Autumnal caterpillar!

Saturday
Another gorgeous Fall day - amazingly warm for November 1st! The high was about 21C - by Tuesday the high is only supposed to reach 11C - I think we may notice the difference! We drove down to the historic town of Sens today - in the northern tip of Burgundy. The town is located on the River Yonne, so we first headed down to the riverbanks and had a little wander there. Walking along one of the boulevards which encircle the town (built on the site of the old ramparts), we passed this wonderful caterpillar formed with chrysanthemums! The highlight of the town is the Cathedral St. Etienne, notable for being the first Gothic cathedral built in France, beginning in 1135. The Archdiocese of Sens at the time ruled over the dioceses of Chartres, Auxerre, Beaux, Paris, Orléans, Nevers and Troyes. Sens saw several historic events. In 1234, Louis IX of France celebrated his wedding to Marguerite of Provence. Pope Alexander III sojourned for some time in the city, and Thomas Becket spent part of his exile there between 1162 and 1165. The Cathedral has some beautiful stained glass - we wished we had thought to take our binoculars to see it in more detail. We enjoyed a very good lunch sitting outside in the sunshine at a cafe right outside the cathedral, then after lunch we did a bit more exploring, before finally leaving late afternoon, to be back in Fontainebleau in time to see Carmen, the Metropolitan Opera production in HD at the Ermitage cinema, which started at 6pm this evening instead of the usual 7pm, since we changed our clocks last weekend, and the US change theirs tonight!