The Wedding Chapel/Sainte-Chapelle right at the back (which was actually not où Céline Dion s'est mariée - they had the main church, apparently, as there were so many guests) was stunning. I couldn't work it out until I'd read the guide, because the reredos was so modern:
while the rest of the chapel was so Gothic.
Turns out, though, that although it was built in the late 19th century to the same style as the rest, it was destroyed by fire in 1978 and reconstructed between 1979 and 1982 - while the rest was rebuilt according to photos, the bronze reredos was a new work by Charles Daudelin, cast in England in 32 pieces.
Another couple of photos of the Sainte-Chapelle...
Here's a view from there down into the main church:
and here's a side chapel.
I've a nasty feeling the statue here is an Infant of Prague. I thank the rest of the decoration for not alerting me to this sooner... Don't know why I don't like Infants of Prague, as I have a reasonably highly-developed tolerance for other statuary - they slightly creep me out though... So - look at the pretty architecture!
While we're going for imagery though - here's Ste Marguerite Bourgeoys, first woman Canadian saint (canonised 1982) - two rather different biographies here
There were several altars to her in different churches, and she seems to be dispensing pearls of wisdom to representatives of various First Peoples in each one of them...
But here's the main attraction - the general view is pretty spectacular:
Maybe la Dion knew what she was on about in this matter... (And it's not her fault that the thing I hear every Friday night in life when I leave work is the busker in the Tube station playing My Heart Will Go On on a harp... ) According to this, Pierre Trudeau's state funeral was here, too, which is something they don't mention quite as much...
A bit of history. This was designed by an New York Irish Protestant called James O'Donnell, who subsequently converted so he could be buried in his own creation. It was largely constructed between 1824 and 1829 but the towers were built in the 1840s (the East tower is called Tempérance, for any Kathy Reichs fans out there...) and the interior decoration was completed between 1874 and 1880, by Victor Bourgeau.
It was only about 9:30 on a slightly grim Monday morning at this point, so there were very few people around, which was fabulous. There were so many beautiful details to stare at, like this paintwork on pillars
and ceilings...
And as with seriously good Victorian Gothic, everything was all-of-a-piece including the exits (apart from the illuminated "SORTIE" notices, of course...)
I think this is quite the most beautiful church I've ever been in. And I've been into lots of churches. There are various photos of my brother and me as teenagers sitting sulking on steps outside churches all over France, but we did go into many, many more...
Next up, Vieux-Montréal, and some yarn!!
Baby A himself was so unimpressed by the whole business that he slept straight through his baptism, but woke up to observe a huge buffet and a beautiful cake... [At the precise moment this picture was taken though, he'd discovered the pocket in his trousers, which was obviously much more interesting than the cake his Auntie Catherine had decorated so well...]
So long ago was it, in fact, that they've been way more productive than me, and now have this little chap, Baby O... in a hat knitted by his mum (who's on the waiting list for Ravelry...)
We had a lovely couple of days mooching around Hexham (despite having to shelter in the bandstand because of hail!), and a very nice lunch at Bouchon - Baby O got breadsticks and pieces of pepper while we ate duck gizzards, sea bream and Toulouse sausages...All the knitting I'm making progress on is for other people, and secret - or in the post to its destination... Except this:
Embossed Leaves sock by Mona Schmidt, from Favorite Socks, in the current Rocking Sock Club yarn (STR mediumweight, in "Lucky") - I've been looking for the right yarn for this pattern for a while... For the first time ever, I may have SSS with this pair - my brain and hands find the cast-on extraordinarily difficult, although the result is very good. I'm going to have to take it on my daily commute - if it's the only thing I have to knit, I'll get on with it...
I haven't been completely hermit-like after work though - the lighter nights have perked me up somewhat, as usual, so my colleague B and I have been over to IKnit a couple of times - last Thursday night's was so busy that Gerard borrowed my camera to document the sheer number of knitters ...
including a couple of familiar faces...
Being able to put up this Christmas-present pastel from E-J was also a major reason for the redecoration.
But there are also these:
Polyfilla in [note to self: Magic polyfilla in a tube is a stupid idea. Not so much the 'magic' bit, which turns the polyfilla from pink to white as it dries and lets you know it's ready for sanding, but the 'in a tube' bit. Which of course makes sure you don't get one of those nice little spatula things. Thank goodness for the City and Guilds hoarding habit - still had one in the printing/stamping box...]
With any luck, this afternoon there'll be some actual visible progress...
And some forsythia.
And here's some more forsythia on the same day, in a slightly different setting: the pods at the top aren't seed-pods - they're the topmost people-pods of the London Eye.
Wandering along the South Bank, you do see some strange things: yes, it is indeed a "living statue" in Charlie Chaplin/Hitler make-up, a policeman's uniform, a tutu and a truncheon...
And a photo I've been wanting to take for a long while - Boudicca, implausibly dressed in diaphanous robes, by Westminster Bridge and Portcullis House.
There's an urban myth that Boudicca is buried at Kings Cross; it's a nice metaphor for the hopelessness of trying to get from East Anglia to London on mornings like last Monday, when the process took 5 hours... A chariot with knives on the wheels would have been seriously welcome; and quite possibly quicker...
