A morning in Moissac

[shewhomust]

Moissac is on the pilgrim route to Compostella, and we'd passed through before, but always passing through, arriving late and leaving early, never visiting the abbey. This time we would see the Romanesque cloister, and the famous sculptures: but first we made a detour to the edge of the town, and stopped to admire the aqueduct where the Canal Latéral crosses the Tarn. There's a tiny parking space tucked in beside some steps which climb up to the canal; I couldn't see the river at all from ground level, just the lush green of the flood plain contrasting with the red brick (the "local stone" of the region) of the aqueduct. Up the steps, and the perspective shifts to a pleasant canal-side walk; it was sunny and lazy and we had the place to ourselves - it was tempting just to stroll on along by the glassy water.

But we carried on into Moissac, parking by the railway line which divides the abbey buildings into two groups, and is itself lavishly decorated with colourful tags, and made our way to the abbey. The porch and the cloister are so famous that I didn't expect much of the abbey church itself, but it was - "delightful", say my notes, brightly painted, and that's what I remember, a general impression of light and colour. There were also two charming fifteenth century polychrome wood sculptures, one showing the flight into Egypt, Joseph leading a donkey on which his diminutive wife grapples with a baby, the other Christ being lowered into a coffin by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, while Saint John and a gaggle of Maries look on.

By the time we had had our fill of the porch and the interior, the cloister had closed for lunch; and the supermarket was about to close too, but we had just time to stock up on a picnic lunch, and to admire a mural tribute to artist Firmin Bouisset, whose works are more familiar than his name.

Maybe next time we'll visit the cloister.