NeversLand

We arrived at the port in Nevers on Saturday, July 6, and stayed until Tuesday, July 16. We felt comfortable parking CARIB there when we left to search out Loire chateaux, and it was an interesting town to explore during the days before and after that side trip.

Nevers is the 5th largest city in Burgundy. Like the city of Tours, it also carries the French label of "City of Art and History." Nevers became a seat of religious power as early as the 5th century, and a center of temporal power under the Count of Nevers in the late 10th century. Ownership of the town passed through different families over the centuries--becoming the seat of a dukedom in the early 17th century--and was fortified during the Middle Ages, as befits a good medieval town.

Nevers as seen from the south side of the Loire River. The cathedral anchors the old town.
To the right, a more modern Nevers is apparent.

We had most of Sunday, July 7, to make our acquaintance with Nevers via a walking tour. It was rather quiet that late Sunday morning, and the town seemed a little dirty, maybe from the Saturday night before. We noticed a fair number of empty storefronts in buildings outside of what we later encountered as the two main shopping streets. Not unusual for what we've seen in many French towns, but it always seems a shame, nonetheless.

A quick stop at the Tourist Office and we were off to follow the painted "blue line" tourist route through the city.

Nevers is the seat of a Bishop, and has had a cathedral for
centuries. Saint-Cyr-Sainte-Julitte Cathedral is unusual in that
it has two choirs, one Romanesque and one Gothic. It was heavily
damaged during an Allied bombing raid in 1944.

The interior of the Gothic choir, looking toward
the barrier blocking access to the Romanesque
part of the cathedral--closed until 2025.

The Bohier Tower of the Cathedral, its
facade from the 15th and 16th centuries.
We were all set to climb it--but it was
closed as part of the renovation.

To the left, the 15th century Palais ducal. Usually open to tourists,
but on this day, it was a polling place for the local French citizens.
To the right, the Italianate-styled 19th century theater.

21st century construction on the shopping street under
the watchful eye of a 15th century clock tower.

A whimsical hat store; a quiet Sunday street.

The Porte du Croux was one of four defensive gates on the city walls during the 14th century,
and protected the pottery district. The square tower currently houses the city's Archeological
Museum. As it was the first Sunday of the month, admission was free!

The Archeological Museum had an eclectic collection of 
memorabilia, for the most part from excavations carried out
in Nevers or its environs. Small, but fascinating.

More ramparts.

Walking through the old town.

The beach in Nevers is sand along the Loire River. It was from here that the fireworks
for Bastille Day were launched.

July 7 was the last day of a week-long street theater
festival. Since this particular production depended on heavy
use of French--and not just visuals--we didn't stick around.
The topic? The sign says "Non-humans also citizens", so . . . 

Because it was Sunday, most of the churches were closed to tourist visits. We also needed a little time to get ready for our Monday departure to the Loire, so it's a good thing we had Saturday afternoon, July 13, to finish what we'd started on the 7th. 

The Jesuit Saint Pierre Church of the early 17th century contained some incredible 
frescos by Italian artists. The ceiling was partially covered because it's badly in need
of restoration. The floor contained large areas of mosaic tiles.

The 11th century St. Etienne Church. Built by the 
Cluny monks, it is one of the best-preserved Romanesque
style churches in France.

The interior of Saint Etienne has a heavy Romanesque style,
with light coming in only from relatively small windows. We had
 seen the interior briefly with artificial light the previous Sunday when
 we quickly ducked in while a service was in progress. It felt
 warm and beautiful and much less "forbidding."

An oddity in France--a church in Baroque style. The Saint
Mary Chapel is the only vestige remaining of a convent founded
in the 7th century. The exterior was restored to its original
condition in the year 2000, but the interior is essentially devoid of
ornamentation or furnishings.

Why a family of warthogs is public art in Nevers, I've no idea. But I loved it.

We also stopped by the Saint-Bernadette Sanctuary. The namesake of the sanctuary was Bernadette Soubirou who, as a 14-year-old girl living in the town of Lourdes in 1858, claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to her in visions. Even non-Catholics like Lon and I have heard of the shrine, famous for healing, that developed in Lourdes as a result. It has been an international pilgrimage site since 1873, and with about 5 million visitors a year, is purportedly the most visited Christian shrine in the world.

