WWI Memorial in front of L'Eglise Saint Bruno |
Bon Soir!
I now know Bordeaux like the back of my hand. Well, that's not true, but I sure did walk enough today to feel as if I do. I definitely miss the logical road names and helpful grid system of NYC, because all the traffic circles that I encountered today had me walking around in circles before I could figure out which road was the one that I wanted. I must have looked strange to the people eating nearby on the sidewalk nearby...
I ended up waking up too late to go to a church service. I woke up at 9:30, in plenty of time for the 11h service, but somehow fell asleep; so my interpretation of the Our Father will have to wait until next week. I tried translating it myself during my long walk, but had to stop pretty early on from not knowing what "hallowed" would be in French. Alors, I won't need to look it up myself, because I found a great website that has the Lord's Prayer in every language, including an mp3 of the Beach Boys singing the prayer..! ((http://www.prayer.su/french/common/, http://www.prayer.su/other/all-languages.html)).
My day started with the idea that the churches in Bordeaux, a relatively large city (in my CT eyes), would have multiple services throughout the day to accompany all the Catholics. After I arrived at St. Seurin, the closest Catholic church, I realized that I had left my SD memory card from my camera in my computer. So, since I already missed morning mass, I walked the 1.1 kilometers back to the house to pick up my SD card. At that moment, I should have changed shoes. But I did not; and soon enough, my feet began to form blisters. Dr. Scholl's failed me! :-/
From the house, I decided to go to every other Catholic church in the area to try to find an afternoon or evening mass. So I first went west another kilometer to the Paroisse Notre Dame de Salut. I should never again go west because everything that is interesting is east of my house. I will remember that for the future, and so will my feet. The Notre Dame de Salut was such a small church that it was almost laughable compared to the monumentous St. André and the ancient and cave-like St. Seurin. Alors, the church only had one mass on Sunday, and I had missed it.
On to the next church: L'Église de Saint Bruno. This beautiful church has an impeccable facade and features artwork by Bernini.. but the doors were locked, and, again, I had missed mass. The church, built in the early 1600s, is an incredible piece of Italian architecture that abuts a WWI Memorial, listing the names of all the men who gave their lives in the war. Very interesting. I really liked this part of Bordeaux for its humility and character.
Across the road from the church is a monumentous cemetery! I had seen the cemetery on my map of Bordeaux, and imagined there to be old or uneven and worn headstones, but what I saw once I walked under the admonishing entryway, I could never have imagined. This cemetery boasted houses for their inhabitants. The Cimetière de la Chartreuse was incredible. The mini-maisons had stained glass windows and turrets on each corner. In my time, I've seen that only very rarely aux États-Unis. But to have a cemetery full of them seemed so strange! Many of the sites were in disrepair and little placards had been placed on them to notify family members to visit the cemetery office for a good grave-cleaning. How strange - I guess you never really think about the upkeep of your grave. What a strange concept.
By this time, I really needed some refreshment. My feet were hurting and, as I found out this evening, I was getting some sun. However, I soon found that everything was closed on dimanche (Sunday), and I couldn't even find a café from which to buy a coffee! I did walk in to one place that I thought might have coffee, but they were selling only chocolate and ice cream (glace), so I had to walk away empty handed.
La Cimetiere de la Chartreuse |
Entrance to the Cemetary |
L'Eglise Saint Bruno |
L'Eglise Saint Bruno |
My last-chance-church was St. André, which I thought for sure would have an afternoon mass because of its tourism appeal. Alors, quand je suis arrivée, the doors were locked and there was no afternoon mass. It seemed that my only chance for mass today would be at 7pm at St. Seurin. (I ended up missing that mass, too, because my host family was having guests for dinner and could not move dinner any later for me. But no worries - there is a lundi mass at 18h that I will go to). St. André seems so special to me and I think that's because I've never been that close to a church with flying buttresses before. It may sound silly, but I remember learning about flying buttresses in the fifth grade and thinking that they were interesting, but not really understanding them (and giggling at the word "butt" in buttress). And it's such a midievel part of architecture that we don't see in the US that the buttresses really let me feel the history of the building. Alors, I took many pictures of the buttresses. And there is a tower that tourists can climb to get a 360* view of Bordeaux, but I clearly wore the wrong shoes for climbing, and skies weren't great, so I still have that to do next weekend!
L'Eglise Saint Andre |
Flying Buttress of Saint Andre! |
Rear entrance to L'Eglise Saint Andre - notice the different materials used for construction, likely representing additions to the original structure |
Side view of Saint Andre |
Side Entrance to Saint Andre |
Side Entrance to Saint Andre |
In an effort to give my feet some rest, after St. André I headed to the Mirroire d'Eau, a public park on the banks of the Garonne River. The park is really just a large water fountain where children play. Most of the day the water just sits 2" deep, but every so often the fountain is drained and mist rises and the kids run and scream and jump and play. It's fun to watch, and it sure was relaxing to put my feet in the water.
La Miroire d'Eau |
La Miroire d'Eau |
And finally, I headed home. Not straight home, because I got lost on one or two traffic circles, but I found my way eventually. After getting lost in traffic circles, I found myself another small church off a very small road in what looked to be the expensive tourist-shopping district. The L'Eglise Notre Dame du Chapelet didn't seem to be remarkable for its previous church-members or even the art, but it was a surprisingly beautiful building to come across amid boutiques and clothiers.
L'Eglise Notre Dame du Chapelet |
I stopped a second time at St. Seurin because, as I passed, I noticed something different. The stairs outside the church were open.. So I went to investigate, and the crypt and archaeological site below the church was open! Unfortunately, most of the information was in French; but fortunately, I understood most of it! It's pretty cool to be able to read about archaeological digs in French! The grave site dates as far back as the 4th century, though I honestly do not remember much else that I learned. It was pretty cool to see such an old site, though.
Ancient crypt below Saint Seurin |
Dinner tonight, all 5 courses, was at 7:30, and went until a little after 11 since we had company and the city had feu d'artifices (fireworks). The fireworks were pretty cool; sitting in the dark and watching them while people chatted in French really let it sink in that I'm in France, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Needless to say, though, I'm quite tired. I find it difficult to pay attention to the fast French conversations all the time, because my mind becomes tired of thinking so hard. It's a true test. But I'm not complaining- as much as I couldn't understand, I think I just need to work harder on vocabulary. Hopefully I can put some time in this week at the library - so exciting for blog-readers to hear, I'm sure!
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