Conques et Cordes 2010 English
On the weekend of September 25-26, we left for a trip to Conques and Cordes-sur-Ciel. You’ll find a summary of our stay here:
|
A Visit to the Past: Our trip to Conques  We all visited the ancient medieval city of Conques, in the Aveyron, a department within the region of Midi-Pyrenées. The architecture of the town’s houses and of the walls surrounding the houses strongly suggests that Conques was built as a fortified castle. Built on the hills of the Massif Central, every street and sidewalk slopes.  We visited the Abbey-Church of Sainte-Foy. It’s an abbey-church because it’s part of an abbey, which means that the church is part of a religious community. The outside of the church was amazing, with big windows, towers and remarkable stone tympanum that represents the arrival of Jesus Christ during the Apocalypse.  The inside of the church is just as impressive as the outside. Like the Saint-Sernin Basilica that we had already visited in Toulouse, the Church of Sainte-Foy is a place of pilgrimage. An interior prayer path surrounds the church. Next, we had the opportunity to see a fascinating collection of relics. The idea of a reliquary is to build an object or a figurine that contains the remains of a saint. For instance, we saw a statue made of gold with a compartment in which we could see the martyr, Sainte Foy’s, bones.
 Cordes-sur-Ciel  After a long day of hiking, the Dickinson students weren’t very happy to discover that they had to climb up very steep streets to get to their hotel. The bus dropped us off at the bottom of the hill and we had to walk to the heart of Cordes-sur-Ciel.  We had an hour to freshen up before our dinner at the Hostellerie du Vieux Cordes. This meal allowed us to try dishes usually unknown to Americans. We started with an tart filled with escargots accompanied by a garlic sauce that somewhat disguised the fact that we were eating snails, which for some people would seem disgusting. Then, we continued with some duck, a typical dish of this region and, finally, with a creamy cake. Throughout dinner, we could hear lots of lively conversations in French that ended with an activity in which we answered questions that Karen had prepared to help us review the information we’d learned that day and in Toulouse in general. After coffee and tea, we retired to our rooms in the Hostellerie and in its annex, the Hôtel de la Cité, all very tired and very full. In the morning, we met up at the Hostellerie to have breakfast together. The hotel offered jams, meets, cheese, cereal, bread, and of course delicious croissants. Then, we left to discover Cordes-sur-Ciel. The first step was the panoramic views of the surrounding landscape, a never-ending chain of hills and fields dotted with trees and houses. Although it was quite chilly, the sun warmed us a bit and allowed us to see our surroundings without a problem. |
 From this point, Mr. Créma led us through the small streets and drew our attention to the details of the medieval houses, of the St. Michel Church and of numerous walls and gates that surround the fortifies town.  Around midday, Mr. Créna ended his visit and the students were allowed to explore the town by themselves and have lunch where they wanted. The town proved to be ideal for these types of activities: there were lots of restaurants and small shops of local artisans. The atmosphere was so nice that some girls decided that Cordes-sur-Ciel would be the ideal location for a honeymoon!
 September 26th, after having left Cordes-sur-Ciel, we went to the Château Lastours for a wine tasting. French wine is very well-known in the world, so it’s good to take advantage of it your first time in France. The Château Lastours is located between Toulouse and Albi in the heart of the Gaillac. It’s been a family business since 1579. The wide alleys of majestic trees represent the way of life of this time period. It’s the first time I visited a château and its wine storehouse where people produce white wine, sparkling wine, rosé and red wine in the region of Gaillac. Wine in China, my country of origin, is very different from French wine, so I was very happy to be able to discover the French wine production process and to taste it.  When we arrived, the proprietor of Château Lastours told us the history of the château. Then, we visited the magnificent garden behind the building and the pigeon house. The owner explained to us that the people fattened pigeons up to eat them with the wine they produced.  After visiting the château and the pigeon house, we entered the wine storehouse. There were lots of barrels of whites wine and enormous steel 150L tanks to store red wine. It was a little cold in the storehouse because wine has to be kept at a certain temperature out of the sun to guarantee good quality. It’s difficult to produce wine, because you start by picking the grape, then putting it in tanks and keeping watch on them. Sometimes you have to get up really early in the morning according to the weather forecast.  When we entered the wine tasting room, we saw a display of bottles of white, sparkling and red wine of different years. For red wine, you have to wait at least three years before drinking it. However, you can drink sparkling and rosé wine one year after they are produced. The proprietor showed us how to taste wine. In general, wine tasting is broken up into three steps: the first is to look at the trace the wine leaves on the side of the glass when you hold it up,; the second is to smell the wine while swirling it; the last is to taste it and to let it stay in your mouth to let it air out.
|
- Translations by Anna Ciriani Dean.
Click here to return to the page Voyages et Excursions.
Click here to return to the homepage of Dickinson en France.
