Chartres, Acum 6 Ani

Ma rog, acum 6 ani si vreo 20 de zile dupa cum imi spun informatiile din poze, eram in Franta, Erasmus la Nantes si am decis sa fac o mica plimbare in vacanta dintre semestre. Frig rau, ca si acum, crunt, dar cum toti prietenii erau in vacanta si eu nu, am ales sa plec la drum.

Si am ales foarte bine, am vizitat un orasel simpatic dominat de impunatoarea catedrala Chartres. Catedrala se vede de departe, aflandu-se pe un fel de promontoriu deasupra orasului, terbuie doar sa ridici ochii si o vezi de peste tot. Oraselul in sine e simpatic dar nimic spectaculos, stradute pietonale, cateva atractii de genul o casa acoperita cu bucatele de sticla colorata, un rau cu parcuri pe maluri, dar nu am poze asa ca tebuie sa ma credeti pe cuvant.

Cum va spuneam, se ajunge usor la catedrala, trebuie doar sa ridici ochii. Asa ca de la gara, fara harta, fara nimic, cu fulgii de nea care dansau in jurul meu, am purces spre tinta mea. M-am oprit bineinteles la Oficiul de Turism unde am luat o harta, o brosura cu hosteluri sau hoteluri pentru ca aveam de gand sa raman peste noapte si o brosura cu locuri interesante de vizitat in zona. Interesant este ca Oficiul de Turism se afla pe o strada mai speciala, in sensul ca inclinarea aparenta a strazii nu este cea reala. Apoi am purces spre catedrala.

M-am simtit un pic precum un pelerin, dovada fiind si inscriptia din fata catedralei si pe care am intalnit-o de-a lungul timpului in mai multe locuri de pe traseul pelerinilor si am fotografiat-o aproape de fiecare data.

 

Apoi am intrat in catedrala si am reusit sa obtin o vizita ghidata cu un specialist care s-a ocupat de renovarea superbelor vitralii. Mai jos aveti cateva imagini, rozeta este imensa, nu stiu daca se vede prea bine cat de mare este catedrala, te simti cu adevarat mic pe langa, ghidul ne-a explciat ca asta si este scopul.

Catedrala a fost mereu un loc de atractie, daca acum turismule ste laic, cu sute de ani in urma se chema pelerinaj si lumea se ingramadea sa vada relicvele sfinte. Relicva de aici era o bucata din camasa sfanta a lui Iisus. Cum adapostea una din cele mai importante relicve, numarul de vizitatori era mare, si catedrala trebuia sa fie pe masura, de unde si usile imense.

 Interiorul este si el impozant, detaliile sunt mirifice. Desi imensa, catedrala pare ca se ridica spre cer datorita elegantei sculpturilor gotice.

 Pelerinii moderni sunt atrasi de labirintul de pe podea, probabil ca nu era neaparat o atractie acum cateva sute de ani, dar astazi, multi pelerini il parcurg ca un simbol al calvarului lui Iisus.  Imi amintesc ca in zilele acelea citeam o serie de carti in care un element predominant era un labirint.

Am zabovit un pic in catedrala, dupa vizita, sunt multe simboluri si legende asociate catedralei, din nefericire am uitat multe din ele dar am acasa o carte, scrisa de cel care a fost ghid atunci, si toate sunt explicate foarte frumos. Mai multe informatii gasiti si aici, nu uitati sa faceti o donatie din cand in cand :)

 Cum v-am spus, catedrala este imensa, impozanta, am facut un tur pe afara si mi s-a parut parca si mai mare. In varful acelei cupole verzi este o statuie a Arhanghelului Mihail caer mi-a amintit de Mont St Michel.

La sfarsit am luat pranzul meu improvizat, o salata de ton adusa de la Nantes, in parcul din spatele catedralei, cu vedere spre oras. Pana la urma am decis sa nu raman peste noapte (deh, buget de student), dar tare mi-ar placea sa mai trec pe acolo candva, am vazut multe catedrale si biserici, dar aceasta este unica.

The Remarkable Rocket

My eyes were on the sky, my breath was almost still, I was standing there, transfixed. The cracking sounds that made their way to me felt like thousands of champagne bottles popping and letting the bubbly fluid out. And the skies were burning, the air was green. Yes, fireworks!

