Today we had planned a quiet day after driving to villages to see the sights for the past four days. With absolute serendipity it turned into a wonderful day. Our goal was to drive out to Aubazine which is only 13 kms from Brive. It is renown for a medieval Abbey and we planned to be home for a late lunch. There was rain forecast but it was not on the horizen so it seemed like a safe plan.
Aubazine is a small village clustered around the Abbey. Part of the buildings have been destroyed but the church is intact and a small group of nuns still minister there. As we wandered around the Abbey walls we noted that at 5pm there was a choral group presenting a concert of mediaeval chants.
We walked along the self guided walk trail finding the old mill, the mill pond and the canal which fed water to the pond and the village. Having circumnavigated the village we decided to investigate the golf club since there was a sign saying tourists welcome. It was co-located with a camping area at a lake about 8 kms away. We enquired about a round and found the course manager to be a very helpful woman. We could play 9 holes on their short course without interfering with the mens comp which had just begun. She also said that due to the threat of rain and very windy conditions there was unlikely to be anyone else and we could go around twice if we wanted to. The pro was not quite so friendly so by the time we paid the quite reasonable rate for the round and then gave the pro his dues for hire of one set of clubs, used balls and some tees it was quite expensive. Nevertheless it was a lovely course and when Bob had got over his annoyance we began to enjoy ourselves. We ended up playing 11 holes and both played reasonably well. I even worked out how to get out of their sand traps after a couple of goes.
It was way past lunchtime by then and was the only day we hadn't packed snacks. The village was closed up because it was Sunday and so lunch was an apple each. By then we had decided it was only just over an hour for the start of the Concert and we wanted to go to it.We whiled the time away taking more photos and trying to find suppliments for our apples. At 4.45 we could see people walking toward the Abbey and joined them . This gave us entry to the Abbey grounds and the Chapter House which was the venue. It was a high ceilinged stone space with marvellous accoustics. The audience was mostly locals and the singers numbered 13. The concert was the culmination of their 3rd weekend workshop and their voices were beautiful. It lasted and hour and we loved every minute.
We came home to a decent dinner to assauge our rumbling stomachs. Tomorrow we move on to Carcassone for one night so this is why I am being organisd and writing tonight. Good night.
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