France 178 - Fontfroide Abbey/Could have /should have /would have /changes to the plan

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Would have , could have and should have were the words that were going round and round our heads. Had we known about the train from Argeles we should have travelled to Perpignan from Elna. Had we known there was no ticket machine at the station we could have bought our tickets on line . The world seemed full of those should haves, could haves and would haves today. Our sat nav was even as muddled as we were are she kept getting muddled up finding roads to somewhere we wanted to visit .

We stayed the night at a small aire in the village of Vinassin . The plan was to wake up, breakfast , wait until 10 am UK time and order our tickets for the National League Trophy Final at Wembley on line . After buying the tickets we planned to go on the bus to nearby Bezier . With all good plans it went wrong We had to buy tickets in one of the corners which was probably not the best viewing place but the ones higher up were not on sale and we had no idea when they would come available . We could have sat there but in the end they were not opened up until the next day . Bezier too went wrong . There were buses to the city with the bus stop right outside the aire. One bus at 7.10 - too early for us . The next at 9.10. Still a problem with the issue of buying tickets . The next after lunch . In the end we decided two things . The first kick Beziers in the head and the second load up the Uber app and order an Uber next time we find ourselves in this position .

We drove off and headed for Fontfroide Abbey . There was a massive car park and it seemed that the french families were out in force taking up the picnic tables for a full on family lunch. It was a real change of plan to end up here . The blurb told us to look at the stones of the abbey, to look at the caps on the cloisters and at the stained glass . It cost 12 euros 50 to see the abbey which is in private hands. It was founded in 1093 and by 1145 was in the hands of the Cistercian monks. By 1209 the Cathar crusade had begun and by 1348 the Black Death ravaged the area and the abbey itself . Reducing the monks to just 20 . They abandoned the abbey finally in 1791 and the French Revolution as always put an end to life in the abbey.

The first restoration began in 1833 by Violette le Duc and by 1858 the Cistercian monks were back living a very frugal lifestyle. By 1901 the order was exiled to Spain and the abbey abandoned again . It was acquired by Gutav and Madelaine Fayer in 1918.

We entered the main courtyard with its open spaces and high walls . Luckily it was quiet inside with most visitors going into the restaurant or the wine tastings . The first room we entered was the Abbots quarters which covered two thirds of the dormitary with the remaining space left for the other monks and the lay brothers . The room was empty so it was hard to imagine what it must have been like . Below was the lay brothers refectory . The monks could not leave the abbey and had to work with a large number of lay brethren who carried out the manual work , the agricultural work necessary for the running of the abbey and laboured on the land. The refectory could house 200 souls in the 12th century and at a push 250. The huge chimney was not original but brought in by the Fayer from the castle of Montmorency near to Pezenas. The only areas heated in the abbey were the kitchens , the bakery, the scriptorium and the infirmary.

The central courtyard which we next visited was also known as the Louis 14th courtyard . It was in this courtyard that the forge and the bakery was situated . We read at this point that the name Fontfroide means a cold spring . The courtyard led to the Lay brothers passage. This was the border between the monks and the lay brethren and marked the limits of each group. Very few abbeys still have a similar passageway.

The cloisters were lovely but perhaps we had been spoilt by Moissac . These were covered in wisteria fully blooming and the garden to the middle was full of box hedging and the signs of roses . A small climbing yellow rose was everywhere . It did not look like a rose . The flowers were tiny and the palest yellow you could wish to see . The label told us the variety was a Banks rose . I earmarked it for one I wanted when I got home . The Romanesque cloisters must have a lovely place to walk around and meditate. The design had been reworked with the inclusion of Occuli - large eyes which let in the light and made it feel very different to Moissac. Stone basins were set into the walls to be used for the ritual washing of the feet on a Saturday night.

From the cloisters we entered the cool of the abbey church . Apart from the darkness and the coolness the height of the church hit us. It was lofty and it was austere. 20 metres high and 60 metres long with side chapels which were dark and gloomy. The glass originally would have been rather plain and let in light however it had been replaced with brightly stained glass . . There was a chapel of the dead which was 13th century and adorned with glass by Kim En Joong , some quality works of sculpture , a cross and some very artistic lighting . It left us rather cold .

The chapter house followed where the monks met to sing Prime and listen to biblical readings . They would be dished out work tasks for the day and abbey affairs discussed . This led to the lay brothers dormitory where they slept fully dressed to keep out the cold . They lay on wooden beds with straw mattresses. The ceiling took the shape of a ships hull.

We climbed the Great staircase . Then down to the cellars and into the rose garden . It was advised that a visit should take one hour or possibly an hour and a half . They were just about right . The gardens were full of blue bearded iris . For me perhaps the nicest thing was the garden. The iris were lovely and later in the season the roses would have been stunning .

Moissac or Fontfroide ? They both had charm but Moissac won it hands down I think .

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