Side Trip: Saintes

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre

We discovered Saintes after driving around the coastlines in the Aquitaine-Poitou regions. We had seen the citadelles and the beaches, and decided to go inland a bit for a Gallo-Roman amphitheater. Turns out, the amphitheater was closed for lunch. What we could see from the surrounding rim was mostly covered in scaffolding for maintenance.

If you like it now, you'll love it in another millennium or so.

No matter, because for a small town, Saintes overflows with great architecture and outdoor spaces. One of the best is the Basilique Sainte-Eutrope and its crypt. The Basilique was constructed over the 11th and 15th centuries and holds the remains of the early christian evangelist and martyr Eutrope and his notable convert, Eustelle, daughter of a Roman governor. According to tradition, for this breach of decorum, Eustelle's father had her decapitated, whereas the future saint's head was split open with an axe. 

Sugar explores grounds of Basilique Saint-Eutrope.

If you were thinking that a crypt holding the remains of ghastly murder victims from nearly two thousand years ago would be a bit dark and spooky, you'd be right--but only after you digitally remove most of the natural light coming in through the windows (as I've done below). In reality, the crypt was a remarkably bright and lovely place, with beautiful romanesque arches and carved columns. Floor tiles and patches of moss added colorful accents here and there. It's not hard to understand why the diocese invites visitors to enter for quiet contemplation.

Casting my long shadow into the stygian pleasantness.

Views of the crypt, digitally gloomified to fit the photographer's childish expectations of an underground vault.

While the Cathédrale Sainte-Pierre looked magnificent from the La Palu nature preserve, my favorite view of the day was of two white storks (Ciconia ciconia) soaring like condors hundreds of feet above l'Abbaye-aux-Dames. I could make out their black underwings and long white necks as they circled above the center of town. No camera I own could have captured it well, but I doubt I would have stopped staring long enough to get the shot in any case.