Abbey of Cluny, Burgundy, France

We had lunch (with wine) at La Nation in Cluny.  After all, this is france.

 We are fortunate to live six months a year in France.  This allows us to explore new areas as well as revisit favorite sites from previous years.  We decided to see Cluny for the first time.  I recommend visiting the Cluny Abbey and town.  You should allow plenty of time because there is so much to see and explore.  If you get a chance check out the National Stud Farm where 50 thoroughbred stallions reside.

We found this cat watching us from his rooftop in Cluny.

Window shopping we saw beautiful and tempting window displays.  Here are bouchon - chocolate corks.

It was hard not biting into one of the cute faces.  Wouldn't these be wonderful for Halloween?

Now for a brief history lesson about Cluny, which William the Pious founded in 910.  The abbey grew considerably until the 12^th century, was the mother house for around 1000 monasteries and priories across Europe and became the headquarters of the largest monastic order in the west:  the Cluniac order.  By 1100 it was the headquarters for 10,000 monks.  This abbey once vied with the Vatican as the most important power center in the Christian world.   In the XII century the mother house of the Order had seven towers, two transepts, five naves and was the biggest in all Christendom, second only, by a little to Bramante and Michelangelo’s church of Saint Peter.  The site was almost two football fields long (555 feet) and covered 25 acres.  The monks lived to fight against the Devil.  When people were convinced that the devil did not exist, Cluny lost all of its significance.  At that point the abbey was pulled down.  The Wars of Religion in the 16^th century hastened the abbey’s decline.  It was not until the 18^th century that a reconstruction program began restoring the abbey to something of its former glory.  In 1862 it was listed as a historic monument. The Cluny Abbey was the largest Christian building in the world until St. Peter's Basilica was rebuilt in Rome in the 16th century.

We climbed up the tower to admire the views.

The climb is worth the effort.

There are many photo ops.

The museum has wonderful original carvings.

Another relic that was dug up.

Photographs can't do justice to the original size and glory of Cluny at its zenith.

Remaining tower.

Looking up at the ceiling.

18th century monastery buildings form a U shape around the gardens.

Graceful hallway.

Magnificent stairway with intricate wrought iron and gold leaf.

Detail of one of the corbels which originally made up the base of a statue.

Corbels ringed the whole room.  You can see where the status originally resided.

Example of remaining windows.

Excavation continues

 There is an engineering school on the premises of the abbey with a museum.  The engineering students all wear grey robes, which are unadorned the first year, after which they each personalize their robes, which seems to express their personality (and possibly their particular engineering interest).

- Arts et Métiers ParisTech, Cluny is an engineering school that has been installed in the famous Abbey of Cluny, Burgundy since 1901.  The Arts et Métiers Cluny Campus has a tradition of teaching and research. Today the Cluny Campus promotes innovation in several different engineering domains of mechanical and production engineering but specialises in high speed milling, wood engineering and 3D virtual reality, linking undergraduate, postgraduate, life long learning, research and economic development.

Engineering students.

Example of an engineering student's jacket.

Carved wooden keys in the engineering school's museum.

Electrostatic machine in the museum

In the museum is an example of an engineering student's robe.

I can't publish a blog without mentioning food.  We decided a dinner out was in order one night.  We drove a long way on pitch black curvy roads to find this restaurant.

The french love their dogs and frequently bring them into the restaurant while dining.

Dinner was delicious.  My first course was escargot on puff pastry with a cheese sauce.   

I had frogs legs for the first time.  They were a wonderful excuse for eating garlic and butter.

Dessert wasn't bad either!