Norman Funny Farm: Outside the Fontaine-Henry Parish Church

So I went outside into the old but not deconsecrated cemetery and began looking up to the church roof, and voila! another mother-lode of Norman funnies, including some of the weirdest yet...

Thus

And thus; and follows a selection...

Change of pace; Celtic?

Stern

Close friends

Wagging tongue

Hmmm...

Ever more

Another hmmm...

More wagging

The only comment in the church's scant description was this,
pretty much a scant description...I guess it's folly to hope to get
into the minds of those who conceived, ordered, designed, and
carved these critters 900 years ago; but don't worry, we're still in
Normandy, and there will be lots more!

Fontaine-Henry: The Parish Church

From Caen we drove on, seemingly churched-out, to the little village of Fontaine-Henry, between Caen and Bayeux, to see a noted Gothic/Renaissance chateau. The chateau didn't open until 2:30, and so, naturally, I wandered over to the very old-looking parish church nearby...

Consecrated in the 12th century, with an add-on that pretty much matched 

Everything Romanesque here, except the arch that divides the
original building from the add-on

Nicely carved, more in the choir

The add-on; still very Romanesque

The capitals were nicely sculpted, especially for this size church

Then things started getting silly

Thus

And thus

But then serious again over the side doors

Ditto

But then more weird stuff

Ditto; so I am wondering if these are some sort of 12th century speech balloons...

Cimaterie of St. Nicholas Church, Caen

Apparently cemeteries get deconsecrated too. St. Nicholas' cemetery was right out of a Stephen King movie. Picturesque, in a way.

Whiskers, the Deconsecrated Caretaker

St. Nicholas Church, Caen

Vicki had read of another 11th century church in Caen: St. Nicholas, only a few blocks beyond the Men's Abbey. The monks of the Abbey themselves built it. Probably a make-work project for idle minds, idle hands, idle whatevers. (Abbeys are not generally placed within cities.) Anyway, we walked back the length of our day's journey and found it fairly readily. Only then did we find that it had been deconsecrated and locked up pretty tightly. But our journey was not without reward. Still, I'd like to have gotten into that ancient building, which appears by no means a ruin.

Sr. Nicholas from the west; really big, really old

The south side fronts the street

A look at the apse

Despite our disappointment, our eyes gazed heaven-ward, and
we were rewarded with this, and then a whole large Romanesque
building's worth of what I have come to call "Norman funnies"

More...all the way around...

Thus

And thus

Religious art scholars dismiss these things as "clumsy"

We'll never understand what they are about, but they are all
over the 11th and 12th century Norman world...England, Normandy,
SW France, Sicily...

And thus

St. Nicholas of the Mysteries, from the southeast

Caen Castle

Caen Castle was William's major stronghold. There were others, and he began building more in England almost as soon as he got there.

It's a really big one, 5 hectares (big) inside, built on a large rock
outcropping in the middle of what is now the city

Big enough for its own major parking garage

Today's ussie

View from the ramparts, of St. Pierre's, the tram, etc.

Yet another (unvisited) church within this square
mile

Looking toward the Men's Abbey

Another museum not visited

More of the castle expanse, including (?) the chapel that houses
the TI outpost 

With its helpful model  of the castle

And while sitting on a bench, I looked up and saw a whole row
of these, which I have now come to call Norman funnies

Parthian shot of the humongous castle