Poultry and Royal Monastery In Bourg En Bresse

Bourg en Bresse, the capital of Ain, is in the way between Burgundy and Chamonix Mont Blanc, two destinations that generally go together for us. So, after Tournus, en route to Chamonix, we stopped in B en B for lunch and a tour of the Brou church and monastery.

You guessed it, Bresse chicken

After the previous evening's over-indulgence, we opted just for the one-plate
affair; Vicki really likes this stuff; I prefer Costceaux

From the Bresse chicken restaurant row, you gaze across the street at the Brou
church, an early 16th century Flamboyant extravaganza that is part of the Royal
Monastery of Brou, which was intended to be a royal burial ground sort of like
St. Denis, but for the elites of Savoy and Burgundy; the Flamboyant is interesting,
the tile roofing is impressive

Interior

Elevation

The sculpture on the rood screen, the choir, and the tombs
is exquisite and fairly unusual in having escaped the
Revolutionary ravages most royal/noble/religious edifices
were subjected to

The tomb of Margaret of Austria, the donor of Brou, widow of Philibert the Fair,
duke of Savoy; or possibly her mother; or possibly someone else, maybe
Philibert himself

Margaret died of blood poisoning, our guide (Vicki) said, from a cut on her
foot, pictured here (right foot); always, ALWAYS wear shoes or other foot
protection; and treat even minor cuts promptly...

Chartered helicopter view of the entire complex; notice there are three different
cloisters; Margaret lived here, so one was for her private use; I bet it was nicer
than the others

One of the cloisters; a double-decker, too; nice picnic pavilion in the center

Giant sun dial outside the church

The monastery proper is now the home of B en B's municipal
museum, which is fairly formidable considering it is a small
city; above is what happens when you don't brush and floss
after every meal; I wonder if Caravaggio ever did one of these,
and if so, how he handled the lighting...

Would it have made more sense, compositionally, to have
had four angels, not three? I mean, with four, you could
avoid the juggling act of the left angel; and it still would
have made symbolic sense, 3 for the trinity + 1 for the unity
=4; am I right? 

Always looking for a Millet, one of Van Gogh's heroes

We really were looking for a Breughel, which turned out to
be a "studio of" Jan Breughel, and a Dante and Virgil that
was under restoration or on loan, but were nonetheless
pleased to see this and a couple other Gustav Dore pieces...
Vivien and Merlin