grin and bear it

Public transit here is amazing. One of my life goals is to be like Daniel's grandfather, who in the years after his retirement bought a yearly rail pass and spent his days riding the trains around Switzerland - so. cool. In the meantime I like to pretend once in a while. I'd bought a discounted day pass that was about to expire, so last Friday I went on another field trip (itinerary credit: Matthias Horat). 

I left the house at 8:00; three trains and 2.5 hours later I was alighting at the station above the adorable French-speaking village of Saint-Ursanne. None of my pictures do this any justice..it was just delightful, right out of a storybook. And there wasn't a soul around. I clapped my hands like a little kid and set out on the path to the hermitage of St. Ursicinus, an 7th-century monk from Ireland or possibly France who was part of a group that re-evangelized Switzerland in the middle ages. His actual name is lost to history and he's called "Urs" as in "bear" because according to legend, when a bear ate his donkey, he demanded that the bear serve him instead. Which it did, of course. Because we live in a fairy tale. There are the crappy parts about living here, and then there are these moments when my head just explodes with wonder. How is this my life??

Saint-Ursanne from above.

The hermitage of Saint Ursicinus

aaand there he is, bear and all. Bit boring in the cave, apparently.

The monastery and town of Saint-Ursanne were built on the grave of St. Ursicinus.
Here's one of the town gates, cauldron of boiling grease still at the ready to discourage invaders.
(I'm making that part up. I think.)

In the collegiate church of St. Ursanne, a 15th century mural of John the Baptist.

The cloister.

The Hotel du Boeuf. Can you see the cow on the sign? So much awesomeness.

The gate out of the medieval town, heading back to the train station.

In the afternoon I went to Moutiers to see the Catholic church Notre-Dame de la Prévôté, which has a series of stained glass windows by Alfred Manessier symbolizing the life of Mary and the mysteries of the rosary. Confusingly, they're only visible if you're standing at the front of the church - the experience from the pews is supposed to be one of feeling enveloped in the mystery without seeing it, a metaphor for church I can't say I'm super sold on. But the windows are definitely very cool.