Monday, November 20, 2017

At The Top Of The Kreisker Chapel

Wandering Around Cottage - November 2017 Edition


Last summer I visited the town of Saint-Pol-de-Léon on the North Coast of Brittany. It was one of my favourite excursion of my holidays. I thought it would be a quick tour as it's quite a small seaside town, but I was wrong. There are many treasures to discover there and today I'm taking you to the Kreisker Chapel. And believe me, I had to face one of my worst fear to create this post.


L'été dernier, j'ai visité la ville de Saint-Pol-de-Léon sur la côte nord de la Bretagne. Cela a été une de mes excursions préférées des vacances. Je pensais que faire le tour de cette petite ville côtière serait rapide, mais je m'étais trompée. Il y a beaucoup de choses à y découvrir et aujourd'hui je vous emmène à la chapelle du Kreisker. Et croyez-moi, pour créer cet article, j'ai dû affronter une de mes plus grandes peurs.



If you've been reading this blog for a little while, you're now familiar with the weirdness of some Briton names. This beautiful chapel is called Notre-Dame-du-Kreisker and nobody really knows what "Kreisker" means. Or rather many people have an opinion on what it means and they fight about it... Fight as scholars do, with words, not with swords. Anyway, the most convincing explanation I read is that "Kresiker" means "the middle of the town".


Bon, si vous lisez ce blog depuis un moment, vous commencez à être habitué aux noms parfois étonnants de certains lieux. Cette jolie chapelle s'appelle Notre-Dame-du-Kreisker et personne ne sait vraiment d'où vient le mot "Kreisker". Ou plutôt, il y a de nombreuses opinions sur le sujet et de nombreuses bagarres. Enfin, quand je dis "bagarres", ce sont des bagarres d'intellectuels qui se battent à coups de mots et non de poings ! Bref, l'explication la plus convaincante que j'ai lue est celle qui fait venir "Kreisker" du breton signifiant "centre de la ville".


It is believed there was a chapel there since the 6th century, but the building we can visit nowadays was built later. The construction began in the 13th century and continued into the 14th century. The artists who worked on this chapel remain unknown, but the perpendicular style suggests that at least some of them came from  England.


Certains textes suggèrent qu'il y avait une chapelle à cet endroit depuis le VIe siècle, mais le bâtiment que l'on visite de nos jours est plus récent. La construction a commencé au XIIIe siècle et a continué au XIVe siècle. Les artistes qui y ont travaillé demeurent inconnus, mais le style gothique perpendiculaire adopté laisse penser que certains d'entre eux au moins venaient d'Angleterre.


The bell tower dates from the 15th century. It measures about 550 feet. It might not seem that much today, but when it was built, it was the seventh highest building in the whole world...


Le clocher date du XVe siècle et culmine à  168 mètres. Bon, cela peut paraître dérisoire aujourd'hui, mais lors de son achèvement, c'était le septième monument le plus haut du monde.


The bell tower has been stripped of its bells during the first French revolution, but since there's no more ringing to make you deaf, it's possible to climb up providing you pay a small fee.


Le clocher n'a plus de cloches depuis la Révolution. Mais puisqu'il n'y a plus de risque de devenir sourd ou d'être assommé par une cloche, il est maintenant possible de monter tout en haut en payant un petit droit d'entrée.


This is the moment this post becomes very personal. I'm claustrophobic. One of my worst memory as a tourist is visiting the Statue of Liberty in New York. Going up step by step ever so slowly, wondering every second how I could go out of there in case of emergency... Still, I decided to overcome my fear (or at least try to) in order to live a unique moment going up  the bell tower of such a old chapel.


Bon, c'est l'instant où je vous livre un peu de ma vie privée dans cet article. Je suis claustrophobe.  Un de mes pires souvenirs de touriste est la montée en haut de la statue de la liberté. Cette montée très lente, marche par marche avec une foule devant moi et une foule derrière moi - je me demandais à chaque seconde comment sortir de là en cas d'urgence -  un cauchemar... Et cependant, j'ai décidé de surmonter ma peur (ou du moins d'essayer) pour vivre une expérience unique, grimper tout en haut du clocher de cette chapelle historique.


