Today was my final day in Aulnay. It was sad to leave my host family. They were so kind and generous, and I know that my time here could not have been the same without them. I took a final trip to Saint Pierre this morning. My next semester will be consumed with research and writing about the church, and it was strange to know it was the last time I would see it in person. My host family gave me a tour around the farms in their town, and then I drove off to Poitiers.
Navigating by myself was difficult after having such helpful French guides. I drove around Poitiers for an hour longer than I needed to when I attempted to find my hotel. Once I figured out the parking garage, everything went smoothly. I checked into my hotel and walked around the city. I stopped by Poitiers Cathedral. It’s a grand church built between the years 1162 and 1379. As a result, the cathedral has elements of Gothic and Romanesque styles. The cathedral is primarily Gothic however, so it does not have much relevance to my project.
I spent most of the remainder of the evening in my hotel resting and catching up on blogging because I spent so much time driving during the day. At 10 pm however, I left to see Notre Dame la Grande again. In the evenings during the summer, they project lights onto the cathedral to show what the church may have looked like when it was painted in medieval times. They keep the lights on for a little over an hour. No one can be sure which pigments were used in different parts of the church, so as the hour passes the colors change to show other ways it may have been painted. Unfortunately my camera did not quite capture how spectacular this event is, so I am posting a picture from the tourism website.
Tomorrow is another day of medieval sites. I may go by the Musée Saint-Croix as well. I could never tire of seeing this much art all the time, and I never want it to stop!