Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Tim Moore

The morning we left Sigüenza it was freezing cold. I remembered having read "Frost on My Moustache" by Tim Moore some years ago.

The legendary Mont Ventoux (1912 m. high). Petrarca climbed up and described it in 1336. I knew the mountain, dubbed the "Giant of the Provence" ("Géant de Provence") since I followed the "Tour de France". During the Tour the mountain is often called the "Beast of the Provence", as it is the scene scene of one of the most grueling climbs in bike race. In 1967 the British cyclist Tom Simpson died here, a victim of heat exhaustion and amphetamin drugs. Some years later Eddy Merckx collapsed just after the finish. Marco Pantini won the stage in 2000. He only survived for four years and was found dead in a hotel room in 2004. - British author Tim Moore whote a very humrous book about the Tour the France. He just got out his city bike out of the garage and started to find our how dificult is the Tour. His book is titled "French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France". And as the Tour is much harded, than he had expected, he has to find ways to cheat a bit around the mountains.

In 1082 some Seigneur Dalmas and his wife Étiennette gave all the properties they owned in "Castrumin Montanis", including a church, to Cluny. This legal act was important enough to get an official approval from Pope Urban II in 1095. A priory was set up - and a small church was erected. Parts of this church can still be found in the church seen here, built 1100 - 1200. The priory never really flourished, the community of monks was small - and already from 1462 on, the church was used as a parish church. The church is quite large for a remote village of a population well under 500 (today). When it was planned during the boom of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella, Châtel-Montagne was ideally placed on one of the many "Chemin de St-Jacques" in France. As seen already, not only the architectoral structure is built from granite, the carved capitals are carved from this extrem hard stone as well. So they cannot be that fine and detailled as sandstone-carvings can be. They do have a certain kind of roughness. A donkey, a beast of burden, for sure pretty often to be seen, when this church was erected, as all stones had to be carried up the mountain. As well many pilgrims used to travel with donkeys on their way to Santiago, as many old "horseshoe graffitis" on "Hospice des pélerins" prove. Donkeys are known for their capabilities, but as well have quite a reputation for stubbornness. This one is stubborn. So one person tries to "motivate" the donkey, by pulling the tail. But that is not the only person trying to move the animal. BTW - British author Tom Moore wrote a book about his (recent) way to Santiago with a donkey. It had fun, reading it. I just found it under two titels: "Spanish Steps: Travels With My Donkey" - or - "Travels with My Donkey: One Man and His Ass on a Pilgrimage to Santiago".