Today is the last of the Pyrenees holiday we are spending with Kathie and Graeme... we planned a quieter day looking up interesting spots in the Pyrenees Foothills... unfortunately quiet days are hard to find in this part of the world.
Graeme is renowned for his competitive spirit... which, today, has manifest itself in claims as to who has the best Satellite Navigation system. Is Cecilia (Graeme's system) better than Peggy. We have taken turns in providing transport for each day's adventure... and the road system in this farmland community is very intricate... so each SatNav system has been pushed to its capability. Each time Graeme's system has made an error, I have reminded him of the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Cecilia" by singing the lyrics... "Cecilia, you're breaking my heart... You're shaking my confidence daily". Each time Peggy made a mistake, Graeme suggests we should book her into a French finishing school. The claim and counter-claim has reached the point where we have planned to put Cecilia into my car (it is a portable system) and get real-time comparisons of error rates and response times... the things grown men get excited about!
Unfortunately, we have run out of time.
Today, Graeme was driving... we only had 50 klms to cover... an ancient Abbey and Castle followed by a special walk along the river bank... an easy day in the making. We entered the name of the town into Cecilia's system and headed off for the short drive. Inevitably, Cecilia made a mistake... Graeme disconnected her and put her in the glove box. However, his infatuation with her knows no bounds... before we reached the parking lot he had Cecilia back in control... all reconnected ... with Graeme pointing out the superior colour of the road displayed by Cecilia... and the road being displayed as much wider.
The Abbey (Cistercian Abbey of Escaladieu) is over 1,000 years old... and occupied 100 monks (from aristocratic families) plus about 1,000 lay-monks from local peasant farmers (who did all the hard work). They cleared the thick forests that harboured highwaymen and other villains... allowing the community to become much more productive. With such a large and disciplined labour force, the Abbey proved a commercial success. The true monks took vows of silence... lived a life of under-nourishment... with no heating... but being offered the chance to be elected as prior or abbot... thus entering the decision-making circles of the country. The real benefit from being a monk is that their family gained social standing... every good family had a monk in its ranks... and it cost nothing to put them into service.
The Castle (Château de Mauvezin) was built at the same time as the Abbey... and provided the Abbey with its security. Its heyday was in the age of chivalry... supported by the emergence of a new language the Occitan... that supplanted Roman derived languages... and promoted concepts of love, sacrifice and commitment. Equality of the sexes didn't get much of a mention... but you can't get everything. Our grandchildren would love to play with the 12th century instruments of war... and the armour that required herculean strength just to stand up in the suit.
Our last activity was a walk beside a small stream... seeing a saw mill driven by water power... and charcoal burning incinerators... all very interesting.
Tomorrow, we are all heading back to Spain... but continuing our separate adventures.
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