Wednesday 13 February 2013

Bourges Cathedral, Statues and Fountains

While we were at the Chateau by the Lake we went into the centre of Bourges to have a walk around.  One of the first things we saw on leaving the car park was this statue in remembrance of the resistance.  I decided to apply some filters to the photo to give it a bit of a 1940's feel about it although I'm not sure if there was much colour photography back then.  Perhaps I should have gone to monochrome sepia instead.  In front of the statue was a sort of water feature which was water vapour rising up through a large grate which gives the image a very eerie feel.

Vive la Resistance
Vive la Resistance

I'm not sure now whether this next photo was from the other side of the same statue or was another one nearby.  It has the same big wings at the side and the wooden planters full of flowers at either side, but it looks very different.

Vive la Resistance
Vive la Resistance
This next image is of the rear of the Cathedral taken from the gardens adjacent. There was a big group of tourists in the garden but I managed to get a shot with them all in a crowd behind me listening to their guide.  It's a pity about the scaffolding on the roof but it's still quite a nice looking building.  If we come this way again I hope to get more photos of the outside without the obstructions.

Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges

Here are a few of the old stained glass windows from behind the altar area.  Again I managed to get a shot without any people in it although there was a lot of people milling about.

Stained Glass
Stained Glass

 It was pretty dark where this set of kneeling statues were placed so there's a bit of noise on the photo, but not too bad.

Three Kneeling Statues
Three Kneeling Statues

Here's a bit of new stained glass in front of some older stained glass.

New Stained Glass
New Stained Glass

Back outside the Cathedral and into the centre of the city there was quite a number of monuments, statues and fountains.  I quite like this one because of it's shape and I took a few photos from different angles but I chose this particular images with the old entrance gate behind.

Fountain
Fountain

This statue looks a bit odd because the base looks a lot older and worn than the statue on the top which looks brand new.  This is Jacques Coeur (or Heart) who was born in Bourges, the son of a rich merchant and in later life was summoned to Paris to become master of the mint.

Jacques Coeur Statue
Jacques Coeur Statue

The last photo is another fountain but this time made of some very black stone, perhaps some kind of marble.  At the other end of this square was a statue made of the same stone and they are both in very stark contrast to all the buildings made of white stone.  The water in the fountains looked very inviting as the weather was getting hot.  The temperature had risen quite a lot while we were in Bourges and was now in the low to mid 30's and still rising.

Black Stone Fountain
Black Stone Fountain

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