can cut out and put together. We chatted for a while with Mr. Bean's twin at the gift shop, and he confirmed that our next planned stop, the Musee Alesia, was closed for the season, but he did recommend that we visit Flavigny, a small medieval village on the way back to Doc's house.