Our adventures in the Loire Valley
This is an ooold August post (it's now November...) that of course I could never get back to finishing, but I'm posting it now that I finally have time to finish it up.
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Last weekend we attended Pierre's cousin's wedding outside of Rouen, France. Three days before the wedding Pierre and I took a small 3-day detour to experience the Loire Valley. Of course, Clemence being 5 months and still breastfed came with us. So I would like to write a post on our small 'pilgrimage'/vacation travel with a baby.
Pierre's family lives in what was formally called the Picardie region, now combined with Nord-Pas-de-Calais to make up the Hauts de France region. They live in a small town called Gentelles that holds a population of 600 and is located 20 minutes outside of the city Amiens. Their neighbors have real free-range chickens in their backyards :).
Before the wedding we left Lucia, our toddler, with my husband's family and began our itinerary which included: a stop in Chartres, a stay in Vendome, a visit to Chateau Chambord, a stay in Tours, a visit to Amboise, and a road trip towards Rouen where the wedding was planned to take place. In the end we took a detour and stopped to visit the Basilica de Liseux which is the second largest pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes.
On a trip like this you would think we'd leave early, but with two girls it's almost impossible, considering one of them I think was still jet lagged after 5 days! Nevertheless we were were off, with Clémence in the back seat, and our trusty old google maps as our road guide.
Chartres, France
Our first stop was my request way back when we had first thought about taking a small trip: to visit the Chartres cathedral. A little background - I am a structural engineer, and I became a structural engineer because of Gothic architecture. After taking History of Architecture back in college I fell in love with this church, so I am one of a large wave pool of Chartres lovers. I think Chartres will need a blog of its own... Please bear with me and let me just be a little nerdy and talk about the structural aspects of Gothic architecture pertaining to Chartres, so you understand how giddy I was when we first saw the cathedral from 10 miles away.
Before Gothic architecture was Romanesque, which consisted of continuous thick and sturdy load bearing walls that supported the roof of a church. As building techniques progressed so did the realization of efficiency through a skeleton structure. That is the key to Gothic structures: a skeletal system that creates a simple load path using concentrated points to support heavy dead load. When you enter a Gothic cathedral you are taken aback by the space and verticality. When you look up you see rib vaults, which made construction easier by constructing the spider legs and then adding the thinner dead weight of the stone material in between. Going downwards you see the the load directly going down to the ground via the sturdy piers. Looking from the outside you would see the flying buttresses which are braces to distribute the load to additional piers. When you have the load transferred to the column points you leave the space in between open for .... stained glass windows! Chartres has been able to conserve about 70% of them. There are so many, and each with a specific theme -- the Nativity story, the tree of Jesse, even one containing all of the Zodiac signs showing the star constellations as part of creation. Gothic architecture therefore moved away from solid building mass and towards enhancing the quality of space and light.
Chartres holds what is believed to be the tunic of the Virgin Mary during the birth of Christ. This is the main reason for being a pilgrimage site, as well as for obtaining the funds to build multiple times after several fires, each time built at a grander scale. We went down to the crypt, which is underneath the church, and we witnessed the original Romanesque chapels, and extremely interesting for me, the original foundation.
In front of the tunic of Mary I just stayed still in contemplation. It wasn't necessarily prayer, but rather inner silence. I was standing by remains of what had seen the greatest and most unimaginable point in history -- God made man in Christ, entering the world through the birth of a male child. This, if we believe it, is much more valuable than any aspect of Chartres' beauty. Still, it is jaw-dropping what these French engineers and architects were able to create in order to allow the people to enter a house of worship that at every angle wants to make your eyes look upwards to God.
Château Chambord
Moving forward in history we come to the Renaissance in France -- specifically les chateaux (the castles) in the Loire Valley. I've come across this beautiful castle with its heavy fortress-like cylindrical towers in my Architecture History book. It is also known for its double helix staircase, which means its there are two ways to go up and down the floors. I think the kids visiting enjoyed it most. This was the castle of Francis I, who had many architects influenced by Italian Renaissance art, and it is possible Leonardo da Vinci had some influence as well.
It is incredible to see the old French royal chambers and decoration. There was one room that was used traditionally for bidding the king to sleep, as a type of ritual, and another room that was actually his living chamber, and another for his queen and her personal assistant or maid. I accidentally stumbled upon the Game Room, or hunting Trophy room, where there were many different animals displayed as if they were alive. It was a little scary at first, and some make you want to enjoy the frozen natural image, but then it's still a little depressing to know that the animals are dead... Anyways, that was life back then -- a science book in real life I guess.
