Thursday, May 28, 2009

Chartres: walls, and things on them, doors and windows.

I think I must start turning out the picture posts a bit quickly now, or else it'll be time for our next holiday before I've finished posting about this one.

John of Salisbury, Abelard's pupil, Becket's secretary, Bishop of Chartres, a great and gracious spirit by all accounts, the first really to speak of the shoulders of giants.

At twilight, ghosts





from the Vendôme porch, drift down the Rue St Pierre. They are ill at ease in their 15th century finery, they wander in search of a Book of Hours to make their home...

Herringbone bricks among the limestone,


doors,



and windows,



an amphibious spot,


and a faint heart,

limestone and limelight.


Tomorrow, perhaps, a walk by the river...

18 comments:

marja-leena said...

Fabulous photos of details, as always, Lucy! Isn't travel great for giving us so many photo ops?

Setu said...

Great sets of pictures about Chartres! Your last photo reminds me of a Painting by Magritte: "L'empire des lumières".

Zhoen said...

The window above the frog is my favorite.

Julia said...

Are the ghosts projections or paintings? And did you find out any back story on them? (As usual, street art catches my eye!)

Anonymous said...

oh wow
these photos are soo full of mood and stories!! love them!

christopher said...

What a great set of photos. I do love your attention to detail.

Rouchswalwe said...

My eye is caught by the glints of greenish ...

Lucy said...

Thanks!

ML - yes,perhaps too many!

Setu - hello! That's an interesting comparison...

Zhoen -I like that one too; looks all quite random, but is really quite artfully done I think...

Julia - they are actually part of an amazing set of prejections that appear all over the town from now till September; they are taken from the Vendome porch, a bit of late Mediaeval whimsy that sits oddly with the rest of the cathedral. These particualr images are made at dusk, so they start to appear faintly at first, which was a bit startling.

M - thanks, it is an atmospheric place...

Christopher - the life, as well as the devil, is in the detail!

R - I don't know why it came out quite so green, I haven't tweaked it, but it was nice and moody, i thought!

Roderick Robinson said...

France can be relied on for public plaques relating to events long long ago. In Crecy there's even a monument - guess who the bad guys are on the inscription! When we were there the date of the battle had just past and there were even fresh flowers. Now that's holding a grudge.

Rosie said...

dont you worry... we are happy to keep touring Chartres for as long as you've got a photie left...

Bee said...

John of Salisbury: wow; he was really at the crossroads of history.

I'm fascinated by the ghostly projections.

Pam said...

I want to go there now. I don't think I'll ever see all the places I want to even in Europe and, heavens, there are other continents...

herhimnbryn said...

Lucy, such treasures, your eye finds for us! All stunning, but the 'limelight' is staying with me.

Sheila said...

This is all just wonderful! I love the previous post's photos, all the green together with the stones.

And we just walked a replica of the Chartres labyrinth tonight. It's a two-minute drive from our house, in a little garden designed for and dedicated to cancer survivors.

I'd love to have one of the labyrinths to hang up at home, too. We'll just have to get to France....

Sheila said...

Oh, P.S. about needing to finish the trip photos before too long. I still would like to share photos from my LAST YEAR trip to Europe but haven't convinced myself to do it....I suppose the timing really doesn't matter that much, does it? It's a blog, not a newspaper. But when too much time passes, there is then too much new stuff to share, and the passion wanes....

The Crow said...

All beautiful, Lucy. The bricks make me want to touch them, run my hands along the differing textures and directions.

Such fine treasures you bring us!

:)

Granny J said...

Do keep the pictures coming -- I am truly enjoying my visit to Chartres. Of the details, I was quite taken with the brickwork...

Lucy said...

Thanks again, for stopping by over the weekend!