Chartres

Cathedral at Chartres.

My first weekend back in France, Lisa and I decided to take a day-trip to Chartres in the region of Centre, home the famous Gothic cathedral (a UNESCO World Heritage site!). This involved a three-hour train ride to the east of Rennes across the région of the Pays de la Loire ("the Indiana/Ohio of France"). For those of you keeping score at home, I have now been to five of mainland France's twenty-one régions and Lisa has been to eight - so we're well on our way to completing our goal of visiting every région!

Upon arriving in Chartres, we made our obligatory first stop at the tourist office. Not only did we get our free city map, we also purchased a guidebook to the cathedral because it's famous for its many stained glass windows and its elaborate exterior sculptures. We thought the guidebook would help us figure out what we were looking at and did it ever!

The cat, whose name sounded like
LaTisha (though it's a he).

Vegetarian croque-monsieur.

We walked to the cathedral but we quickly abandoned our original plan of eating our packed lunch outside (it was around noon at this point). Northern France may be warmer than the US in winter, but it's still winter and, in fact, the Saturday we visited was unseasonably cold, making it difficult to eat our lunch outdoors. After wandering the streets for a while looking for a reasonably-priced place to eat and after passing through Chartres' Saturday produce market, we finally found one. (Because Chartres is a fairly small town and quite a tourist attraction, they can get away with charging more for meals, I guess.) It was a nice little rustic-style brasserie where Lisa got to make friends with the resident cat and where, despite being out of much of the food on their menu, they were able to whip up something vegetarian for Lisa.

Seven Arts.

Following lunch, we returned to the cathedral and began examining the exterior sculptures. The church was built very rapidly (by medieval standards!) between 1194 and 1220. The west side where the main entrance is located is mostly decorated with scenes from Christ's life, ascension, and the Last Judgement. Among these, though, are carvings of the signs of the zodiac, the months, and (my favorite) the seven liberal arts with a depiction of an ancient representative of that art (Aristotle for philosophy, for example, and Cicero for rhetoric). The north porch of the church is decorated with Old Testament figures and the south porch (which would have received more light during most of the year) with New Testament figures. We tried to read the book about all of these carvings, but given the cold and the wind, it didn't take us long to decide we should just go inside to try to warm up!

Cathedral interior.

The interior is famous for its medieval stained glass windows, many of which have survived intact since the 13th century. In 1939, sensing what could happen, the windows were all removed and stored in the houses of local residents until after the war. In addition, following the Allied invasion of Normandy, the cathedral was put on a list of bombing targets. However, an American officer recognized the cultural importance of the cathedral and volunteered to sneak behind German lines to see if, in fact, the Germans were occupying the cathedral as a command post. With one other soldier, they made it to the cathedral, determined the Germans were not using it, returned to the American side to report their findings, and the cathedral was not bombed. (Sadly, the officer was killed not long afterward while fighting the Germans not far from Chartres).

In the circular image, Mary and Elisabeth.  We've affectionately
captioned this, "I have to say..." "Well, I don't know about that."

The windows are pretty amazing in their color, their level of detail, and their creativity. Most of them depict episodes from the lives of various saints or from Biblical stories. There are some pretty amazing ones showing a Tree of Jesse, the life of Christ, and the Last Judgement. The windows over the north porch depict Old Testament figures and those over the south porch depict New Testament figures (matching the themes of the carvings on the porches outside). Thankfully, we had Lisa's new camera with all its powerful lenses she had from high school which we could use to get a closer look at some of the windows, especially the ones on the second story. It was very difficult to see them with the naked eye and it's hard to believe that medieval

Rose window.

church-goers would have been able to see very much. (Sadly, the area around the altar, the choir and the ambulatory are all closed for renovation so we couldn't walk around the entire church and see every window.) The windows are also larger and more numerous than in many other churches of the same date and to accomplish this, the church uses larger and more extensive flying buttresses to make up for the lack of stonework in the walls themselves.

Labyrinth and rose window.