The people of Plzen seem really set on chasing daemons away, almost every week there is a firework some where in town. This time there was a really big one to celebrate the liberation of the city by American troupes on May 6th 1945, the only city in the Eastern blocks to have seen the freedom bringing American tanks.

The festivities usually last for a week : you see tanks, army trucks, veterans, fighter jets scene reenactments, and at the end, fireworks, maybe a reminder of the guns and cannons heard during the war, but this time, friendly fire only.

I was really sorry I couldn't take pictures, we were out for pizzas only so I had no camera. As pretty as a picture is and even thought it holds a thousand words, my glee is not encompassed in it. I am a kid looking at the fireworks. I love the sound and even the smell they sometimes leave behind. Lucky me, I live in a town with a huge firework budget. If they also had Auroras, I'd be in heaven (maybe literally; the Eskimos thought that Auroras where the time when the dead came back to communicate with the living).

While watching the fireworks I had in mind the discussions between the fireworks in the story by Oscar Wilde I read when I was a kid. But these fireworks were not as vain as the one in the story and ignited to make a whole town happy to be alive and for an instant maybe, feeling like they are living good times.

PS. This year I plan to go here.

At the crossroad: Strasbourg

Like every weekend, I took a trip (I know I don't write about each and one of them, but trust me, I don't sit around, I'm just a procrastinator so I never get to write about all I want do). The last trip was to Strasbourg to meet up with friends: Russians Ukrainian, Uzbek, a Romanian and our gracious French hosts. A tour of Babel with one common language: French (changes a bit from English being the mother of all tongues). Much fun was had, good food, good wine (Alsatian wines are now my favorites) all in all, good times.


It wasn't suny, still we went out for a visit of the city. There are quite a few things to see and even thought I have visited on different occasions, Strasbourg still manages to surprise me. You can instantly see that it has always been quite a rich part of the world: park, beautiful houses, monuments, a Cathedral that once stood as the highest building in the world.

Strasbourg is a unique place also because of it's history, that of a piece of land that two nations fought over for centuries. An expert eye can tell you only by the architecture that you're not in France, but not in Germany either: Strasbourg has it's own style. And it suits it just fine.

You have the large, central, German-style square and the large, long, almost Haussmann like avenues. And than you see buildings that you won't find in either of these styles.

The young lady climbing a pole will meet a guy right over the boarder between France and Germany.

The Little France reminded me a bit of Amsterdam's canals and riverside cafes, a nice place to stroll around or take a tour in a bateau mouche.

The name of the neighbourhood, one of the oldest and best preserved (a UNESCO Heritage site), is quite a funny story. No, they didn't bring all the French toghether in this strip of land surrounded by water. In fact this was the poor neighbourhood, a sort of Red Quarter with pimps and prostitutes. Of course there were frequent outbreaks of all sort of STD's and because back in the day a sexually transmitted desease was also known as a French desease, the neighbourhood got the name of little France.

Of course, now it's quite expensive and full of tourists, restaurants, cafes, nothing like what it used to be. I think the houses look like ginger bread houses (btw, ginger bread is one of the local specialties, they love it here and it's quite good).

And the Cathedral, Notre Dame de Strasbourg, just one picture of it, but I'll put up more in another post.

There are many strories and legends surrounding this Cathedral. One of them says that the Devil is caught inside and all tourists try to look for it's statue, somewhere on the facade. I dare you to go there and recognize him. The wind is hauling outside the Cathedral, waiting for it's trapped master. The stained glass rosary is also very beautiful and unlike others it doesn't have religious motives but it has to do with the town's wealth and prestige.

And I would have endded this post here, but I have to say a word about the European Union and the buildings related to it. I tried to vote this Sunday, as you know it was election day for the European Parliament (the building is pictured below, see how tiny we are in comparison?).

I didn't manage to vote but I strolled around the neighbourhood where the European buildings are: some old and a bit communist like in style, some new and shinny.

In the posh neighbourhood where all the Consulates are I saw this Art-Nouveau house that reminded me of Barcelona and how much I want to go there and see Gaudi's buildings(apparently the architect on this one also worked with Gaudi).

I really felt like I was in the heart of Europe with all this places and buildings reminding me of placed I visited or want to visit on the old continent. It's a great city, always something to discover. In fact I have more to say on the subject...