Visiting the Towns of St. Léonard
de Noblat and St. Junien (Limousin, France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
After
visiting the Adrien Dubouché Porcelain Museum in downtown Limoges (France), my
husband Laurent, toddler Florence, and I drove to Aixe-sur-Vienne to buy porcelain
at a store that specialized in white porcelain at the time on the Vienne River.
It
was fun to visit the Maison de la Porcelan with Florence. She liked all the dishes I showed her and
described them as “C’est beau.”
We
bought several pieces of white porcelain and went to the town of St. Léonard de
Noblat. The town is named after the
hermit Léonard, who lived in the forest nearby.
The
church in Saint Léonard de Noblat has many sculpted beasts on its sculpture outside
meant to inspire awe and respect for God.
The
Church was not empty. I sat and let
Florence practice pulling down the kneestand and pray a few times.
We
went back to the great-aunt’s house for more vegetable appetizers and a
charcuterie selection of Serrano ham from Spain, Italian prosciutto, and French
rillettes with baguettes and bread.
I
fell asleep as I went to bed that night.
The
next morning, we went to the market in St. Junien. The market sold cute bunnies. Florence and I played with the soft bunnies
while the vendor gave me rabbit recipes.
The
town of St. Junien came to life when the hermit St. Junien began to heal the
sick with water in the 6th century.
Most people drank wine, because it was cleaner than well water due to it
production methods. He may have taught
people to boil water to kill bacteria.
St.
Junien like St. Léonard de Noblat searched for his soul in the woods much like
Jesus and holy hermits did in the Middle East when they went to the
desert. There was a large monastery in
St. Junien dedicated to the Saint.
I
imagined how festive the town must look during its “ostentations,” which take
place every seven years. The
“ostentations” are a series of processions of saints’ relics that are held in
Limoges and its neighboring towns.
During
the “ostentations” in St. Junien, people wear costumes and parade down the main
street covered with leaves to look like the forest. I read this information to Laurent as we
walked through the market from the Michelin touring guide.
We
bought strawberries and chocolate cake to bring to Laurent’s cousin’s house,
who had invited us for lunch.
Our
host told us that he spoke a “patois” or dialect during lunch. This patois could be either the langue d’oc
of the South of France or the langue d’oeil of the North of France. The Limousin is the linguistic dividing line
in France between those two dialects.
The
name of both languages signifies “yes” in those languages and might make
reference to swearing fealty to a medieval seigneur.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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