9-7-2010 Wet in the Auvergne

After a few nice days of riding, it's raining. I mean really pouring. The hotel we stayed in last night is full tonight, so earlier this morning, we were obliged to pack up and search for another hotel in the rain. For some reason, the town we're in, Clermont-Ferrand, is almost totally full...

It's a good opportunity to do some work though we have been holed up in a tiny room so small that to turn around in the capsule-sized bathroom, you have to step out of it first. Well, ok, that's an exaggeration, but it really is small. At 37 euros, it's pretty darn cheap though...

We are in a beautiful area of France, just south of smack dab in the middle of France, in Auvergne. It's a lovely green country with rolling hills and ancient villages built of stone. We took back roads from Paris yesterday, winding down through vast fields of golden corn and nodding sunflowers, their huge heads turning brown, and endless pastures full of cows.

We rode through the area called Morvan in the Burgundy region; the weather was fairly cool and the sky threatening. We made a stop in the small hilltop village of Vezelay to see the 11th century abbey dedicated to Mary Magdalene.

You may have heard of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, or read about it in some of my past stories. To remind you, the pilgrimage routes started in the middle ages when people would set off walking halfway across the continent to do penance or affirm their faith by trekking towards the northwestern corner of Spain. The final destination was to be Santiago de Compostela, the supposed final resting place of Saint James, one of the apostles of Jesus. There were many stops along the way to visit churches and shrines, and a network of pilgrimage inns were established. The route is still trekked to this day, and the pilgrim is easily identified by the staff and backpack they carry, usually adorned with a scallop shell which is the symbol of Saint James.

Vezelay became one of the starting points in France of the pilgrimage route, when a monk named Baudillon brought some bones purported to be those of Mary Magdalene. In 1058, the pope confirmed that the bones were genuine. Since it is now well known that most of the relics touted as saintly remains were ancient scams it is debatable whether the bones are really hers. In any case, the confirmation was important to Vezelay as it brought prosperity to the town from the many pilgrims that started flowing through the abbey.

Nowadays, the church is fairly quiet except for a few tourists and some bikers (us!) that have taken refuge from the rain that is starting to fall. 

In the hushed grey interior of the abbey, the ceilings arch high over head and light spills in through windows set high in the walls. The great age of the building is clear from the naivete of the carvings which top the columns. These curious carvings seem to detail various tortures awaiting sinners in the afterlife.