Mazerettes: a sort of pilgrimage

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I spotted the 'Concert en la Chappelle de Mazarettes' advertised in Mirepoix, and decided to go. First problem- where is the chapel in Mazerettes? Actually, where is Mazarettes? I rang tourist info. twice before we finally found it on the map, a tiny speck of a place a mere 3 km. from Mirepoix.

Come the evening, it was cold, rainy and gloomy, and Mal decided an evening in a cold church wasn't for him. I couldn't blame him, but still wanted to go myself. And when I got there (rain stopped), what a treat! A delightful small church, cloche-mur style (sorry, no accents on this programme) with charmingly naive ancient faded frescos. It was light and bright, and not TOO cold, and the small choir entertained us with ecclesiastical music - from 14th century Spain, 16th century Italy, 19th century Germany, Russian orthodox......

The church turned out to be a pilgrimage church on the Piemont- Pyreneen stretch of the Pilgrimage route to Saint Jacques de Compostelle. I plan to do this whole walk some time soon ( Narbonne to the north west Spanish border), so today Mal and I got some practice in. Starting from the church, a steady climb had us way above the fields looking over farmland, towards small farms and villages and the distant Pyrenees. Some views are almost Tuscan, and suddenly it's all so green. We listened to the cowbells clattering and chiming on the herd of cows below, enjoyed the increasingly pungent smalls from the juniper bushes, and the spring flowers bursting through the hedges. Half way house was a tiny village, Manses, with a mighty church and the usual selection of pretty, slightly battered houses, and then we came back by a slightly different route. A great antidote to the morning - electrician duties for Malcolm, onion and carrot planting for me

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Photos

Orchid - I think
We see more and more of these every day

Comments

[susie]

Beats playing bridge!
Thanks for letting us know aboutthe blog. have enjoyed catching up with your lives out there and the photos are fab. looking forward to bridge in June Malcolm.

[MargaretL]

Thanks!
Glad you're enjoying them. Mal will be back on form for further battles in June or so