Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[Quickstatus]

volcanic bombs that mark the rock as volcanic tuff

Please explain

 

[Quickstatus]

I'm surprised there wasn't more damage from WW 2

Possibly because it was a prison housing many French resistance members?

 

[RooFlyer]

Please explain

You know when you see a volcano going off, there’s a huge plume and column of what they call ash. That falls to the ground and creates layers of ash ( fine rock particles from fine sand grain size up to grit) and in general that’s called tuff or tufa, a sedimentary rock. There are other types of deposits pushed out from a volcano such as a lahar, but we are just talking about tuff here.

Well, as those ash layers settle, the volcano keeps spitting out bigger stuff and you’ve probably heard the term of volcanic bomb, which is actual rock such as the size of a football. These go splat into the unconsolidated ash layers and you get a feature like the one I photographed in the Galapagos Islands, where softer layers are deformed by the incoming bomb. The bomb itself has broken into several pieces on impact and then was covered by more ash layers, the lighter grey stuff above it

When weathered out they can also act as handy chin rests for itinerant seals.



At Beze, the bombs being hard solid rocks stick out from the wall as the softer tuff weathers.

 

[RooFlyer]

Possibly because it was a prison housing many French resistance members?

It was also turned into a prison after the French Revolution by Napoleon I (the monasteries being dispersed it was abandoned for some years) , being one of the toughest prisons in France from 1814.

There is a bunch more, but essentially repetitions on a theme. Until you come to this building, which you can see to the right in my first pic of the complex, above.







Its function is not known for sure but current interp is that it was a kitchen/bakery - it abuts the refectory. Inside, the towers are almost certainly chimneys.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just some other scenes about the place, and adjacent town

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes, that corner is quite unlike the rest of Fontevraud with its ornate round roof. It is almost like it was added separately. Understandable as the place has been under various reconstructions and renovations over the centuries. Kitchen makes sense. If there was a fire, there are no wooden roof trusses to burn down

Its also a hotel IIRC?

 

[RooFlyer]

Its also a hotel IIRC?

Not that I saw. Away from the bits I toured, its a modern art exhibition space and a meeting venue.

On the way to the Abbey from my parking I came across the Church of St Michael - built in the 12th century and altered through the centuries. Very pretty.













And close to where I parked my car, I blithly walked past this building, the chapel of St Catherine, another 13th century building! Hardly signposted (may be privately owned?)