The staircase is very narrow... And I only took pictures when it was at its widest... The higher you go, the narrower the staircase become and I had to put the camera in my bag as I wanted to have both my hands free in case I slipped. The treads are also very small... I have probably never mentionned it, but I have Cinderella-small feet and the treads weren't big enough for my feet!


Les escaliers sont très étroits et encore, j'ai pris les photos à l'endroit le plus large... Plus on monte et plus cela devient étroit et j'ai dû ranger mon appareil photo pour être sûre d'avoir mes deux mains libres pour me rattraper si je glissais car les marches elles-mêmes étaient très petites. Vous pouvez le constater sur la photo : pour vous donner une échelle, je chausse un petit 35...


I'm not going to lie, this was a real trial for me. The walls were so close that both my hands got "grated" by the stones. I had to remember to breathe calmly, I had to constantly visualise that it was worth it. There are several levels were you can get out of the staircase and discover up close all those architectural details you can usually only see from afar.


 Je ne vais pas mentir, cette montée a été une épreuve. Les murs étaient si proches que mes mains se râpaient des deux côtés. J'ai dû prendre beaucoup sur moi, penser à respirer calmement et me motiver en pensant à ce qui m'attendait à chaque étape. En effet, il y a des pauses dans les escaliers avec à chaque fois, de superbes vues sur la chapelle. Tous ces détails que l'on ne voit d'habitude que de loin sont soudain accessibles et c'est vraiment magique.


Once you're on the top of the bell tower, you're rewarded with an amazing view of the town that goes all the way to the sea. I believe the best view of the cathedral is also from the bell tower. By the way, I had visited the cathedral earlier that day, so I'll take you there in an other post.


Un fois en haut du clocher, vous êtes récompensé par une vue spectaculaire sur la ville, jusqu'à la mer. C'est aussi du haut de ce clocher que l'on a la plus belle vue, à mon avis, sur la cathédrale. J'avais visité ce superbe édifice plus tôt dans la journée et il pourra faire l'objet d'un autre article.


The most difficult part was to come: I couldn't stay up there all afternoon, so I had to go down the stairs... I could brag and say my fear was vanquished that day... But the truth is that it took so much of me to keep going  and to keep it together that when I reached the last tread, I couldn't feel my legs anymore and had to sit on a bench for a little while... I was still proud I did it, but I had to change my plans for the afternoon. I had planned a hike on the harbour, but my legs were too sore and I visited a wonderful exhibition instead!


La partie la plus difficile était encore à venir. Je ne pouvais pas rester là-haut tout l'après-midi et il a donc fallu redescendre toutes ces marches. Je pourrais me vanter et dire que j'ai vaincu ma peur ce jour-là... Mais en fait, j'étais tellement tendue et tellement focalisée sur le contrôle de ma panique que lorsque j'ai atteint la dernière marche, mes jambes ne me soutenaient plus et j'ai dû m'asseoir sur un banc. J'ai aussi dû changer mes plans pour l'après-midi. J'avais prévu une randonnée vers le port, mais mes muscles étaient tellement douloureux que j'ai finalement visité une exposition à la place !

I hope you didn't get all sore from that virtual visit!

J'espère que cette visite virtuelle ne vous a pas laissé trop de courbatures !

See you soon,

A bientôt,

Hasta la proxima,


24 comments:

  1. I couldn't have done that, you are very brave. St Pol de Leon is such a sweet town and we sometimes used to stop there en route to Roscoff.

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  2. Amazing. I hope one day I can see more of France but for now, my memories of Provence, Lot and Paris will forever stay with me!

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  3. Hi.....WOW.!...that's some staircase..you should be very proud of yourself..that 1 photo looking down that spiral..nearly had my vertigo going..i can't do heights..well scary heights..i can't even look at a photo of the edge of a cliff..i feel like i'm there an about to fall off the side..the chapel is stunning..i wonder how they made something that huge and tall centuries ago..just boggles the mind..i'm guessing that's a trip you'll remember forever..Thanks for taking us along..look forward to the next post about it..and what was the exhibition you saw that day..Hope you have a nice week.!

