Wednesday we set off for the market at le Neubourg
Another beautiful day
The market surrounding the church
It is like most markets we have seen except the French have livestock. We were told we might even see cows for sale
Lapin (Rabbit) Who could eat these cuties
Rabbits and Poulet (Chicken)
Pork sausages and kraut
Table linen
and quilts
NO COWS, so we are moving on to the Abbey
"The history of Le Bec Hellouin is inseparable from that of the Abbey. The village owes its very existence, development through the centuries and present-day vitality to the Abbey as a center of worship and pilgrimage.
In 1034 Herluin, a knight at the court of the Count of Brionne decided to become a hermit after a life of fierce fighting. He retired to his lands at Bonneville-Aptot.
The construction of the Abbey and the village began in 1060 - the labourers built houses and the neighbouring church at the same time as the Abbey buildings.
With the arrival of Lanfranc of Pavia, Bec became a focus of 11th century intellectual life. Lanfranc, who was already famous for his lectures at Avranches, came to teach as prior and master of the monastic school, but left in 1062, to become abbot of St. Stephen's Abbey, Caen, and later Archbishop of Canterbury. He was followed as abbot by Anselm, also later an Archbishop of Canterbury, as was the fifth abbot, Theobald of Bec. Many distinguished ecclesiastics, probably including the future Pope Alexander II and Saint Ivo of Chartres, were educated in the school at Bec".
THE VILLAGE
The oldest house dates from the 15th and 16th centuries half-timber
Lunch break at the local Creperie
The stained glass windows turned this little church into a rose hued sanctuary
THE ABBEY
"In 1418, in the middle of the Hundred Years War, the monks destroyed the village by fire in order to halt the progress of the English soldiers. Sadly this measure did not work and the troops still occupied the village.
The monks left the Abbey during the French Revolution. The religious buildings became a military depot between 1790 and 1802, then a military stables and stud until 1833 and a military depot again until 1939. The village had to adapt to military life and its requirements".
Inside the tower
"During the Second World War the Germans occupied the Burcy area of the village (the former Abbey buildings) and transformed them into a tank-driving school. The Germans left the village on the 25 August 1944. Allied bombing on the 13th of August 1944 partially destroyed the centre of the village. Seeking shelter, the villagers lived in the "Paradise Cellars", the former Abbey cellars built into the adjoining hillside and going nearly 17 metres underground.
When the village was liberated by Canadian troops they occupied the former Abbey buildings for a while but then the site was abandoned. The structures soon deteriorated and stones were removed for building. Two villagers asked the local M.P. Pierre Mendes-France to act and he worked tirelessly to invite the monks back to the Abbey.
A community of Olivetan Benedictines moved into the Abbey on the 29th September 1948. A few years later, between 1950 and 1952 the convent of St Francoise Romaine was built at St. Martin du Parc, two kilometres from the village. Both orders follow the rule of St. Benedict".
One more stop today at Chateau Gaillard in Les Andeleys
"The Stronghold of Richard the Lionheart
Think back to the fantastic life of Richard the Lionheart, the friend of Robin Hood, as Walter Scott related it in his novel Ivanhoe. Chateau-Gaillard is the very place where these romanticized stories meet History. For this fortress was dreamed of, skillfully designed and built by the fiery Richard I of England, feudal Duke of Normandy, better known as Richard the Lionheart. This nickname was given in recognition of his bravery in the Crusades.
Eight hundred years later, Chateau-Gaillard offers living proof that this celebrated ruler really existed. Its stones give an idea of Richard's nature. Like its creator, the stronghold of Les Andelys calls to mind strength, power, invincibility. Yet the virtually impregnable fortress would live only a few years, just like Richard, who was too confident in his talents as a warrior"
Not my picture but shows the ruin overlooking the town of Les Andeleys and the Seine.
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