Today we explored an old Abbey.

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Geo: 44.7667, -0.31667

After a lazy start to our day we head out for another drive in the French countryside. We viewed more beautiful chateaux and vineyards before coming across the 12th century La Sauve-Majeure Abbey in the village of La Sauve. It is a former Benedictine monastery and although it is in ruins it was great to see the wonderful Romanesque architecture. The immense chapel columns, ancient arches and the stone carvings from bible stories. At one time it was the most powerful Abbey in the area with control over almost all of France, parts of Spain and England. It is written that in the Middle Ages the monks were very wealthy which upset the villagers and attracted bandits, and this caused the Abbey to be plundered many times.
We thoroughly enjoyed exploring this ancient tranquil setting. You could really feel the history within its ruined walls. The tower was still intact so we hiked the 157 winding stairs to the top. We were rewarded with magnificent views of the lush countryside and surrounding village. The Abbey is a UNESCO world heritage site and definitely worth the visit.
Then we headed off to Creon for a delicious cold beer. We have been very lucky with our weather during our stay in France.

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