pillars

reims and troyes are old, very old, old enough that i found mention of both in first few chapters of the book i selected for my flight home -- crown and country* (david starkey, who has recently been in the news for being a "dyspeptic television personality" of a historian who advocates britain's inherent britishness; this book hits you over the head with that belief).

this is reims part ii, in which i do visit the cathedral notre-dame de reims (along with two others + a basilica), and in which i also eat a single shining macaron from la petite friande. this particular macaron is called "stade de reims," and sports the colors of a) the local soccer team and b) the famous biscuits roses of the city. it is, according to my host sister, the best macaron in the world. i don't disagree! however, i've only eaten two macarons total.

*it was starkey or a biography of john lennon. looking for sheer length, i failed to take into account that historical surveys of royals (and exclusively royals) are hopelessly dry, william the conqueror's bursting bowels notwithstanding. howard zinn, this is not.

read on for history + photos


the cathedral is enormous. the stained glass windows are -- well, ask my dad to tell you his story about a comment he left in the guestbook of an english cathedral. i don't want to steal his adjectival thunder.

marc chagall did the blue ones (pictured) that manage to look older than they really are; the more abstract, modern ones date from 2011 (the cathedral's 800th anniversary) and were done by the german artist imi knoebel. i did a double take when i saw the latter -- there's no way they're letting anything so blatantly contemporary in a building as old, and with so much history, as this one? but no, they are! it's a gorgeous juxtaposition.

clovis was baptized in this cathedral, or at least on a spot that is now inside it. (the present structure dates from the 13th century; clovis's baptism took place in a basilica). that doesn't sound like a big deal until you realize that this happened in a three-digit year (496 or 508, depending on who you ask)! starkey points out that "clovis" is old french for "louis" -- unnecessarily, as the french, too, call clovis "clovis."

scroll back up and look at the ceiling; you'll want to read pillars of the earth (ken follett) all over again.

"a portuguese delicacy"

cathedral #2

troyes