dinner in cathedral times
2023-08-18
I used to make a special trip to Kansas City to visit museum and go to Desau to see Bauhaus school. This time we agreed to settle in a satellite town an hour from Paris. Never. otherwise, we just wanted to take a look at my brother. The pinnacle of typical architecture is Chartres Cathedral.
King's Gate
Chartres is an ordinary small town, and cathedral is soul of city... On highway you can see towering bell tower from afar, walk around every corner of old city, or you can catch a glimpse of the church when you look up Sometimes it's a flower window, sometimes it's a buttress and sometimes it's a spire.
They say that once Virgin Mary appeared here, and church still keeps holy clothes that Virgin Mary was wearing when Jesus was born. Therefore, Chartres Cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage for Catholics since Middle Ages. In 1594, King Henry IV of France was also crowned here.
In terms of splendor, Notre Dame Cathedral is more beautiful, in terms of splendor, Strasbourg Cathedral is even better. What I like is significance of Chartres Cathedral in history of architecture. This is first mature Gothic building in France. Its flat structure became model for construction of later churches. Exquisite carvings form a simple "Stone Bible", and most mesmerizing here is a flower window, preserved in 12th century.
The rose window is a symbol of Virgin Mary. It is said that craftsmen at that time came up with a special blue color to depict Mary's holy robes. Unique in world, it is also known as the "Lost Blue Chartres". .
Ascension
In 1836, Hugo traveled here. After conversing with stupid ringers and arrogant administrators of sacrificial vessels, he was able to visit depths. He spent 36 hours inspecting everything inside and out, leaving many exclamation marks: "A magnificent church! The more details are grouped, quieter and grander it will be..."
Farewell to church, sky was gloomy, and we found that day coincided with Monday, in French habit, many restaurants were closed, and at lunchtime city was extremely deserted.
We abandoned idea of finding delicious food and just wanted to fill our stomachs. We found a glimmer of light in an alley near cathedral. It was a pancake shop that was still running - it seemed a bit like previous one. Look for Flame Pie in Colmar (click to see).
Locals hid indoors. Some of us tourists apparently didn't know how cold it would be here after dark, so we cheerfully opted for an outdoor spot to take in view of cathedral. Transitional spire in Gothic style.
The hostess who greeted us was an elderly French woman, smartly dressed, fluent in English and clearly working with tourists all year round.
Dinner is simple, with one course and one soup, and wine pairing is light: one sauvignon blanc and one rosé. It's close to Loire region and there is always a nice little wine.
The onion soup looks dark and homemade caramelized. I love to eat delicious toast and thick cheese inside.
An extra plate of bread and mustard oil is also served with ear. Dip cold and hard bread into soup to soften it and eat it. It really warms heart.
Crepe is a special delicacy of Brittany. It can be sweet or salty. It can be rolled out or laid out on a flat surface. With various toppings and a vegetable salad, a piece of pie becomes a meal.
Smoked duck breast is paired with store-bought pickled apples and rhubarb. This is traditional French home cooking. The sardines are soaked in olive oil, which has an unexpectedly light Mediterranean flavor.
As soon as sun went down, in an instant it became cold, and wind and rain began to blow outside. The church gradually disappeared into night. It was almost nine o'clock and we were shivering with cold. After paying bill, we rushed into light rain and passed church square, suddenly incendiary music began to sound, and when we saw changing multi-colored lights, it turned out that there was a light show going on here!
The projection falls into outline of church, and symbolic images interpret history of France: from autumn of Middle Ages to spring of Renaissance, from Napoleon Great to storming of Bastille, roar of steam revolution and smoke of Second World War, In blink of an eye, this is a breathtaking Belle epoch ... The last stage is fireworks, and plays subtitle of 40th anniversary of United Nations World Cultural Heritage.
On a slightly chilly night, under soft rain, everyone stopped to quietly watch, until multi-colored lights gradually went out from cathedral, crowd suddenly burst into applause ... At that moment, people of different skin colors, people from all over world People who live together with each other, share a common emotion that transcends religion and culture and turns into laughter with strangers on a rainy night...
The Council supports this era of faith
The world has entered a new era
People are trying to reach stars
Cut out your own cases
On stained glass or stone
Switzerland: hotels in Jungfrau
Sicily: Syracuse Catania fish market
Portugal: cheap seafood paradise
USA: New Orleans!
Real-time food and drink will be published on Weibo: Eat a piece of heart