Tour Day 5: The Medieval Town of St. Emilion

The weekend idyll was over. Once again we had to be to the bus in Cognac by 8:30 for our penultimate day of touring. This time we were leaving the Charente and Charente-Maritime areas to travel south into Aquitaine to the medieval town of St. Emilion near the Dordogne. We travelled through wine country almost the whole way, seeing one vineyard after another (photo above). We had a brief stop in Blaye for a coffee and then pressed on to a village just outside of St. Emilion called Puisseguin. There we were booked in for lunch at Chateau de Roques, a hotel and restaurant set among vineyards.

The dining rooms of the Chateau appeared to be old wine cellars and were most atmospheric and beautifully decorated. (See photos above.) After a congenial and delicious meal which began with an aperitif and ended with perhaps the worst cup of coffee any of us has ever left behind untouched, we moved into the courtyard for a group photo and then boarded our coach for St. Emilion.

St. Emilion, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a beautiful medieval town with castle ruins, arches over the entrances to cobbled streets, a fascinating church with acres of underground catacombs (and who knows what else—they're still excavating), shops selling the famous St. Emilion macaroons, and more wine shops than you're ever likely to see (or want to see) in any one town. Another hillside walled town, you don't simply walk around St. Emilion, you climb up the hilly lanes and carefully walk down them on sometimes slippery stones. (My crepe-soled shoes came in very handy.)

We and a handful of our companions signed on for a guided walking tour of the Hermitage of St. Emilion, the town's oldest monument. We learned about St. Emilion, a holy man who founded the town in the 7th century. The area is unique in that the village sits on a network of natural grottoes. Starting with one of these, Emilion dug a monk's cell and an oratory. He is said to have converted the natives in the surrounding countryside to Christianity, drawing many from far and wide who made pilgrimages to be baptised and/or healed. Our tour took us into the Hermatage through a 17th-century entrance where there was a clear spring, said to be used as a baptismal font by Emilion. The water also was said to hold curative properties, particularly for problems of the eye.

The followers of St. Emilion further developed the town and built churches, monasteries, and chapels such as The Trinity Chapel which we also visited. It was erected in honour of St. Emilion in the 13th century on top of the grotto that formed the Hermitage. Beneath the chapel are the catacombs, ancient caverns that provided an underground cemetery. One is amazed to walk into this area and come out under a monolithic cupola as in a cathedral, supported by enormous round pillars—all carved out of the rock. The monks carried their deceased brethren down a spiral staircase, also dug out of rock, and into the catacombs. Three steps of this staircase remain. In the top of the dome can be seen bas-relief sculptures showing people emerging from their tombs and being resurrected. The aperture is narrow at this spot and as each figure emerges, head and chest first, arms outstretched, the hands of each figure meet those of the adjacent one to form a circle, a powerful image.

In 1945 when the owner of the property next door began digging to enlarge his wine cellar, he unwittingly uncovered a hitherto unknown part of the catacombs. Here, archaeologists discovered another gallery with two carved columns. Toward the back of this gallery they discovered an engraved stone telling of an important personage, Aulius, who died in 1014 and had asked to be buried in the catacombs next to St. Emilion. This provided historians with the first written proof that St. Emilion was, in fact, buried in the catacombs. So far, about 200km of underground galleries have been unearthed that form a labyrinth spreading for 6km under the village.

The monolithic church appears to have been carved out of a single solid limestone rock. It is believed that the Benedictine monks began digging somewhere around the 9th century and finished the church early in the 12th century. It is amazing to stand in this underground space and contemplate the vision and hard labour that brought it all about. The pillars have now been girded by a sort of metal corset to give the limestone more strength. The vaulted ceiling boasts two angels and there are other carvings and bas reliefs as well as altars. All of these artifacts and carvings are more beautiful because of the filtered light from above through which they are seen.

During the French Revolution the church was claimed by the states as a National Property and used as a saltpetre factory. Many paintings were destroyed as well as most of the frescoes that probably dated back to the 12th century when the church was finished. There are other such churches in France but the one in St. Emilion is the largest (120' long by 65' wide with a nave that is 35' high). From the outside entrance, you would never dream anything so large awaited you because it is situated lengthwise and hidden entirely in the rock.

We only had a couple of hours to explore St. Emilion. Some of our group visited numerous wine shops where free tastes were on offer, others toured the castle, still others went to a sidewalk café and sat under an umbrella sipping a coffee or something cool (it was quite sunny and warm that day). We did walk around the town for a while before going on the tour, but we are really glad that we took advantage of the opportunity to see the amazing structure and to learn about how it came about. If you would like to see more about St. Emilion, they have an excellent official Website at: http://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com/index.php?lang=uk We did not take photos during the tour as there was insufficient light and it somehow didn't seem to be the thing to do. Even the other American tourists didn't get out their cameras! I have included some photos of the town in those above.

Francoise had to work on Monday so she had dropped us at the coach that morning on her way. As she works 3 days a week but 10 hours each day, Dominique needed to collect us and take us back home. He and we struggled to communicate in the little bits of French and English we all knew, but the important part is that we tried. He did manage to teach us to ask the time and also tell the time in French (but don't test us on that).

Dinner that night was the first one that Dominique had been home for, as he was now off work for 2 days. Also, Laurent, the Taylor's eldest son (24) was home for a few days. He is a fireman in Paris and stays at the firehouse during the 4 days he is on duty (apartments are expensive in Paris). He spends his 3 days off at home, taking the fast train (only 2 hours from Paris to Cognac). Our suite is his, actually, and so he had to stay in the spare room until we left on Wednesday.

Dominique had left Laurent and Alexandre instructions that morning so that they could get dinner started and the table sat as she wouldn't be off work until 7. We had duck again which was so fabulous that I can't remember anything we had with it. I do remember we had crepes for dessert. Laurent speaks no English but was most sympathetic and friendly just the same. We sat late at table, Laurent, Dominique, Francoise, Don, and I (Alexandre had eaten with us but went off to get himself ready for bed), drinking cognac and talking. Poor Francoise did double-duty as crepe-maker and translater!