The other major feature of the inside of the church (besides the Gothic architecture, of course!) is the labyrinth in the pavement of the nave. Lisa's a big fan of labyrinths, so she greatly enjoyed this. Unfortunately for us, though, they only remove the chairs from the labyrinth once a month so we weren't able to walk it (as we were able to do with the labyrinth in Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco, which is based on Chartres' labyrinth). Also, as a classicist, I have to mention that the center of the labyrinth originally contained a bronze plaque showing Theseus defeating the Minotaur (apparently a symbol of the triumph of Christianity over paganism!), but this plaque was removed during the French Revolution and melted down for weaponry.

Another interesting note about our visit to the cathedral: while looking at the exterior of the main door, we saw a man outside begging for change. At first we just thought he was a typical beggar, looking for money from tourists and pious church-goers. Upon leaving the church, we saw another person doing the same thing and we realized that she and (we're pretty sure) the first beggar, too, were using scallop shells to hold their coins. The scallop shell is the symbol of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain so now we think these two people were actual pilgrims looking for money to help them continue their journey!

Cat number 2.

Following our visit to the cathedral, we stopped by the stained glass museum but because we had to catch our train home, we didn't pay to go in (although Lisa did get to meet another cat! We're hoping to save that for another trip back to Chartres when we have more time to spend there - and when it's not quite so cold!

Vitré, and a visit

At the beginning of January, I returned to France while Aaron went back to visit his parents and then on to Philadelphia for a conference.  Before Aaron came back, I was able to welcome our first official visitor, Nathan!  It was great to see him and take him around the area.

Nathan, making sure the artillery is up to code.

The first night we just had dinner at home and caught up on the last few months of our lives, which took so long we didn't get to bed till after midnight!  This of course was no problem for me as I was still living on US Eastern Standard time.  It only posed a problem the next morning when I awoke at what I thought was the very reasonable hour of 9am.  Unfortunately, I had actually awoken just a bit after 11am and was confused because, although I've had my digital watch for months now, I still don't really understand what the different buttons do, especially when I've rolled over on them in my sleep.  Nathan also likes to sleep in, so he didn't notice anything odd, but I had promised him a visit to the castle in Vitré, a town not far from here.  The last train left just after 12pm, so once he realized my error, we had to rush to get out the door!  We made it in time and got to see the castle and churches, have a coffee and snack, and see some solid gold and silver art deco church items (of which there are no pictures because that was interdit and every step we took was watched by the guard).

Saint-Martin Church.

Our first stop in Vitré was of course the tourist office to get a map to show us around town (and to put on the wall later!) as well as to ask about the hours of the different attractions.  The office was closed, but luckily a very nice woman at the train station had maps and information for us.  Our next stop was the Eglise Saint-Martin, built in the nineteenth century.  Although it looks a bit old in the picture, once you've visited enough churches from different centuries, you begin to sense how old they are before even reading about it.  We walked around for just a little bit, looking at the rather modern and abstract stained glass, and then we decided we should find the medieval church across town, Notre-Dame.

Notre-Dame de Vitré.

This is a picture of the side of Notre-Dame, which is situated among all the other buildings in town and is thus rather difficult to capture in one picture.  I think it looks a bit deceiving, as though each archway should provide its own special entrance.  Robert I began the construction of this church around the time that he had his château constructed (1050-1060). The care of the church bounced back and forth between canons and monks for about a century until Robert III officially gave it to the monks of Saint-Melaine.  The church stayed the same for a while until the back-and-forth began again in the seventeenth century.  Of course, it was even more pronounced during the revolution when the religion was chased away from the church and the town hall, courthouse, and administrative offices where placed inside.  I'll spare you the details of all the different changes, but I'll show you a few pictures that I think represent what is most intriguing about it.

Monks' choir.

Entryway.

First, when you walk in, you immediately have a small, brightly colored chapel to your right.  You can feel the age of the building, but not much is left to deteriorate in this town; everything seems to be renewed and reused with each generation.  Just ahead of that, still on the right, is the monks' choir, which is like a whole extra nave.  The ceiling is what I find the most beautiful about the church; I've never seen one so decorated before.  There is an altar at the back of this nave, but also one in the center of the church that faces the main sanctuary.

Main sanctuary.

Pierre Simon window.

Ceiling, main sanctuary.

