Cordes-sur-Ciel - Another Plus Beau Village - May 24, 2024

 We struck out yesterday with our Plus Beau Village (Most Beautiful Village) of Saint-Lizier. But we don't give up easily. Today we traveled 2  hours north to the village of Cordes-Sur-Ciel. We had visited here in 2015 with my sister, Nancy, so we're hoping it will live up to our memories. Picnic lunch packed into the car, we set out on today's adventure. 

Cordes (from an old word meaning rocky heights) was renamed in 1993 as Cordes-sur-Ciel - Cordes in the sky. Cordes is perched on a rocky hilltop the overlooks the valleys that surround it. At times, when the clouds lay low in the valleys, the old village of Cordes seems to sit poetically above the clouds. 

sign at entrance to Cordes-sur-Ciel, upside down as a protest from agricultural workers about government farm policies. Many sympathize and so towns leave the signs upside down.

The drive keeps Cordes from view until entering the lower city, when it finally comes into view on its perch above the clouds.

Our first task was to find parking as close to the upper village as possible as steep hills are difficult for my scooter. Cordes-sur-Ciel is circled by a road that follows the old ramparts. Using that, we found a parking space near the gardens. Dave helped save my scooter battery by pushing me up the ramparts road to the west entrance to the upper village. At least this road is paved.

Luckily the rampart road is paved, but it s still a steep uphill climb.

Built from 1222-1229, Cordes is considered the first bastide town in southern France. These planned towns were meant to replace towns lost in the Albigensian Crusade and provide new homes and a measure of security for those displaced by the crusade to eliminate Catharism from the south of France. They were frequently placed in defensible locations, surrounded by walls. These villages were then able to market their agricultural and craft products through trade with other towns as well as local markets. 

Map of Cordes-sur-Ciel.The red loop around the upper city is the road that follows the former defensive walls.

We entered by the Ormeaux Gate. As this is a medieval bastide town, the roads are authentically cobblestone, which is likely to rattle my teeth out by the end of the day. 

the Ormeaux gate - we're not done climbing

Since the market square is the highest point in this upper village, there was more uphill to go. It was surprisingly quiet in the streets. Hardly any tourists but us. We soaked in this rare privilege of having the village to ourselves, knowing it wouldn't last.

On the way to the center of town

We stopped at the church and tourist office. Both were closed for lunch from noon till 2 o'clock. So we split up and wandered around the streets a bit, meeting back at the market. 

Looking up at the church's bell tower

courtyard of  the tourist office - located in a medieval house

Medieval houses look huge from the outside, but usually have a good-sized courtyard in the center

As is typical of bastides, there is a central covered market with arcaded houses surrounding it on the main square of the village. 

the covered market

the arcaded buildings have all disappeared except this little stretch that is now a restaurant

Dave and Judy explored outside the walls. Notice that everything goes down steeply once you leave the village's highest point at the market.

They found a quiet little park part way down on the outside of town.

And Judy did a little shopping in one of the many tourist stores and artisan workshops in the village.

Back at the market, I had seen a sign for a panoramic view, but there were steps. Once Dave and Judy came back, Judy checked out the view and found a couple of alleys that led me to the square without climbing stairs. And that's when we discovered something my grandchildren would swoon over - an art installation of a unicorn and a mermaid. I was a bit sad that they were not here to see it with me. We would all have been dancing for joy.

Judy and the unicorn with mermaid. It's a big unicorn!

By the way, this is the view from that terrace:

That's a rooftop just below us.

Next best thing, we ate lunch on a bench near the unicorn and mermaid. 

Our lunch view from the terrace, looking back at the church and market (on left)

By now, the tourist office was open and a very helpful woman showed us how to get around with the least number of hills to conquer. But did we listen? Turns out, not so well. More later.

Using the map and the guidebook from the tourist office, we went back to some of the buildings we had already looked at. This time with new eyes as the guidebook filled in the stories of each building.

The church....

These are all reliquaries for various saints that are held now in the church's treasury.

the altar

....carvings on one of the medieval houses have a secret story to tell

When it was time to leave, we decided to go out the east end of town, opposite from where we started. Dave would then pick me up in the car at the corner of the street in the lower village. Seemed like a good idea. Well, it sort of was...

a beautiful corner along a rather steep street

The streets were very picturesque. Town gates to go through. But....

Going down the east end was much steeper than going up the west side. And in spite of having really good brakes, my scooter at one point was literally sliding down the street (cobblestone, mind you) with no way of stopping. We made our way slowly, stopping frequently to look around as well as to provide a little break from worrying about whether I could make it down or not. And what would we do if I couldn't? On the final downhill, a Michigan graduate (other than speaking English, that's all we learned about him) noticed our problem and helped Dave hold back my chariot as we descended. Thanks to him, I lived to write this blog post. 

steep....

steeper....

moving slowly, braking often

taking a break before heading down the next section

Cordes-sur-Ciel certainly exceeded our expectations for visiting a Plus Beau Village. Good signage, good tourist information (although I recommend getting to the tourist office before noon, not at 12:15), shops, museums, restaurants, and other tourist amenities blend quietly into their medieval settings. This is a village that embraces its status as a Plus Beau Village, and for that we are happy - and a little more informed about the history and culture of southern France. 

Saint-Lizier - A (not) Plus Beau Village - May 23, 2024

 Today's adventure is an excursion west to a Plus Beau Village called Saint-Lizier. 

Saint-Lizier is named for a 6th century bishop named Lycerius, canonized as Saint-Lizier. During this period, 2 cathedrals were built - one within the Bishop's Palace, Notre Dame de la Sède, and the second in the town, St-Lizier Cathedral, now used as the parish church. 

