Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei

Think old.  Older than Medieval.  Way, way back in history to the 700's - to the land of Charlemagne.

Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei is named for Serenicus (or Genericus), an Italian hermit who lived here during the 8th century. When he died, a monastery was built, later destroyed by the Vikings in 903.  The church currently standing is newer, but still very old.  The architecture is different from most churches around here.



Look at this ceiling!

The "Way of the Cross" was given to the church by a patron and is in keeping with the artistry of the town.

The cemetery is also very old.  When you see all the headstones of people who died so many years ago, whole families using the same "family plot", today abandoned and neglected, cremation seems a better alternative.

The name le-Gérei comes from William Giroie, who built a castle here in 1044 of which only parts of the walls remain today. In 1060 the castle came under siege from Duke William II of Normandy (the future King William I of England) before being taken by Robert Courteheuse his son in 1088.

During the Hundred Years' War, Ambroise de Loré managed to defend the stronghold against the king of England Henry V and, then his brother John Plantagenet until 1434.

Today, this village is considered one of France's Most Beautiful Villages.  The beauty of the village's setting, in a wooded loop of the River Sarthe, has attracted and inspired many artists since the 19th century. The village even has its own festival which annually celebrates those painters who came to, or lived in, Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei.

Karl loves taking photos next to doors.



Art work that looked like a jeweled skull.

 



We ate across from this "Salon de Thé", at l'Auberge de la Vallée.



Terrine de lapin (rabbit).  Notice the big white radishes!

Best scalloped potatoes with oodles of cheese!

 It was a long drive home. 

We were in the "Perche" district (where the Percheron horses come from), so we stopped to look at some four-legged friends.  These were a little tired and mangy looking; not at all like the representatives we saw at Haras du Pin.  But they were friendly and were curious to see if I might have a carrot or an apple.

Our next stop was a short refreshment break in Mamers.  This church is very different from the one in Saint-Cénéri-le-Gérei.

Beautiful symmetry

After a 9-hour day, it was good to be home.

Cools pays homage to Brel

We didn't want to be late.  We arrived an hour early to attend this very special concert giving homage to Jacques Brel.  Held at the Mayenne Polyvalente, it was a concert on a big scale.  Two orchestras were there: l'Orchestre d'Harmonie du Pays de Mayenne, and l'Orchestre Symphonique de la Haute Mayenne. 

The auditorium was filling up and still 45 minutes till the start.  We had excellent seats in the third row, right in the middle.  With doors opened on either side, it was good to be in a slight breeze; it must have been in the low 30's in that hall!

It started with the results of a competition between the two orchestras that had been juried earlier.  Students from the Conservatory who play in either of these orchestras were invited to submit new harmonies or rewrite a piece of music to be played by a larger group.  For instance, I recognized a piece from West Side Story, but with a different harmony.  I then identified a piece usually played on the piano now interpreted with a full orchestra.  An excellent concert.  Mayenne's got talent!

The representative from the Conservatory welcomed us and you can see the leaders of each orchestra behind him.  These musicians accompanied the guest of honour, Sébastien Cools, in his interpretation of Jacques Brel.

Jacques Brel was born in Belgium in 1929 and became a well-known and very successful song-writer and singer.  I discovered him in my teens when Raymond Magnan and I listened to his "record" over and over again.  When Karl and I got married in 1976, Raymond's brother, Alcide, and his wife Cécile, sang the popular song "Quand on a que l'amour" in both French and English, during our wedding ceremony.

Brel died of cancer in 1978, but his songs live on.  They have been sung by Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Sting, Johnny Hallyday, David Bowie, Céline Dion and many others.  Sébastien Cools, also from Belgium, has been singing Brel songs for over 15 years, and he has won multiple recognitions for his interpretation.  He is amazing!  If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine Brel singing.  Cools is so full of expression and can get a full house crying or clapping hands, depending on the song.

Cools sings with poster of Le Grand Jacques in background

We just loved our afternoon!  I would hazard a guess that we were probably the two people in the crowd who came from the furthest away to hear this concert: Vancouver, Canada, to Mayenne, France.  We were so appreciative!