Friday September 27, Cluny

Today we went to a formerly huge Benedictine abbey in the town of Cluny. The Abbey was built over a period of several hundred years starting in the year 910. It was the largest religious building int he world until the Vatican was constructed, and then the Vatican was only a few feet larger on each side just to ensure that it would be larger than this abbey.

Not actually a lot to see there as the structure was cannibalized for raw materials (stone and iron) first during the French Revolution and later by Napoleon. But one thing Napoleon did do was establish a national stable for the breeding of horses. (The stable was built from stones pulled from the abbey.)

So the tall towers on the left remain from the original Abbey, but this is only one half of the very front of the building:

Jill with a draft horse that happened to walk by:

Inside one of the large towers. This isn't the full height of the building, which is probably another 100 feet above the top of this photo:

A column excavated by archaeologists:

In the stables...Jill makes a new friend!

The "Beyonce Horse!" (Co-cruise passenger on left; stable guide on the right.) Actually the guide told us that this breed, the Auxois, is the most popular draft horse in France:

Then we saw a brief horse show with a trainer showing off various tricks she had taught her horse Shu-Shu:

After the Abbey we went to Chateau de la Barge (www.chateaudelabarge.fr) for lunch. Had a great meal outside in perfect weather:

Another photo of the chateau where we had lunch: