Like many towns around here, Saint-Quentin has examples of ‘art nouveau’ mid-twentieth architectural style. Here is a somewhat eye-catching building, the music and drama conservatory.
In Saint Quentin’s museum there is a nice collection of pastels by an 18th century portrait artist originally from here, Maurice Quentin de la Tour. Pastels were widely used for 18th century portraits of the aristocracy; they produce soft, gentle portraits. I particularly liked this one, a preparatory drawing for a portrait of a dancer at the Opera Comique.
I’m no longer a ‘purist’ pilgrim walking every inch of the way - in the interest of time and my sore toes, I now skipped three days walking and took a train to Laon.
Laon is an ancient hill-top city, conquered and settled by the Romans, then conquered a large number of subsequent times as well. 265 steps take you from the train station up to the old part of town and the Cathedral.
It is chilly and wet, so I was glad to have a hotel right by the cathedral and be able to come and go during the day to stay warm and comfortable.
My first visit was to the underground passages. Like many towns and villages in the area, the land under the settlements has been mined to get building materials. In Arras, a complex web of tunnels was enlarged by New Zealand soldiers during WWI, permitting 24,000 allied soldiers to shelter and completely surprise the enemy leading to a great battle. In Laon the tunnels are extensive and have been used many times over the centuries to shelter civilians. There are three layers of tunneling, and constant vigilance is needed to make sure they don’t collapse. See all the reinforcements in the photo! Homeowners ‘own’ the soil under their homes in France (unless it contains oil or valuable ore) and so are responsible for underground supports.
In medieval times, a small mine would produce about four blocks of building stone per week. This obviously slowed construction of the huge cathedrals! This is Laon’s (1150-1235) at night.
Several of Laon’s 16th century houses and buildings remind me of the old part of Quebec City. Here are residences built for the many priests in attendance at the Cathedral. At one point there were three large abbeys in town - nothing survives of them.
One of the oldest buildings in Laon is the thirteenth century chapel of the Knights Templar (who were later persecuted and expelled from the city).
I ate out twice today - a welcome change from all my picnic meals. Here is supper: a whole Vacherin cheese, melted in its box with roast potatoes to dip. We always hear about wine pairings - tonight I had a white Chardonnay with the cheese that really worked. Alone the wine was rather ordinary. After a mouthful of cheese, it tasted like I imagine the nectar of the gods would - smooth, rich like honey.
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