Cathedral de la Sède

Saint-Lizier Cathedral

Our visit started as one would expect on entering a Plus Beau Village - signage helpful to the tourist. We easily found parking at the entrance to town with a public toilet nearby. 

This parking lot even has stalls for electric vehicles to plug in

public toilets right by the road signs

pretty house with nice shutters across from the parking lot

We walked past the tourist office, which was closed even though its hours said it should be open. But that happens a lot in the off-season. There was some helpful signage on the wall outside with some information on the village. 

Tourist signage on the fence outside the tourist office

So we continued on to the Saint-Lizier cathedral (now a parish church) which sits on a small square with a fountain in the center and a few arcaded buildings across from the church. 

fountain next to St Lizier cathedral

The nave is not symmetrical having been built at different times and in different styles

baroque altar

Inside, the church is a motley collection of styles and periods as the church expanded over the 11th-15th centuries. 

The plan of the church shows how asymmetrical it is

A cloister is attached to the church, reminding us of its former status as a cathedral. 

carved capitols in the cloister

Back on the square, there were no more signs to help us know where to head next, so we chose to go up since we knew the Bishop's Palace was above us. The first glimmer that something was not quite right with this Plus Beau Village, is the shutters on one of the houses on the square. It clearly needs maintenance - or perhaps even restoration.

these shutters need some TLC

heading up

We wandered up the hill which offered several picturesque photo opportunities....

....and up....

pretty corners of the village

....and two photos just for my grandchildren - Evie, Tristan, Penny, Sonna, Arwyn, and Sasha. 

If there's no sidewalk to chalk on, draw on the walls of the house!

What would you think if your front yard was this small?

There were only dead-ends going this way other than one path with steps. We couldn't get to the cathedral in the Bishop's Palace. And we were experiencing a lot of up and down hills in our search or the cathedral. So we gave up and went back down past the parish church to the car. We ate lunch in the park next to our car.

We then drove the car up along the road that traces the ramparts of the old Gallo-roman town. 

parking area outside the abbey, but no sign of how to access the ticket office

Once more we couldn't find any signage indicating where the cathedral was. We could see it but couldn't reach it. Finally, Judy and Dave hiked around on the palace grounds and could finally get next to the cathedral.

Judy outside the abbey

And when they found the visitor entrance, it cost 9 Euros to visit and wasn't handicapped acccessible. So we gave up and headed out of town.

We had time to find the Abbey of Combelongue outside the village of Rimont on our way home. We knew nothing about it, but it sounded interesting. When we got to the abbey, we were helped to park by a man dressed in gardening clothes and carrying loppers. He followed us into the abbey where he took our money and gave us intricate directions on how to view the gardens which seem to be more recognized than the abbey itself. This gardener chap turns out to be the owner, Jean Luc Mirguet-Avanzi who bought the abbey in 1991. A lawyer by education, he had also worked on churches undergoing restoration and found he loved it. He has made it his life's work and clearly is passionate about it.

That gardener guy following us is the owner and sole worker at the abbey. He's a busy, but happy man.

The abbey was nearly destroyed after the French Revolution

This abbey was built in 1138 in a style that came from Moorish Spain where building in pink brick was popular. At that time this part of France was part of Spanish Aragon. It was sold as public goods after the French Revolution in 1789 and has been in private hands ever since.  

Surrounding the abbey are gardens representing various periods of French gardening, which unlike what might be expected, is really about creating outdoor spaces in grass and shrubbery. We walked the gardens across the grasses which I hoped my chariot wasn't ruining. Here it is the greenery that is celebrated with few flowers gracing the gardens.

The goal of the gardens is to create spaces that draw the viewer into the garden.

Once we'd seen the gardens, we were shown into the chapel which surprised us with its contrast of old and new. Glimpses of old - including an archeology - dig contrast with the simple plaster walls of the sanctuary whose windows are 20th century (1958) symbolic of the Annunciation, Christ's Passion, and Pentecost.

the chapel is simple and unassuming

From left to right: the Annunciation, Christ's Passion, Pentecost

The stained glass prompts one to look for the symbols presented and to think about them in terms of Christ's life. Two other stained glass windows are equally modern and inspiring.

sorry for it being a bit out of focus

One last adventure for the day came as we were driving home - right through a HUGE cave called Mas-d'Azil, the Azil being the river that flowed through the cave. The highway went right alongside of the river for about 1300 feet and, boy, was it dark, even with headlights on. 

The highway goes through this tunnel right next to the river.

Once we got home, we were talking about how disappointed we were with Saint Lizier. We were unable to find many of the sites mentioned in the Michelin Green Guide. Once home and researching, I read that Saint-Lizier has more than 700 meters of 3rd century Gallo-Roman walls, 8 meters high and 2 meters thick.

Are these Gallo-Roman walls?

Are these?

 We never saw anything that pointed us toward paying attention to this feature. We were disappointed that the village wasn't more welcoming of tourists (and didn't seem to have tourist and artisan shops either). Then I read that Saint-Lizier had given up its Plus Beau Village status in 2013 as the mayor thought the city should spend their money on other needs like education and safety. Now we understand why the village is so tourist unfriendly - and are saddened by its loss. It seems likely those shutters will never be repaired or replaced. The citizens of Saint-Lizier do, however, have their privacy back as tourists become fewer and fewer.

Every day is an adventure and we learn about the history, culture, and communities of southern France. What's not to love, even in disappointment.