St Savin

I'm not sure how this post is going to go - flickr have made some changes to how you can link to your photos (hark, is that the wailing of html dunces around the world?). Given I thought that html was an abbreviation for hotmail, it goes without saying I'm also having some problems. Photo positioning and text spacings are giving me grief, but I will prevail! Or will at least keep trying.

Onto another holiday recap. St Savin was another lovely little town we visited in the Pyrenees.

The day we were there it was really quiet, and we enjoyed a simple lunch on the main street (sadly the restaurant we wanted to eat at was closed on Mondays).

The summer greenery of the Pyrenees made a stunning backdrop for the quaint buildings.

This church had an ajoining abbey, which housed a small museum.

We walked in just when the organist arrived for his practice session on the 15th century organ. Folks must have had bad ears back then because that baby was LOUD.

Behind one of the altars was this gilded piece.

Holding a large piece of rock crystal.

Another smaller altar held a Madonna and chubby baby Jesus statue.

But what I really loved was the patchwork-like stained glass window behind them.

The museum was small but held some interesting items - including a fantastic painting of Mary appearing to Saint Bernadette (which started off the Lourdes phenomenon).  We were amazed at the old set of bellows from the organ displayed in a corner, no case or rope to keep visitors from touching (don't worry, we didn't).  So different to Australia, a young pup of a country, where a relic from the 1500s would be locked away behind glass probably with a cranky-pants guard to keep nose prints off the case. The sense of history in the Old World is amazing - it's everywhere, almost every street and building, so much that locals forget it's even there. But to visitors, it makes (particularly these smaller villages) seem magical.

Thanks, St Savin.

Now to hit post. Preview shows everything looking okay, but Preview, you evil sprite, you have fooled me before. Shame on me if you fool me again.

*ETA: Yay, it worked!