We are staying in another small hotel, very quaint. Vezelay is a tiny town, but the site of many pilgrims, much like Iona. The Benedictine abbey is the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene, and is taken care of by the Community of Jerusalem, brothers and sisters, whose rule of life was written in 1978. The community lives their life together attentive to the inner voice of the Spirit leading and illuminating everything they do.
After walking about half a mile up a tiny winding street, we worshiped at Vespers and Mass. Here is a photo of the interior.
We enjoyed an elegant dinner at La Dent Creve, (The Hollow Tooth). Their cheese is amazing here: all goat cheese so far.
June 10, Wednesday. After breakfast we had a commissioning service, in a small chapel in the Basilica, and received pendants with tiny silver medallions with the word "gratitude". Liturgy as only Jeffrey can do it, assisted by Joan, Tom and John.
Lunch on our own; we bought a baguette, quiche and some kind of wonderful creamy pastry, and ate on chairs outside our room.
Lots of free time today; I shopped a little. Things are very expensive here.
I've taken at least a million photos so far, so you are only getting a taste!
Dinner at Auberge de la Coquille; don't order the roast beef.
Thursday, June 11. We drove to Fontenay, a lovely restored Cistercian Abbey about 1.5 hours away. Amazing countryside here: very clean and green and gorgeous. We had a tailgate picnic on the grounds of Fontenay; it is now owned by a family who allows the public to view it. Very well restored on perfectly manicured grounds. Here is a photo of it.
This Abbey is much simpler than the more ornate Basilica in Vezelay, due to the particular order that was in place when it was built.
On the return trip, we stopped at a small church in Sant Pere, quite gothic. More gargoyles!
We decided to do vespers early, so visited a tiny chapel (Franciscan this time) near the point where Bernard of Clairvaux preached at the beginning of the 2nd crusade. A Frenchman was in the chapel when we arrived, and we invited him to join us. He did not speak English, but stayed with us, and even sang "Laudate Dominum" with us at the end, and passed the peace (both cheeks, of course)! We chose to walk back to the hotel, and I got some amazing photos on the way.
Cows here are Charolais, and are white. The poppies everywhere are red. In fact, France has the reddest flowers I have ever seen: roses, geraniums, whatever. 
They positively glow!
They positively glow!Tomorrow we are off to Cluny. See you there! If you click on the photos within the blog, they will enlarge.
Eventually, maybe I will be able to create a place where you can see a slideshow.
You can upload to Flickr or Kodak Gallery to post more photos. Sounds like you're having a great time!
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