We took a trip eastward today to check out some small towns and interesting architecture along the way. First we stopped at St. Bernoît-sur-Loire, a very tiny village with an enormous church. Benedictine monks founded a monastery here in about 630 then in 672 set out to and retrieved the remains of St Benedict from his original monastery in Montecassino that had been destroyed a century earlier. The literature was a little foggy on this, but it seems St Benedict's remains remain. When we went inside we found a mass service under way with the monks singing in Gregorian style while a flock of nuns sat dutifully in the pews. We stayed for a while but couldn't really explore this church much as a result.
Next we went to Sully-sur-Loire, to visit a large chateau surrounded by water. On the way we passed by a large nuclear (nucular for W) power plant with four large cooling towers.
Chateau Sully (47°46'03.2"N, 2°22'31.5"E)
The coolest thing was at Briare: the Pont-Canal. Here a canal connecting the Seine and Loire Rivers crosses over the Loire River on a bridge, which is apparently the longest one of its kind in Europe.
Pont-Canal at Briare. (47°37'45.5"N, 2°43'49.4"E)
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