Château du Clos Lucé
I won't write much about this place, but we took a detour to visit Leonardo da Vinci's home in France. Yes, this was the home of the later years of da Vinci's life, and where he actually passed away. Being invited to live in France by King Francis I, da Vinci took up the offer and spent his days drawing out his crazy inventions that have found a place of admiration in our hearts. Swing bridges, tanks with guns, the study of bird wings for flight, pulley inventions, and so much more.
Basilique Sainte Thérèse de Liseaux
This was our last stop of our 3-day excursions before the wedding, and oh was it the perfect ending to our trip. I had been here before when I was 14 with my brother and a large group of youth for the World Youth Day pilgrimage in Cologne, Germany 2005. I didn't remember the inside, but I do remember getting lost from the group afterwards.
The basilica was built in honor of the little flower since her popularity had become so universal. It is the second most visited pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes. It is a recently new building, with chapels for many countries. I mainly enjoyed the silence. I remember when Paco, our leading for our WYD pilgrimage, told us that St. Therese was a stubborn child and was persistent in wanting to do God's will. So he encouraged us to ask for her intercession for our prayer intentions so she can be persistent in interceding for us. At the time, at fourteen years old, I prayed for her to watch out for me since we were of similar age. I would not have imagined she would re-appear in my life after that.
For me, St. Therese was a strong motivator to keep my faith in the Catholic Church. I didn't know much about her until I read her book Story of a Soul right before a very difficult time in my life. It was perfectly planned by God to sustain me. Shortly after her book I experienced a rough break up, where my ex told me he didn't want to marry a Catholic and he asked me to convert to Protestantism. Yeah, knowing your faith is one thing, but when there are strong emotions involved in a talk like this, it's hard to turn away. And even though I did, it was difficult to see clearly, but I remembered St. Therese and her love for Jesus in the blessed sacrament. I have kept her words "how sweet were the first kisses of Jesus" when she referred to her first communion, and I remember them every time I receive the blood of Christ in the Eucharist. If it weren't for her I probably would have altered God's desired plan for me, and probably would've delayed or maybe never have met my husband :(. So, thank you St. Therese for your beautiful intercession. Keep us all in your prayers as we strive to do God's will.
---
Last weekend we attended Pierre's cousin's wedding outside of Rouen, France. Three days before the wedding Pierre and I took a small 3-day detour to experience the Loire Valley. Of course, Clemence being 5 months and still breastfed came with us. So I would like to write a post on our small 'pilgrimage'/vacation travel with a baby.
Pierre's family lives in what was formally called the Picardie region, now combined with Nord-Pas-de-Calais to make up the Hauts de France region. They live in a small town called Gentelles that holds a population of 600 and is located 20 minutes outside of the city Amiens. Their neighbors have real free-range chickens in their backyards :).
Before the wedding we left Lucia, our toddler, with my husband's family and began our itinerary which included: a stop in Chartres, a stay in Vendome, a visit to Chateau Chambord, a stay in Tours, a visit to Amboise, and a road trip towards Rouen where the wedding was planned to take place. In the end we took a detour and stopped to visit the Basilica de Liseux which is the second largest pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes.
On a trip like this you would think we'd leave early, but with two girls it's almost impossible, considering one of them I think was still jet lagged after 5 days! Nevertheless we were were off, with Clémence in the back seat, and our trusty old google maps as our road guide.
Chartres, France
Our first stop was my request way back when we had first thought about taking a small trip: to visit the Chartres cathedral. A little background - I am a structural engineer, and I became a structural engineer because of Gothic architecture. After taking History of Architecture back in college I fell in love with this church, so I am one of a large wave pool of Chartres lovers. I think Chartres will need a blog of its own... Please bear with me and let me just be a little nerdy and talk about the structural aspects of Gothic architecture pertaining to Chartres, so you understand how giddy I was when we first saw the cathedral from 10 miles away.
