An Afternoon in the Cloisters

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   Ancient stones are one of the pleasures of living in France--and the carved variety don't come much more ancient than in Moissac.

   Here, swiping liberally from the guidebook, is a potted history. Sometime in the 7th century, an abbey was founded here. The present buildings are a few centuries younger.
    The cloister dates back to 1100 and is in amazing condition. We spent a couple of hours here just gazing, especially at the capitals, 76 of them--and each one different. Some show scenes from the bible, others are carved with animals, birds or plants. All would have been intended as inspiration for the monks as they slowly walked the length of each gallery. The other remarkable carvings are around the door of the abbey-church.. The wistful face is that of the prophet Jeremiah. The main carving is of Christ surrounded by the 24 elders. I really liked it that each of the elders was slightly different from his neighbours. Look at the angle of their heads and they way their legs and feet are positioned.
    Inside, the church is bright, its walls painted in warm, sunny colours.

The Joy of Chocolate

   The small boy who appears on the chocolate topping of a Lu biscuit is one of the best-known icons in French advertising.  With the good luck that followed us all weekend, we came upon an exhibit of work by its creator, Firmin Bouisset.

   Bouisset was born in Moissac and went to art school in Toulouse. As an affichiste (poster designer) he often used his children as models. In fact the petit garçon in the Lu advertisement is his son. Beguiling illustrations for schoolbooks, rather daring drawings, Bouisset's skills ranged far and wide. But he's identified most with chocolate... In fact, staff at the exhibit handed out Lu biscuit samples as we arrived. We got talking to the young guy in charge who, it turned out, is from Belesta--a town not far from here. As a fellow Ariègeois, he offered us more biscuits. 

    Outside in the sun, on the steps of the abbey-church, two little kids had set up their maison, threatening would-be intruders with very sloppy ice creams. Chocolate of course.

Mini-Break in Moissac

    The calendar for August is starting to look messy so, making the most of a free weekend, we set off for a couple of days in the town of Moissac, which lies north-west of Toulouse on the Tarn river.

    Taking the péage almost all the way, and stopping for a picnic (baguette, ham, nectarines, a large, lumpy, intensely-flavoured tomato I'd bought at Lavelanet market on Friday) we arrived in Moissac late afternoon. 

     We loved it for any number of reasons but here are a few that explain why we would go back in a heartbeat--especially in July. Starting with the top photo...

A chorister with flaming red hair. You see scads of redheads in France but this woman was the best yet. 

     Flowers everywhere you turned. Hanging baskets the size of VWs. Boxes of the biggest petunias I'd ever seen on the sides of the bridges.

    Black and white stones individually placed to make pavements prettier. 

     Beguiling architecture. Moissac suffered a serious flood in the 1930s so, mixed in with the tall traditional French houses are examples of more modern design like this marketplace.

   A river and a canal. 

   Ancient wooden doors opening into coold shady corridors that led to little studios housing painters, lute-makers and glass-blowers 

   A stupendous Sunday morning market (see separate post).

    Magnificent Romanesque carvings (again, see separate post)

    A lively main square filled with cafés, and streets lined with pinky-peach houses with chalky, sun-faded blue shutters. Moissac felt more like a town on the Mediterranean than one in the heart of the Tarn-et-Garonne.

    Pilgrims embarking on the next stage of their long walk to Santiago de Compostela (www.caminodesantiago.me.uk) Moissac is on one of the main routes. Add to that that July 25 is the feast day of St. Jean de Compostela, and that when that day is a Sunday, it's an especially holy year and you can see that this was a good weekend to be wandering around in Moissac.