The main sanctuary also has a really fascinating ceiling, as well as a stained-glass window from 1537 created by a renowned Renaissance glass artist Pierre Simon.  When I first saw it, I thought it was rather new because there is so much detail, but I think it's mostly that it's really low with regard to most other windows of its age that we have seen around the country.  I'm not sure the picture does it justice, but I would definitely go back just to see it.

We saved the "best" for last and followed the churches with the castle since that was what had drawn us to the town from the start.  I see the castle every week when I'm on my way into Vitré to teach English to four adorable children, but I had never seen it up close.

Castle in Vitré, complete with rain.

The castle is still in fantastic shape because it has been built and rebuilt for the past 950 years.  Its changed hands as many times as the Eglise Notre-Dame de Vitré and served as many uses.  The castle itself is a museum, mostly displaying local art as well as some artifacts from the town in the past, and within the ramparts is the building containing the administrative offices of the town.  So if you were to be married in Vitré, that's where you would have to go!

The visit to the castle was followed by a coffee at a local bar where we warmed up a bit, and then the visit to the museum of church objects, where we weren't allowed to photograph anything.  You'll just have to take our word for it that it was interesting, especially the medieval paintings on the walls.  After that, we'd had about enough of the cold and wet weather, so we hopped on the train to head back to Cesson.

In the evening, we went to the Crêperie Sainte Anne in Rennes so that Nathan could taste a local galette bretonne before heading back to Cesson for an authentic glass of cidre breton.  We had great conversation and wanderings through the city, and I am looking forward to his return in a week's time so that he and Aaron can get to know each other a bit more.

Christmas Travels

In this entry, we present to you our Christmas travels in pictures.  We left Rennes on a Thursday for Paris.  We went from Paris to Copenhagen Friday.  That same day, we flew to DC.  Chris picked us up, and then we all had dinner with Laura before Chris very kindly drove us to Beaver.  Saturday, we drove to both La Salle-Peru and Freeport to spend Christmas with the Wenzels.  Tuesday, we drove to Caseville for Christmas with the Sniders.  Friday, we drove to Beaver for Christmas with the Bevevinos.  After that, we parted ways for a week, with me going back to Cesson (through New York, Dublin, and Paris) and Aaron going back to Illinois and Michigan before heading out to Philadelphia, then DC, then Iceland, then Paris, then Rennes, then Cesson!  We were quite literally world travelers over the holiday season!

Grab bag with the extended Wenzel clan.

The Wenzel clan and their partners.

At Aaron's childhood home with Matt.

Drunk people doing yoga in Caseville.

Riley and Grandpa Snider.

Us at the Snider family Christmas table.

Aunt Chris and Grandma Snider.

Aaron's mom and Aunt Chris.

Sugar beets and processing plant in Michigan.

Fourth annual Shugert cousin dinner.

Pepsi, posing for her picture.

Grandma Bevevino at the Christmas Eve dinner table.

Lisa's mom putting the last ornament on the tree Christmas day.

At Grandma Bevevino's house on Christmas day.

Someone is VERY happy about her cookies.

Bevevino-Shugert Christmas dinner with new additions to the family.

PS.  Stay tuned for holiday recipes on Two-Burner Meals.  Here are three preview pictures of some future featured recipes!

Grandma Snider's Cinnamon Apples and Cinnamon Rolls.

Shugert Orange Cookies.

Plum Pudding with Hard Sauce.

Six Hours in Paris

Me, Christmas tree, Notre Dame.

Our pre-Christmas travels ended in Paris ("the New York City of France"). Now, we know that for many Americans France and Paris are one and the same thing, but despite living in France for three months, we had only spent time in the Paris airport and in the Paris Metro system getting from the airport to the train station. But to return to the US for Christmas, we had to fly out of Paris at 7 am so we decided to take a train there the day before, spend the afternoon in the city, stay at the Ibis Hotel at the airport (which was quite nice and very cheap!), then get up unbelievably early to catch our flight home. So we've now (finally!) had our first experience together in Paris, albeit very briefly.

Interior, Notre Dame. Lisa thinks this is quite an impressive view
of the inside.

