Page 357 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

the form of skeletons leading the huge barrage at Bort­les­
rich and poor alike to their in­ Orgues, the nearby Château THE AUVERGNE’S
evitable end. Beyond the de Val and the Cère Valley to BLACK MADONNAS
cloister is the Echo room, in the south. The cult of the Virgin
which two people whisper ing Mary has always been
in opposite corners can hear strong in the Auvergne
one another perfectly. A 23 and this is reflected in
Baroque Music Festival from the concentration of
mid­August to September Vallée du Lot her statues in the
makes the abbey crowded. region. Carved out of
! C5–6 ⌂ Aveyron
~ Rodez, Aurillac £ Rodez, dark walnut or cedar,
now blackened with
Séverac-le-Château
22 @ Espalion, Rodez age, the Madonnas are
believed to originate
Salers n Espalion; www.vallee from the Byzantine
dulot.com influence of the
! E5 ⌂ Cantal @ Summer From Mende and the old Crusaders. Perhaps the
only n Pl Tyssandier most famous Madonna
d’Escous; www.salers- river port of La Canourgue is the one housed in the
tourisme.fr all the way to Conques, the Cathédrale de Notre-
River Lot courses through its
A handsome town of grey lava fertile valley past orchards, Dame in Le-Puy-en-
houses and 15th­century vineyards and pine forests. Velay (p342), which
ramparts, Salers sits atop a St Côme d’Olt, near the Aubrac is a 17th-century copy
steep escarpment at the edge mountains, is an unspoiled, of one that belonged
of the Cantal mountains. It is fortified village with a 15th­ to Louis IX in the
one of few virtually intact century church surrounded by Middle Ages.
Renaissance villages in the Medieval and Renaissance
region. The church has an houses. At Espalion, the pastel
admirable polychrome mise stone houses and a 16th­ families of the Rouergue,
au tombeau (entombment), century castle are reflected in dat ing back to the 13th
dated 1495, and five 17th­ the river, which runs beneath century. The pretty village
century Aubusson tapestries. a 13th­century arched stone nestles beneath its massive
From the fountain, streets bridge. The town has one of château (open May–mid­Oct)
lead up to the cliff edge, and the best markets in the region on the riverbank. The road
provide stunning views of the on Friday mornings. Just out­ passes through the Lot Gorge
surrounding valleys, with side town is the 11th­century on the way to Entray gues
the ever­present sound of Perse Church, with carved (“between waters”), where the
cowbells in the distance. capitals portraying knights charming old quarter and
The town is very crowded and imaginary birds sipping 13th­century Gothic bridge
in summer, but it makes a from a chalice. are worth a visit. Beyond
good starting point for Estaing was once the Entraygues, the river widens
excursions to the Puy Mary, fief dom of one of the greatest to join the Garonne.

Charming stone
buildings in place de
l’Église, Salers
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