Before Gothic architecture was Romanesque, which consisted of continuous thick and sturdy load bearing walls that supported the roof of a church. As building techniques progressed so did the realization of efficiency through a skeleton structure. That is the key to Gothic structures: a skeletal system that creates a simple load path using concentrated points to support heavy dead load. When you enter a Gothic cathedral you are taken aback by the space and verticality. When you look up you see rib vaults, which made construction easier by constructing the spider legs and then adding the thinner dead weight of the stone material in between. Going downwards you see the the load directly going down to the ground via the sturdy piers. Looking from the outside you would see the flying buttresses which are braces to distribute the load to additional piers. When you have the load transferred to the column points you leave the space in between open for .... stained glass windows! Chartres has been able to conserve about 70% of them. There are so many, and each with a specific theme -- the Nativity story, the tree of Jesse, even one containing all of the Zodiac signs showing the star constellations as part of creation. Gothic architecture therefore moved away from solid building mass and towards enhancing the quality of space and light.Chartres holds what is believed to be the tunic of the Virgin Mary during the birth of Christ. This is the main reason for being a pilgrimage site, as well as for obtaining the funds to build multiple times after several fires, each time built at a grander scale. We went down to the crypt, which is underneath the church, and we witnessed the original Romanesque chapels, and extremely interesting for me, the original foundation.
In front of the tunic of Mary I just stayed still in contemplation. It wasn't necessarily prayer, but rather inner silence. I was standing by remains of what had seen the greatest and most unimaginable point in history -- God made man in Christ, entering the world through the birth of a male child. This, if we believe it, is much more valuable than any aspect of Chartres' beauty. Still, it is jaw-dropping what these French engineers and architects were able to create in order to allow the people to enter a house of worship that at every angle wants to make your eyes look upwards to God.Château Chambord
Moving forward in history we come to the Renaissance in France -- specifically les chateaux (the castles) in the Loire Valley. I've come across this beautiful castle with its heavy fortress-like cylindrical towers in my Architecture History book. It is also known for its double helix staircase, which means its there are two ways to go up and down the floors. I think the kids visiting enjoyed it most. This was the castle of Francis I, who had many architects influenced by Italian Renaissance art, and it is possible Leonardo da Vinci had some influence as well.
It is incredible to see the old French royal chambers and decoration. There was one room that was used traditionally for bidding the king to sleep, as a type of ritual, and another room that was actually his living chamber, and another for his queen and her personal assistant or maid. I accidentally stumbled upon the Game Room, or hunting Trophy room, where there were many different animals displayed as if they were alive. It was a little scary at first, and some make you want to enjoy the frozen natural image, but then it's still a little depressing to know that the animals are dead... Anyways, that was life back then -- a science book in real life I guess.
Château du Clos Lucé
I won't write much about this place, but we took a detour to visit Leonardo da Vinci's home in France. Yes, this was the home of the later years of da Vinci's life, and where he actually passed away. Being invited to live in France by King Francis I, da Vinci took up the offer and spent his days drawing out his crazy inventions that have found a place of admiration in our hearts. Swing bridges, tanks with guns, the study of bird wings for flight, pulley inventions, and so much more.
Basilique Sainte Thérèse de Liseaux
This was our last stop of our 3-day excursions before the wedding, and oh was it the perfect ending to our trip. I had been here before when I was 14 with my brother and a large group of youth for the World Youth Day pilgrimage in Cologne, Germany 2005. I didn't remember the inside, but I do remember getting lost from the group afterwards.
The basilica was built in honor of the little flower since her popularity had become so universal. It is the second most visited pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes. It is a recently new building, with chapels for many countries. I mainly enjoyed the silence. I remember when Paco, our leading for our WYD pilgrimage, told us that St. Therese was a stubborn child and was persistent in wanting to do God's will. So he encouraged us to ask for her intercession for our prayer intentions so she can be persistent in interceding for us. At the time, at fourteen years old, I prayed for her to watch out for me since we were of similar age. I would not have imagined she would re-appear in my life after that.
For me, St. Therese was a strong motivator to keep my faith in the Catholic Church. I didn't know much about her until I read her book Story of a Soul right before a very difficult time in my life. It was perfectly planned by God to sustain me. Shortly after her book I experienced a rough break up, where my ex told me he didn't want to marry a Catholic and he asked me to convert to Protestantism. Yeah, knowing your faith is one thing, but when there are strong emotions involved in a talk like this, it's hard to turn away. And even though I did, it was difficult to see clearly, but I remembered St. Therese and her love for Jesus in the blessed sacrament. I have kept her words "how sweet were the first kisses of Jesus" when she referred to her first communion, and I remember them every time I receive the blood of Christ in the Eucharist. If it weren't for her I probably would have altered God's desired plan for me, and probably would've delayed or maybe never have met my husband :(. So, thank you St. Therese for your beautiful intercession. Keep us all in your prayers as we strive to do God's will.
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