Bernadette later became a nun and joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers at their convent in Nevers. She died in 1879 of a long illness at the young age of 35. In 1909, during the process that led to her sainthood, her body was exhumed and found to be in an incredibly preserved state. Declared "incorrupt"--preserved from decomposition--it was cited as a further miracle in support of her canonization. After reinterment she was exhumed twice more, in 1919 when sainthood was bestowed, and 1925. After the 3rd exhumation, models were made of her face and hands so that wax casts could be prepared to cover existing skin discolorations. Her body was then placed in a crystal and gold reliquary and displayed in the main church of the Nevers convent, where she remains to this day. Since 1970, the convent has been a pilgrimage center dedicated to Saint Bernadette.

Re-creation of the Lourdes grotto.

A museum is available on site (we didn't go in) and anyone
may enter the church (to the right). It appeared that the group
of people in the photo may have been intending to hold a special
service of some kind.

Fete Nationale (or "Bastille Day" to us) on Sunday, July 14, gave us a chance to "hit the trail" and cycle back to some areas that we'd had to bypass in order to keep to our "schedule" of reaching Nevers with the boat on July 6. Our primary destination of the day was the village of Apremont-sur-Allier. It's touted as a "medieval village" and is listed as "one of the most beautiful villages in France" (which is really an association membership--with certain requirements--and doesn't actually denote a winner of a beauty contest for towns.) 

Apremont was an 18-kilometer bike ride from Nevers, an easy undertaking on a mostly flat, mostly bike trail, route. On the way was a most interesting sight, the Lorrains Circular Lock, which once led into the Allier River as well as to a branch canal off the Canal lateral a la Loire. Constructed in 1835-1841 for carrying sand barges, dropping water levels in the Allier and the changing economics of sand transport put it out of business relatively quickly.

View down the lateral canal toward the entry
to the round canal. It had a very fancy lock house!

A round lock was needed because of the sharp turn required to 
navigate between the two lock exits. Horses were used to tow the 
boats through the turn.

On to clean and pristine Apremont. Flowers everywhere, Parc Floral adjacent (which we didn't pay to enter) and a lovely setting along the Allier River. The village had two restaurants, a creperie at the river and a brassiere more "downtown." Ah, yes, the car park for residents was on one end of town, leaving the main street free of parked cars and keeping the vista of all that "medievalness" plain to see.

Main street Apremont. All medieval, all the time. No cars from this perspective.

The waterfront was lovely. We ordered dessert crepes for an afternoon break. The friendly
 service and beautiful surroundings made up for the fact that they weren't homemade.

I had mixed feelings about Apremont. It certainly had its medieval bona fides: a 13th century church, a grand chateau overlooking the town, and a history as a quarry village going back centuries. Its population peaked at about 600 in 1850; today, it has somewhere around 70 residents. 

Above: the castle has been much modified since its origins in the 11th
century, but that's true of many castles in France.
Below: the village church.

And who can complain about the absence of decay? Me, I guess. As one who absolutely loves walking around old ruins that are the epitome of authentic, the planned nature of the current village doesn't sit well. Today's Apremont is the re-creation of an idealized medieval village, the brainchild of an industrialist who married into the family that owned the chateau. In the period between WWI and WWII, Eugene Scheider bought up most of the houses in the village. Buildings that didn't fit the desired esthetic were torn down. Schneider hired architects to transform what was left into an ideal of "Berry medieval" architecture, adding turrets and half-timbering and mullioned windows and tiled roofs. All of the shutters are painted the same, bespoke color. 

The front of the church and a "perfect" medieval house.

The Brasserie du Lavoir.

It felt like Disney, perfectly able to fit into Epcot Center's international section as the exhibit for "medieval French village." Pretty, yes, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. Others will no doubt have a different perspective on things.

We were able to watch the holiday fireworks in Nevers from the back of CARIB; the accompanying music was also audible. It was a great spectacle! The following day, I made the trek to the closest grocery store to stock up, and Lon prepped the boat for departure on the 16th. Time to start moving again!