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All the photos today are of Autun -- and most of them are of the Cathedral of St. Lazare. This was mostly a travel day as we drove u to stay at Chalon-sur-Saone via Clermont Ferrand. Heaps of driving; too bad the break at Autun couldn't come in the middle instead of near the end.
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The town of Autun is lovely -- quite like many small cathedral towns in France. The cathedral itself is spectacular Romanesque. The church is unique in that almost all of the stone decoration is by the hand of an identifiable Romanesque master - Gislebertus -- who actually signed his work here, saying "Gislebertus hoc fecit" (Gislebertus made this). He is also unusual in that he has an unusual and very personal style. I particularly like his demons. His greatest work is the tympanum above the main Western portal. There has been quite a bit of cleaning done, so the work is beautifully clear -- also thanks to a couple of centuries of protection from the elements as an earlier generation did not like his work, so they plastered over it.
Tonight, Chalons. Tomorrow we return the car and head into Paris.
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