It was a little foggy when I set out today. I set off in the same direction as that of château de Maintenon but this time the place that I was headed to was only a 30 minute drive away. For a while I drove in and out of patchy fog and then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day- just perfect for showing off the amazing colours of the trees. I drove on roads in between mile upon mile of vineyards and, even though they were no longer bearing fruit, the vines too looked spectacular.
The fields that didn’t contain vines were absolutely full of a kind of bird that I’ve looked up and I think were Northern Lapwings- hundreds of them all, I guess, looking for food. I also saw a bird of prey- I think a buzzard- sitting, waiting and watching, on the top of a telegraph pole. Look at me- the AA Book of British Birds!!!
From the Greek, the word troglodyte means someone who lives in a cave: “trogle- hole, mouse hole” and “dyein- go in, dive in”. A beautiful village, and well known for it’s Troglodytic history, Troo is a wonderful maze of streets, steps and alleyways with houses built into the rocks on several levels. Some houses appeared to be empty but many are still occupied- some being used as cafés and hotels now but, clearly, some still being people’s homes. It’s an amazing place to visit. It’s hard to describe it here really- and the photos only give an idea of how it is. It’s a very peaceful place too and the views from high up in the village are just wonderful.
I walked around for ages, keeping finding another level, another set of steps to go up or down. I went into the lovely (I think 12th century) church and, as I haven’t been able to wear a poppy this year, I lit a candle instead and had a minutes silence on my own.
I love churches and cathedrals and you may have noticed that I take a lot of photographs of the crucifixion and of the stages of the cross. Since I was a little girl I have always loved, and been fascinated by, the stories of the life of Jesus and, in particular, those telling the events of Easter and Christmas. I remember watching Blue Peter years ago (in black and white!) when, just before Christmas, they went to the Holy Land and brought back a little wooden nativity scene that I presume they still bring out now, and I thought “I want to go there”- and hopefully one day I will. I always look at the stations of the cross in churches and it’s interesting to see how the same thing can be done in so many different ways. However, the one in the church in Troo was particularly unlike any I have ever seen before as, apart from one station, it was all represented just by images of hands. Unfortunately I couldn’t get right up close to them- but it’s lovely isn’t it?
Just as a complete aside from everything French, but relating to art and religious images, one of my favourite artists is Michelangelo Caravaggio. He had a short career but influenced many other painters. I went to an exhibition in Edinburgh a couple of years ago called “Beyond Caravaggio” which displayed some of his works alongside those of painters who had adopted his style. One of them made me stop in my tracks. It was called “Christ Displaying His Wounds” and was painted by Giovanni Antonio Galli around 1625-1635. I stood and looked at it for ages. It felt so lifelike and human and as if he was looking right at the viewer, saying “look what they did- why?” I also thought he looked remarkably like Russell Brand!
As I was setting off this morning a lady from across the square called me over. She had a letter that the postman had been struggling to deliver. She’d guessed it was for me and so had been looking out for me. How kind 🙂 It was from Janet! I decided not to open it there and then but planned to find a café in Troo so I could read it over a nice hot chocolate. Sadly the café that is built into the rock isn’t open again now until Spring (very disappointed) so after my exploring was done I went into the only place that was open, close to where I’d parked my car, and asked if I could have a crêpe and a hot chocolate. It did look a bit more like a restaurant than a café but there were lots of tables and only two of them were occupied so I was hopeful. However, the waitress went away to check and came back saying no, sorry, I couldn’t just have my snack- so I left 😦
My tumbly was getting very rumbly but I wasn’t down hearted because………remember the baguette machine I saw on the street a while ago in Brittany? Well there was one in Troo too- and this time I got to use it! It was amazing! I put in 85cents and out came a beautiful, fresh, fragrant baguette! I nibbled at it on the way back to the car and felt a little less hungry and so decided, as it was such a lovely day, that I would visit another Troglodytic village called Lavardin on the way back to Vendôme.
Another beautiful village. Different in lots of ways to Troo- not as many paths and alleyways and levels- but still with the wonderful houses built into the rocks and just a lovely place to visit overall. There is a ruined castle in Lavardin too but it’s closed now until next year. There is going to be a big Christmas fair there very soon- but unfortunately it’s after I leave this part of the Loire 😦
I drove home, went to the Supermarket and then, finally, sat down with a cuppa to read Janet’s letter! It was brilliant- in a hand crafted card too. She’d also sent me a fabulous present- some toaster bags! Genius! Can’t wait to try them out. Thank you, Janet 🙂
Brief FaceTime with Will and Tom this evening- they are on holiday in Berlin and having a fab time 🙂
What a lovely day.
Bonne nuit 🙂
Jane’s Tour de Force 