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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Historic shrines in France
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I've got a yen some time to drive to the shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour in Southern France.
Anyone recommend other shrines to visit en route? (For some reason the two times I've been to Chartres I've found it deeply depressing. Disappointing, as it ought to press all the buttons. I think both times I was in an unhappy state.)
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
I think you need to wait a couple of years more for Chartres. They're currently in the process of cleaning it / returning all the stones to their original colour and when they've finished I think it's going to look amazing. In the section that's already done, the brightness of the stone completely changes the light.
In a shameless plug for my beloved's place of origin, I highly recommend visiting Albi. The cathedral is now a UNESCO heritage site. The exterior is a brick fortress, but once you get inside, it's covered in amazing illuminations that you never would have imagined looking at it from the outside.
(I admit that as a non-Catholic, my interest in French cathedrals is mostly as a tourist)
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
I don't know if it's on your way, but Le Puy en Velay is quite impressive. (Link to Wiki article) We were there for the Medieval Festival which was fun.
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What are you doing for Lent?
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Posts: 3042 | From: 'twixt les Bois Noirs & Les Monts de la Madeleine | Registered: May 2004
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I don't have any "way" or route. I was thinking to go via other interesting places. Le Puy was a possibility.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Diomedes
Shipmate
# 13482
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Posted
The Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in Vezelay is stunning. The town is lovely too. One of my favourite places ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Distrust simple answers to complicated questions
Posts: 129 | From: Essex England | Registered: Mar 2008
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Cara
Shipmate
# 16966
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Posted
Vézelay, exactly what I was going to say! Extraordinary.
And while in Burgundy, the cathedral of St Lazarus in Autun is wonderful too.
Then there's the Abbey of Cluny--not much left of it, but what there is is still magnificent, and for centuries it was the largest abbey in Christendom. Cluny the town is lovely too, and then of course you're near Taizé...a different kind of "shrine." I will never forget Sunday mass there.
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Pondering.
Posts: 898 | Registered: Feb 2012
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Forthview
Shipmate
# 12376
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Posted
If you are looking for a shrine rather than a place or religious architectural merit,then I would suggest Nevers on the way to Rocamadour.
You will find the shrine of St Bernadette.
Posts: 3444 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2007
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Clotilde
Shipmate
# 17600
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Posted
I too yearn to visit Rocamadour, but by plane not by car. Which would be the nearest airport. I would hire a car at the airport I think. Le Puy then is not too far away.
I understand Rocamadour is quite a tourist pull. That's OK, but does it come across as a shrine too?
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A witness of female resistance
Posts: 159 | From: A man's world | Registered: Mar 2013
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Desert Daughter
Shipmate
# 13635
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Posted
Rocamadour in the main tourist season (meaning mainly French school holidays, because the French prefer to holiday in their own country) is overcrowded. There is a very nice daily pilgrims' mass in the chapel on top, but just fighting (yes, fighting) your way up there through the clots of tourists takes away any feeling of spiritual bliss you might have been harbouring. Go there, say, in late June and it wil be a wonderful place.
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"Prayer is the rejection of concepts." (Evagrius Ponticus)
Posts: 733 | Registered: Apr 2008
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Desert Daughter
Shipmate
# 13635
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Posted
@ Clotilde: Between Rocamadour and Le Puy you've got 4 to 5 hours' driving over narrow French country roads populated by mad French drivers, so don't be fooled by looking at the map. That said, the scenery in that part of the world is beautiful and you'd do well to stop overnight enroute to enjoy the Auvergne.
About airports: It all depends which part of France you want to see. Clermont Ferrand is good for the centre/Le Puy, further to the west you've got Bordeaux. If you're willing to fly Ryanair (definitely not an experience leading to spiritual bliss), they serve (well, "serve" is not a term to be used in conjunction with Ryanair. So: they land their planes at), I think, Bergerac and Carcassonne (but they pull in and out of airports so quicky, better check their website). A somewhat more civilised low-fare carrier is EasyJet.
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"Prayer is the rejection of concepts." (Evagrius Ponticus)
Posts: 733 | Registered: Apr 2008
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I've been browzing the Michelin Green Guide to the Auvergne. As well as Le Puy en Velay, there are a whole host of black virgins.
I'm more interested in chthonic religion rather than tastefully historic architecture, but Orcival look as though it has both in spades.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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