Okay, phew! I finally got my pictures of Bourges ready for a post. Hard work, you know!
Bourges is a mid-sized city about two hours south of us. For tourists, its attractions are a beautiful, HUGE Gothic cathedral, and many medieval buildings that have been preserved, or restored to medieval condition, making it a great walking-around town. It also was the home-base of Jacques Coeur, who must be the most unknown powerful man ever. No one knows of him, but in the mid-1400s, he and his companies were essentially the French economy. Jacques Coeur had – and exercised – the power that the King of France could only wish he had.
Jacques Coeur built a beautiful Gothic house in Bourges. It remains the biggest and best example of Gothic architecture in a private residence. It’s thought that he never actually lived here, though his long-suffering wife and kids did while he was off gallivanting around the world on his commercial and diplomatic missions.
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- Mary, Gilles and Laurie look at the courtyard of Jacques Coeurs’ amazing house.
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- Jacques Coeur’s house
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- A detail from Jacques Coeur’s house.
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- The entrance to Jacques Coeur’s house; a lot like our Renton house, eh?
The front of the house also has what are thought to be busts of Jacques Coeur and his wife. These are on either side of the front door of the house. Maybe they weren’t getting along at the time…
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- Said to be Jacques Coeur
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- Said to be Jacques Coeur’s wife.
Because Jacques Coeur made much of his considerable fortune in shipping, his house pays honor to his ships in a number of places.
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- I love finding stuff like this: this is the oldest known stained-glass window in a private residence. Oldest known in the world!
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- Just a little decoration…
Bourges Cathedral
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- Bourges Cathedral from a street in the city.
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- The front of Bourges Cathedral at night.
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- Phew! No words can add to this place!
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- Our tour guide said this is the most beautiful stained-glass window in a cathedral that has many beautiful windows. I’m not going to argue.
Some pictures from Bourges
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- Doors! I love ’em!
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- “The Golden Straw”
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- Supplies for woodworking and cabinet-making.
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- Not all the stores are what you’d expect.
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- A street in the old part of the city.
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- Laurie, Mary and Gilles in an intense bargaining session with a man selling tableclothes. The vendor won.
Bourges – another city we would return to visit in a minute. We’re never going to see all France, because we keep finding these places to which we want to return, which means we don’t have time for new places. Such a dilemma…
Wow! VERY much like your front door in Renton!!
These photos are so great. The cathedral is magnificent; I can only imagine its construction. Did you notice a pipe organ? Imagine the reverberation those walls and ceilings would create!!
When the night pictures were taken, someone was playing the Cathedral organ. We could hear it loud and clear from outside, but the Cathedral itself was closed, so we couldn’t get in to listen. It was pretty powerful even from the outside.