Mini vacances/vacation, Auvergne. Saint-Néctaire et Les Fontaines Pétrifiantes.

Français :

Aujourd'hui, nous avons visité Saint-Nectaire, la commune qui doit son nom à son église Saint-Nectaire, dédiée à Nectaire d'Auvergne. 
Il était un disciple d'Austremoine de Clermont, l'évangélisateur de l'Auvergne et le premier évêque de Clermont au IVème siècle. 
Selon Grégoire de Tours, Nectaire était un des sept apôtres des Gaules envoyés de Rome par le pape Fabien.

L'église est une église de style roman auvergnat qui se dresse sur le Mont Cornadore à Saint-Nectaire. Elle fait partie des cinq églises romanes d'Auvergne dites "majeures".

L'église de Saint-Nectaire fut commencée vers 1080 et a été édifiée principalement entre 1146 et 1178.

Malheureusement, nous n'avons pas trouvé un seul restaurant auvergnat ouvert dans la commune. Évidement ils ont changé de propriétaires, un changement qui a causé des problèmes.

Nous avons continué vers Les Fontaines Pétrifiantes de Saint-Nectaire, un endroit unique au monde. Oui, en effet unique !

Dans cette région volcanique, les profondes fractures ont permis la remontée du magma volcanique en provenance du manteau supérieur. Au sortir des fissures, les sources sont captées, canalisées dans un réseau de galeries souterraines et acheminées vers l’échelle de pétrification où elles sont arroser par des cascades d'eau. 

Ici, sont créés des moules utilisant la technique de l’incrustation sur moulage, mise au point par Jean Serre en 1821, reprise et améliorée par ses descendants depuis 7 générations (!).

Cette technique est aujourd'hui reconnue comme un métier d’art à part entière.

Vous pouvez lire bien plus si vous cliquez sur le nom Les Fontaines... ci-dessus.

Je peux chaleureusement vous recommander une visite. (Photos ci-dessous)

English:

Today we visited the town (commune) Saint-Nectaire, that owns its name to the church Saint-Nectaire, dedicated to Nectaire d'Auvergne (Saint Nectarius of Auvergne). He was the disciple of Austremoine de Clermont (Stremonius or Saint Austremonius), the "Apostle of Auvergne" and the first bishop of Clermont in the 5th Century. 

According to Grégoire de Tours, Nectaire was one of the seven apostles of Gaul sent from Rome by the Pope Fabien.

The church is built in a Romanesque Auvergnesque style and rises itself on the Cornadore Mountain in Saint-Néctaire. The church is a part of five churches in Auvergne called the "major" ones.

One started to build the church around  the year 1080 and it was erected between 1146 et 1178.

Unfortunately we wasn't able finding one sole Auvergne restaurant open in the town. Evidentally they have all changed proprietors and this has caused problems.

We continued to Les Fontaines Pétrifiantes in Saint-Nectaire, a site, totally unique in the world. Yes, actually unique!

In this volcanic region, the deep rifts or fissures have made possible the assurgent of volcanic magma coming from the superior mantle or earth crust. 
When the sources surfaces, they are captured and canalized in a network of subterranean galleries and transported towards the ladder of petrification, where they are watered by a sort of water falls.

And from this stage, they create maquettes or moulds, using the technique of inlays or encrustations of moulds, perfected by Jean Serre in 1821 and passed down by his descendants for seven generations(!).

It's today considered as an art work in its own right.

You can read more (in English) by clicking on the name Les Fontaines... above.

I warmly recommend a visit. (Photos below)

L'Église Saint-Nectaire

Une maison en pierre volcanique que nous avons trouvé chouette.

A small house made by volcanic stones that we found "cozy".

Les Fontaines Pétrifiantes

Un lac souterrain mais ce n'est pas le fleuve Styx

A subterranean sea but not the river Styx.

Les moules sur les échelles 

The moulds on the ladders

Culture within the development policy

Thanks to Mahla, with whom we stayed, we got an invitation to SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) for a seminar concerning the above subject.
As being a medical student she sometimes get invitations to different arrangements like this and this time she was prevented participating.
Invited to this seminar were representatives from the government - two different governmental depatments - SIDA and other organizations and institutions.
As so often the political representatives were as exciting as a piece of paper with statistic staples but luckily enough there were members from other interest groups as SELAM - an organisation inviting artists from all over the world, both within the musical sphere but also theater and other disciplines - who were more enthusiastic and enthused over the subject.
Another structure was Kulturrådet or The Swedish Art Council.

From the political point of view - as Aurore established - the discussion focused more on quantitative aspects than qualitative ones, meaning that culture in the broadest sense of the word, serve as a mean for another goal - aid policy or investments in infrastructure in a country - where the cultural element serve as a door opener.
The representatives for SELAM or The Swedish Art Council, talked more about culture as a goal in itself, as the mastic for understanding between different countries and cultural contexts.

We came there at 9 am and left at 12 am.

Cherry Blossom

Svenska (English below):

'Körsbärsblommans dag' är, vid denna tidpunkt, ett återkommande inslag i Kungträdgården varje år. Det var för tio år sedan man planterade de första körsbärsträden i Kungsträdgården och detta firas varje år med olika evenemang då blommorna slår ut.

I år var det dessutom traditionellt trumspel med Taiko Kai, tal av Japans ambassadör Seiichiro Otsuka, sång ur 'Madame Butterfly' av Giacomo Puccini med sångerskorna Anette Stridh och Angela Wannbäck, vid pianot Ann-Sofi Klingberg.

Kimonouppvisning till musik av Koto, japans damkör, uppläsning av Haikudikter och uppvisning i japanskt bågskytte Kyodo. Även Östasiatiska museet fanns på plats. Träden är otroligt vackra och de lyser verkligen upp Kungsträdgården med sina färger men i övrigt var programmet lite magert. Det var dels för få representanter för Japan och japanska artister och kulturpersonligheter dels utnyttjade man alldeles för liten del av Kungsträdgården för detta evenemang. Det kunde ha gjorts större. Japan är ju trots allt ett inte så litet kulturland med en tillika mycket god ekonomi. Man kan inte skylla på att man inte har råd att ordna denna typ av arrangemang.

English:

'The Day of the Cherry Flowers' is a recurring event at this time of the year in the park near the Opera called 'Kungsträdgården' .

Ten years ago the town of Stockholm decided to plant a great number of Cherries in this park and every year when the flowers bloom one celebrates this. This year we could listen to traditional drum playing with Taiko Kai, a speech by the Japanese ambassador Seiichiro Otsuka, songs from the opera 'Madama Butterfly' by Giacomo Puccini with the Swedish opera singers Annette Stridh and Angela Wannbäck and at the piano Ann-Sofi Klingberg. A Kimono parade with music by Koto a Japanese ladies choir, reading of Haiku poems and display of Japanese bowery - Kyodo. Allthough this is interesting it felt as if one could have done much more than this. Japan is, after all, a country with great culture and an interesting history.

There were too little Japanese artists and representatives from the Japanese cultural scene in my opinion.

The Cherries however are very beautfiul and lightens up the park.

I'm sorry to disturb the beautiful view but it was Aurore who insisted on having me in the photo.