I spent my last evening

and morning in Brittany

in Rennes, the capital

city of Brittany. It does

have more Medieval

half timber houses than

any other place in Brittany.

Unlike Tours and other

towns that I have visited,

however, the houses have

not been converted into

tourist shops and

restaurants. The houses,

like much of Rennes, are

a little worn looking.

I stopped in at the Rennes Cathedral before driving to Chartres to see its famous cathedral.  In 2007 Steve and I arrived at the Chartres Cathedral along with thousands of people who had just completed a five day (walking) pilgrimage from Paris.  The inside and outside of the Cathedral were packed and we were unable to really look around.  The guidebook said not to miss the choir screen (behind the altar) but we could not make our way there and did miss it.

So finally, sixteen years later, I made it back and it was well worth it.  I have been in half a dozen cathedrals in the last couple of weeks, and this is far and away the most incredible.  It was built during a fairly short time in the twelfth (!!!) century and completed in the thirteenth.  Most of it, including the dozens of stained glass windows, are original.  The vault is the tallest I have seen, with three levels of windows.  Apparently, this was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and innovated the use of flying buttresses.

Beautiful rose windows, a maze on the floor, and that choir screen … amazing.  Carvings of 20 biblical scenes.  It is rather new, however, dating only to the sixteenth century.  One of the most famous windows is the Blue Virgin.  And, of course, there is an important relic:  the Sancta Camisia, a piece of Mary’s clothing that has been in Chartres since the 9th Century.

Ironically, my long visit to the cathedral was interrupted by the arrival of … a pilgrimage, but a much shorter one.  Men in uniform, people (mostly old) carrying flags, and various other people.  It turned out to be the ceremony to mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Brittany in August, 1944.  The ceremony began in the town center and then there was a processional to the cathedral for a service.

To top off the day, they do an incredible light show on the cathedral after dark. I cannot begin to describe how amazing it was. I'd say that this is the most impressive cathedral but ... I am going to Notre Dame tomorrow. Maybe I'll change my mind.