3372 pipes make up this German made organ in a temple to music and Art Nouveau. Imagine our surprise when we turned a corner of “ a cramped street “ to be met with a truly fantastic example of Barcelona architecture . It was all the more surprising as for us it was completely unexpected , I think we were just looking for a coffee. This for us was served in the three story glass fronted atrium , which doubled as a protective skin to preserve the original facade.
You can only visit the building with a guided tour , and we were in luck. My words cannot hope to describe the buildings seemingly endless incredible features. The tour finished in the main concert hall , where our guide added that they had spent euro 1million plus restoring the original mechanical organ features with the latest electronics. To complete a visual assault, our journey concluded with the German organ; driven by Japanese technology and Silicon Valley programming ; exploding with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor . No organist required, technology had taken over !
The emotion for me was completed with memory of the one time I had the opportunity to play our church organ at the age of 12 . The church was empty , and the air provide by electricity ; us sweet choir boys had , with too enthusiastic pumping , had broken the handle of the manual pump; mid service ! An organ is an incredible powerful instrument , and at full volume, I blasted the non existent congregation with my rendition of “ In the Bleak mid Winter “ . A sense of power never to be forgotten .
The next series of “pipes “ are actually sculptured from sandstone by water erosion . The Orgues ( organs) d’Ille-sur Tet were one of those tourist features right on our doorstep, which for twenty years we had never visited . Looking to take summer visitors somewhere new , we added this previously unexplored location to our days itinerary; which was primarily going to be the Agly valley and Carthare castles . They were on the way! The location itself also featured some sculptured metal work along the path, I will let the pictures describe !
The organ pipes themselves are a strange sight , with hard rock forming a rainproof cap to columns of sandstone , in places resembling those pipes . The whole edifice is purely transitory as water erosion will eventually wash all away . Fortunately with the drying climate , their life expectancy is being extended .
A winding drive across limestone hills , through vineyards, that miraculously survive in such a harsh environment . Apparently that leads to better quality wine; which must have some truth, as the Agly valley wines are some of the best in the region . So of course we had to stop at the cave in Maury , to sample both food and wine . We were not disappointed . Ah , but we are supposed to be sight seeing ; which is of course more difficult with the preponderance of wine and food in France . So it was onwards and upwards to the heights of the castle ( strangely called a chateau ) of Queribus .
It is definitely a castle , high on a promontory in the Corbières ; with magnificent views , especially of the Canigou . However to see the mountain top , its best before the cloud builds up around mid day . So there is the conundrum ; eat lunch or see the top , can’t have both . Sorry Canigou , no contest ! Anyway the view of rest of the countryside made up for it ! Scampering along , we finished up in the adjacent village of Cucugan , famous for its stone ground ancient wheat flour ; milled beneath the windmill . The latter is for show , electric is more reliable. Fortunately the bakery also turns out speciality bread . This truly had to be a special treat , targeted at the tourists ; price excludes every day consumption .
Suitably replete , we set off down the Agly valley , shocked to the see this once significant river had decayed into a series of stagnant pools . Our sécheresse (drought ) is having devastating consequences . Which of course applies to our abode , where for nearly three months our only source of water has been the swimming pool . But have no fear , additional of numerous pieces of hard ware , including a seemingly never ending array of pipes heralds the arrival of proper water .
To be continued ( I hope )
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