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  4. I agree with Wende, thank you for being brave:). It does boggle my mind too, how they build castles and cathedrals. I look forward to see the exhibition.
    Take care, Kathleen in Az

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    1. Somehow, I enjoyed the idea of overcoming my fear... My muscles did ache for two days from all the tension, though...

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  5. I'm glad you managed to get through this fear to take these fabulous photos!! Wonderful!!!

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  6. that is amazing and I thought some places I have been at had small stairways - I have been in several caves that got quite narrow and had stairs but they didn't get quite that narrow - you did really great considering your fear! Thanks for sharing this - I'm sure I will never get a chance to go in a European castle so really enjoying seeing others post these things. When I went to the Statue of Liberty we couldn't go up in it as it was closed for repairs

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  7. Thanks for the lovely views from the top....and I admire your perserverance! I'm planning on a trip to Normandy next year, so maybe we can make it to Brittany? It looks like a beautiful area.
    Paula

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    1. Brittany is really beautiful and if you need suggestions to plan your trip, feel free to send me a private email, I'll answer the best I can.

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  8. Wonderful views, what a fantastic church. I not only suffer from claustrophobia, I suffer from acrophobia. Many years ago I went up in one of the towers in La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and totally wigged out. Had to sit down and inched my way back down while sitting on my backside.

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  9. Pour l'anecdote, la sœur de ma grand-mère était "la bonne des curés" de Saint Pol de Léon. C' est une très belle ville, et je suis bien contente de voir ces merveilleuses photos. Merci pour ce très beau partage et le courage qu' il vous aura fallu pour les prendre.

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    1. Oh, ça, c'est une anecdote extraordinaire ! Je pense faire d'autres articles sur Saint Pol de Léon, ville que j'ai vraiment adorée.

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  10. For some reason, I read your post from the bottom up... and I am like OMG, OMG, OMG.... and I am small person, thinking... I will never do that... and then I think I have to tell her NEVER climb the Statue of Liberty... not knowing you had already done it! I did that when I was a kid, and I never forgotten the climb... someone's behind in my face... and humid hot in summer... I am claustrophobic too... xoxo Su

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  11. Thank you so much for sharing with us, the views were breath taking i am sure. I enjoyed this and hope someday to make it over there. I have been to Ireland. Have a great week.

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    1. I think Ireland and Brittany have similar landscapes... I actually decided to settle in Brittany during a trip to Ireland!

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  12. Good for you Magali! I'm sure that's an experience you won't soon forget.

    xxx

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  13. Beautiful buildings! It sounds like a marvelous tour!! Indeed a great thing to do. I love to travel and to explore. Have a wonderful week Magali and thanks for sharing.

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  14. Wow, Magali, well done you! As you will appreciate, I go up quite a few narrow spiral staircases - and I HATE doing it, because I just don't like heights. The worse thing is when you meet people coming the other way - and in Oxford the other month some daft, rude, pillock leaned across me so that he could take a selfie of himself and his girlfriend! Aargh! So - I understand a little. Loved your shots - I hope you think ity was worth it - and it really does look an amazing place. Incredibly ornate tower.

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  15. les photos me donnent le vertiges à elles seules...
    ce petit reportage donne réellement envie de découvrir cette cité !
    bon week-end ! monique59

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  16. Sigh. Someday. I keep tell my husband to look for a job in France that way my kids can speak for me and I might learn more French. It's funny, I just posted about that one time I went to France. While my experience was good, it wasn't this good. ;)

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  17. Phew, what an experience. Good for you, Magali.
    Amalia
    xo

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  18. Wow, not sure I could have done it! Thanks for doing all the hard work, and sharing those glorious views!

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  19. Thank you for bravely facing your fear to bring us this post. Such a lovely chapel. I wonder at how long it must have taken builders to build such structures in that era. The view over the town out to the water is amazing. xo

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  20. Oh my gosh! At first I would think this wasn't worth the climb, but when I saw the view of the ocean!!! wow. Wonderful! As in Wonder-Full. Thanks for sharing with us.

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