Because Lisa had been to Paris before, it was up to me to choose what we would spend our afternoon doing. While seeing the Louvre or the Musee d'Orsay are near the top of my list, I knew those would take hours in and of themselves. So, to see more of the city, I decided on the cathedral of Notre Dame (home of the famous hunchback) and the Eiffel Tower (which Lisa hadn't seen up close on her previous visit). We started by taking the train from the airport into the city center, helping some rather confused young Eastern European women purchase tickets for the train and helping a guy on the train find out which branch of the train-line he was one. We got off the train in central Paris and walked to Notre Dame, approaching it from the front, which is a pretty impressive facade.

Rose window, Notre Dame.

There were quite a few tourists inside, more than we've seen at most other sites we've visited (although Lisa said there were many more on her first visit). I didn't find the interior all that impressive, although in fairness, it was cloudy and mid-afternoon, so not much light came in and we had just seen the amazing Men's Abbey in Caen earlier in the week. But the stained glass in the church was very pretty, particularly the shade of blue they used. Sadly, many of the stained glass windows were destroyed during the French Revolution (again, most revolutionaries didn't like the Catholic Church too much).

Exterior, Notre Dame.

After walking around the entire interior, we walked around the exterior and the decorations around the windows and on the buttresses were quite beautiful. Perhaps the exterior is the way to appreciate the church. The whole building was constructed between 1163 and 1345 and there were apparently numerous changes to the architectural styles on the exterior during this period (although I didn't know that at the time I was there). It was one of the first buildings to use flying buttresses to support the walls, allowing them to be thinner and taller and meaning it was easier to install large windows without damaging the structural integrity of the walls. One more note on the exterior: during the French Revolution, revolutionaries ripped off and beheaded many of the sculptures of the kings of Judah, thinking they were kings of France who deserved to be symbolically beheaded!

Notre Dame.

Eiffel Tower.

Next, we walked back to the underground station to go to the Eiffel Tower. On leaving the station, we walked along the Seine for a short ways (encountering a woman who asked directions to the underground station - apparently we were the go-to people for directions that day!), then suddenly we cleared the buildings and the Tower appeared practically out of nowhere. It was very surprising! It's much taller than either Lisa or I thought and, as Lisa said, it's more beautiful than we expected, with decorative pieces of metal on the underside of the arches. We walked around underneath it for a while, but we decided not to go up into it partly because it was a cold and windy day and partly because I'm not sure if I could handle the height!

Military School.

We then walked through a long park (the Champ du Mars, named after the Campus Martius in Rome) away from the Tower and towards the Military School, taking pictures of the Tower as we went. At the end of the park, we could see the dome of Les Invalides (originally a hospital and retirement home for French war veterans but now also containing military museums and monuments) behind the Military School. We also got to see a rather modern Peace Monument installed in the park directly in front of the school. By this time, it was about 5 o'clock and they turned on the lights of the Tower, so we got to see it fully illuminated.

Dome in the background from Les Invalides.

Peace Monument in the foreground.

Le Pierrot restaurant.

We decided it was time to get some dinner (despite being so early) because we had to get back to the airport to turn in since we had to be up so early the next morning for our flight. We walked down a large street (the Avenue de la Motte-Picquet, if you're curious) away from the school and settled on eating at Le Pierrot. It was a nice bar/brasserie, but we were the only people eating dinner at such an early hour - most people were having a late afternoon coffee or an after-work beer. Lisa had an asparagus-spinach soup and poached eggs in ratatouille and I had a crusty goat cheese salad (which was much larger than I expected!) and sausages and potatoes in oil. For dessert, we split a mascarpone mousse with strawberries and mint leaves, which was very good, even if it was a bit summery.

First course at Le Pierrot.

Artsy shot of the Eiffel Tower.

After dinner, we walked back towards the Eiffel Tower (but along a well-lighted street, not through the dark park!). It was very cool to see it bathed in light. I was also impressed that the stairs/elevator to the top doesn't close till 11:45 pm. I'm sure it's very beautiful to see Paris at night from the top of the Tower! After taking a few more pictures, we took the train back out to the airport hotel, ready to leave the next morning for two weeks with family in the States.

PS. This blog entry was written by Aaron, despite the fact that it says by Lisa.

Bonus picture: The Notre Dame nativity scene had running water in it!