Two Cathedrals and a Hospice

I’m not sure if this is the eye of the hurricane, but the pace of work has slowed a bit the past few weeks. Now that I have caught my breath again…

Over the Valentine’s weekend Shereen and I visited Beaune, a small town a few hours from Orleans. We arrived late on Saturday and then due to my uncooperative stomach left early on Sunday, but were still able to take in the most notable site, the Hotel-Dieu. This is a hospice that opened in the mid 1400’s and is now a museum to the art of medicine at the time. Several features we found interesting. The roof is covered with colorful glazed tiles of brilliant yellow, red, and green in geometric patterns. There is an expansive pauper’s ward with unique wooden carvings of the heads of townspeople protruding high on the wall. The faces are expressive with gaping mouths or accentuated features to emphasize the weakness of the person represented. To further draw attention to their failings, an animal head is carved beside the person; such as a pig next to a fat person or a large dog next to someone with a big mouth. Another room contains the instruments of primitive medicine, including syringes that could double as caulk guns today.

That evening we dined at a Chinese restaurant. Arriving a bit after 7 we were the only customers in the restaurant for well over an hour. When we were finally finishing our meal after 9, there were three other couples who had joined us. We definitely have not adopted the late dining habits of the French. Unfortunately we were not able to visit any of the numerous wine tasting locales in the town; my stomach had been hinting of bad things to come and was in full roar by that evening, so we left early the next morning.

In early March we had the pleasure of our first guests from the US to visit us in Orleans, my cousin and one of her friends. We picked them up at the airport in Paris on Saturday and then drove to nearby Reims for champagne tasting and to see the cathedral. The cathedral was dirtier than most; all of the cathedrals collect an unattractive black coating. The elaborate edifice is covered with hundreds of carvings representing Biblical or apocryphal scenes, interspersed with grotesque gargoyles doubling as rain spouts. An impressive church despite the dirt. The day was on the chilly side, but the church was several degrees cooler than outside. The masses of stone act as thermal batteries storing up the winter cold and releasing it gradually.

After leaving the church we walked the Mumm champagne cave. We had reservations for a tour, which turned out to be very professional. Along with the non-French-speaking Europeans, we were treated to an excellent English tour that began with a video in a small theater expounding the greatness of Mumm and its champagne, learning that the house label Cordon Rouge is the champagne the winning driver of Formula 1 races drinks at the end of the race. Then we traipsed into the cave, a series of long passageways with millions of bottles stacked in tight formation. We learned that the vineyards in the area are graded according to the quality of champagne that can be made from them due to the soil. Only a select few have the top grade, a few more the grade below, and the rest the lowest grade. The process of making champagne is very elaborate. One of the more intriguing aspects was the removal of sediment as the champagne ages. The bottles are placed in racks with the cork facing down; although at this stage the cork is actually a metal cap. First the bottles are more nearly horizontal; then they are gradually inverted over many days and months. As the elevation of the bottle is steepened they are also twisted a few degrees. Apparently someone figured out that this prolonged and tortured process produced better champagne. When the bottles reach near vertical, and sufficient time has passed for the sediment to settle to the mouth, the mouth of the bottle, the bottles are kept inverted and transported to a station where only the mouth is rapidly chilled, freezing the sediment. The metal cap is then removed and the gas pressure propels the now solid sediment out of the champagne, which is then corked for consumption. There was still an old metal “elevator” meant to carry inverted bottles one-by-one to the floor above disappearing through a hole in the roof.

On Sunday we drove to nearby Chartes to see its famous cathedral. We arrived in time to sit through most of the mass, attended by over 500 people. It was a little strange to sit in the massive cathedral during an actual mass, when usually we are gawking at the stained glass and soaring arches. The organ echoing in the vast hall was impressive. We sat in wooden chairs constrained to perfect rows by wooden connectors. The day was cold and the church was colder, similar to Reims, everyone sat with their coats on. After the service, and a coffee avec lait at a nearby restaurant, Shereen and I spent the next couple of hours listening to an excellent audio guide describe the sculpture and stained glass of the cathedral. The façade and interior tell almost the entire Biblical story from creation to Revelation, with additional tales from pseudo gospels and Catholic tradition included. Inside the entrance the floor tiles are arranged in a circular labyrinth; the penitent would walk (on feet or knees) along the circuitous path to the center. Each stained glass window was donated by the local tradesman; at the bottom of each window are a few panes showing scenes from the tradesman who donated it.

Behind the altar is an elaborate choir screen, with sculpture showing scenes from the life of Jesus. I had been ignorant of the tradition in Catholicism about the birth of Mary. The first sculptures on the screen showed an angel appearing to the mother and father of Mary to announce that she would be the one to give birth to the Messiah. Then follows Mary’s presentation at the temple and her education. Similar to the JFK conspiracy theorists who project an intricate theory to match the moral weight of JFK’s death, so the Catholics have projected a detailed story of Mary to match the moral significance of her life. The statues then proceed to tell the story of Jesus, in sometimes to graphic detail. There is a very explicit, if not realistic, depiction of Jesus as a baby being circumcised. These Catholics think of everything. And not only think of it, but create a detailed sculpture of these details.

We then climbed the circular stairs of one of the two towers. Near the peak we landed in the open air on a narrow walkway around the tower with a bulky stone guardrail. The height was impressive, too much for me as I nervously minced around. We had a great view of the town and the distinctive green roof of the cathedral. But I was glad when we were on our way back to the ground.

I was very impressed with the Chartes cathedral and would rank it one of my favorites.