V É Z E L A Y
The village of Vézelay, located in the Bourgogne (Burgundy) region of France, just a few hours southeast of Paris, was the first official stop on the itinerary for the Study Abroad. We were to visit Vézelay Abbey, also known as Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. This was also our first real taste of France, at least in my opinion. Sure Paris is Paris, but its also a giant city, like a lot of others (ok maybe this is debatable). But Vézelay, this place was the exact opposite. Located on a hillside overlooking a valley with scatterings of other villages below, it probably only had a stable population of a couple hundred, if that. The entire village was essentially built on one road going up a steep hill all the way to the abbey. Along this narrow road, there were all of these local shops and bakeries. We were in the heart of the burgundy wine country as well, so there were many shops selling local favorites.
I wont go into too much detail about the churches and cathedrals that we visited while in France because I have already written and exhaustive term paper touching on the subject of the advancements in design and structure from the Romanesque era to the Gothic era in terms of cathedrals. However I should note that this was my third time walking into a catholic cathedral (the first being St. Peter’s Basilica and the second being the Pantheon) in my whole life… needless to say I had been spoiled and fortunate. Though this church was no Vatican, it was full of history, as it had been built sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries.
But, before going inside we were briefed by Dr. Folkestad, which came to be a regular occurrence that I was grateful for (I knew nothing about the history of these cathedrals, nor what to look for). We stood in the grassy area behind the eastern side of the church, and received a history lesson. It was here I learned what I specifically should be looking for. As it turned out, this church had a very distinct line within it where Romanesque architecture stopped and Gothic began. I was also the first to notice that the barrel-vaulted ceiling of the cathedral had begun caving in on the nave (sorry for the terminology), making the columns sort of bow out at the top… quite a site to see. I noticed immediately that once our individual research projects started within the cathedral, everybody sort of went their separate ways, which was fine because it gave me an opportunity to really focus and take good notes.
Afterwards, we all sort of started making our way back down the hill towards our hotel. I have to admit, for being in such a small village, this was a rather nice hotel. All of the rooms were different in shape and size, and we had wireless internet, which I found amazing because we were literally in the middle of nowhere. We mutually decided to have a group dinner, since it was our first night there, but not before we bought ourselves bottles of wine (for home). I should mention here that our bus driver was a man by the name of Daniele, who was extremely nice, though he didn’t speak a word of English. He was very patient with us the entire trip and really went out of his way to do things for us that he didn’t have too. The reason I mention him here is because he bought Kyle and I glasses of wine. He stated (through translation of Dr. Folkestad) that it is rude to leave an unfinished glass of wine at a table, which Matt had done, but nevertheless it was still kind of him to do.
Now when I say that this hotel was nice, I really do mean it. Imagine, being in the French Country side on a rather high hill overlooking the Bourgogne (Burgundy) valley and some other villages below. In addition to the rooms being rather nice, they were also all very different, but all of them had a back door, which when you walk out of it you are taken to a pleasant garden, and if you walk a bit further, you have completely unobstructed views of the valley, which is very nice during sunset. Another image I have running through my head right now is sitting in Lisa and Kelli’s room during sunset before dinner (also with Matt, Kyle and Jeremy I believe) just sitting and talking, it was very pleasant. This town was magical and I will never forget it. I hope it never changes.
We literally walked across the street to an outside restaurant and had our first group dinner. I cannot remember the details of the dinner itself, but the food and atmosphere was festive and happy, and a few of us (specifically, Kyle, Jeremy, Lisa, Kelli, and I) decided we would come back there later that night for drinks. We did just that, but not before taking in the sunset up at the top of the hill behind the Abbey. I believe Matt was with us at the Abbey as well. It was a good chance for us to at least begin to get to know each other, without the constraints of having a professor there (not that there is anything wrong with Dr. Folkestad). We met up for drinks until late, a red burgundy wine of course, and headed back to our rooms.