Lagrasse

Gite handover day, but once that was all done and dusted we headed out to Lagrasse, listed as one of the most beautiful French villages with a medieval abbey and a couple of nice bridges to have coffee with. The abbey was fun - in one large vaulted room they had a dozen or so ceramic bells hanging from the roof, each a couple of foot high and each rung by a ceramic hand connected to stepper motors and solenoids. Given the arbitrary tuning of the ceramics and the ambience of the roof, not to mention the addition of a ghostly soundtrack of murmuring monks, the effect was both immersive and surreal. I may have to play in the back garden with bells and motors when I get home!