Paray le Monial - twinned with Wells

Here we are in Paral le Monial again, and Julian always corrects me on how to pronounce the name of this town.  He believes that he knows how to pronounce it as he came here about 30 years ago as part of a twinning group. 

I'm afraid that I have little confidence in either Julian's ability to pronounce French words or his memory going back 30 years, and I seem incapable of saying it in he insists is he correct way!

The Basilica is a fantastic building from all angles.  It does not look 800 years old.  I think a lot has been rebuilt as it says her from Wikipedia.  But still very impressive.

Basilica of Paray-le-Monial.

View of the nave.

The Basilica of Paray-le-Monial is a Romanesque church in Paray-le-Monial, Bourgogne, eastern France. Built from the 12th century, on the site of a 10th-century monastery founded by count Lambert of Chalon, it was a small-scale version of the Abbey of Cluny. It was completed in the 14th century, although some sections were added in the 18th century or renovated in the 19th century. As a priory, it was  the authority of Cluny and was a popular pilgrimage site.

The town of Paray is another of those whose shopping area has contracted and the shops are staggered amongst the old streets between many vacant properties.  Some km East of Paray le Monial we enter an interesting section of the Canal du Centre where the former scale of industry, and working people in this area, especially ceramic tile making is evident by the number of huge derelict factories, almost as big as cathedrals themselves.