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.