France June 2016  - Fontevraud

Our first stop this morning was the Royal Abbey of Fontegraud near Chinon.  In the middle ages, abbeys like this were a place for the educated woman who had no husband.  In the 12th century, its walls enclosed a Benedictine monastery, a convent for nuns, a general hospital, a leper hospital, and a house for educated ladies.

Later, Napoleon used it as a prison, and it remained a prison until 1963.

Here, Lynnette is standing in front of the Romanesque Abbey Church.
   
That strange looking cone shaped structure to the right is the 12th century kitchen.  It has 18 chimneys to evacuate smoke.
   
These four painted sarcophagi belonged to Eleanor of Aquitaine; her second husband Henry II, their son Richard the Lionheart; and his sister-in-law.  They were buried here at one point, but no one knows the fate of the actual bodies.
   
A medieval garden in the cloister (open center space).
   
 
   
A better look at the cloister.
   
Monastic life was extremely simple:  nothing but prayers, readings, and work.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
Scenic walk back to the parking lot.
   
 
   
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