Oloron - 1st Century Roman!

Woke up this morning to the sound of chirruping birds and a very fresh but beautiful morning. A canopy of blue sky accompanied us on our walk into Oloron Saint Marie. We had visited the Quartier Sainte-Marie just recently but this time we were determined to climb up to the battlements and old town Quartier Notre Dame. It was worth the climb I think you will agree when you have a nose at the pictures I have posted on social media. It is quite peculiar though - we walked up to almost deserted streets - there are vehicles everywhere but just no sign of life - there was a lady outside the cathedral L’Eglise Saint-Croix on her mobile and we met another lady who wanted to give Tom a cuddle, but that was it! I know people must be working but it is something we have noticed whilst visiting these historic places. Who knows - anyway we found the Cathedral and some ancient houses, very beautiful but very little in the way of commerce here - no tabac or restaurant - the Cathedral was incredible. There are no words for the atmosphere of these places - places built to the glory of God - they are staggering really when you take a bit of time to think about it. The first thing that hit me when I walked in this completely empty building was the lovely smell of lilies. These flowers I can sometimes find overpowering in a small room and I’m not always their biggest fan, but here in this huge building, they are perfect. The iconography on the alter was stunning - the colours still so vivid. The alter housed a large freestanding crucifix and to the left of the alter was a very small Pieta. Then you turn and realise you walked right past the most glorious ‘gold wall’ housing the confessionals. I’ve shared this particular picture with you on this page. You can be forgiven for not realising the confessionals are there! And yet, as you turn away from all the gold and colour - behind you the rest of the Cathedral is very simple - stone walls with the occasional little rose window letting in the light, brightened by the colours of the stained glass. Then looking down, the stones set in the floor with their ancient carved lettering laid to the memory of someone lost nearly 270 years ago......... I left the Cathedral to find Alan sitting on a splendid bench overlooking the rest of town bathed in sunshine and when you look up, there in the distance are the snow capped mountains of the Pyrenees. In the garden area there was a very large statue of a bronze lady, who I can only describe as wringing her hands - its Monumental in size, but nothing I could find to indicate what she represents. As I refer in the title, I have discovered the Oloron itself was founded by the Romans in the first century and Saint Marie was a town on the other side of the river. Over time Oloron‘s commercial links with Spain, eventually pulled both sides of the river together to form one town. We decided to walk back down to the lower Quartier via a different route which consisted of long sloping walkway incorporating occasional steps. This felt quite hazardous as the ancient stone edgings were crumbling and it was very steep indeed. We decided to have a coffee at a small tabac outside in the sun - it’s the second time we have visited this establishment and it makes me laugh because the loos are very basic - it’s like a competition with yourself - the light switch is on a timer which ‘caught me out’ shall we say when I used the facilities before - anyway I thought I’ll beat the little bugger this time and pressed the timer switch three times to give me more time (light switch is outside the door by the way) Well it didn’t work and I got caught again. Hey ho. We popped in for some groceries and made our way back to the site - a sit in the sun reading and generally soaking up the rays. When we woke up this morning we were the only van on site - as we go to our beds tonight there are many other vans that have arrived during the day. The van behind us has a gorgeous red Collie, so maybe Tom will find a playmate tomorrow. I cooked a rather nifty Lasagne for our supper with a nice salad prepped by my beloved which went down very well even if I do say so myself. And so, to bed. Nighty night