TTF - Bourges, center of France

Tripping Through France - Chapter 3

We recently met a young Canadian couple who have just relocated to France as missionaries with our church group, and we had a chance to visit them on our way to Paris.  They settled in Bourges, which is only 25 miles/40 km from the claimed geographical center of France.

It was really fun to be able to actually visit a Medieval town rather than just pass through, not to mention enjoying getting to know this wonderful family a bit more.

Liam and Mommy

The last time we had seen our newest grandson, he was only six months old.  So it was rather interesting to visit this family with a baby that same age.  It's just been too many years since we were in that age group ourselves and had our own first six-month old; it was really fun both visiting them and reliving our own past memories. 

One does get jaded with life, especially after reaching a certain age group, so it really was fun to watch this young couple nearly half a century behind us with all their hopes and dreams for the future we also had at that same period of time.

Perhaps you have never visited a Medieval town.  I remember being excited on my first visit to Europe to knowingly visit just a simple square.  I had no clue what something Medieval should look like, it was just a period of time I remember studying in sixth grade!

As with many European old towns, they have a history going back a really long time.  Bourges happens to be one of the towns already established when Julius Caesar did his whole European tour in 52 BC.  While he destroyed much of the town, he supposedly called it "one of the most beautiful cities in all of Gaul."  If there are still remnants from that period, I missed them on this trip.

As we wandered around the town, we visited a pretty little garden behind the town's cathedral.  Back when I lived in the US and was busy rearing a family, fancy gardens weren't usually on my agenda, so I don't really know American style ones.  In case European ones are totally different, I thought I'd show you this one. 

My camera had broken by this time, and it was the time of day my camera doesn't like, so these aren't as nice and brilliant looking as they should have been.  But I feel rather clever having found a way to hide the scaffolding on the cathedral!

Cathedral viewed from the garden

1730 Jardin de l'Archevêché (Garden of the Archdiocese)

Parterre with 1880 bronze vase, part of the four seasons series

A second "Seasons" vase

1908 Bandstand

Pretty floral arrangement in the garden

Close-up of hens & chicks

Being an old town, there are still a few old remnants of past architecture.  While old styles are often copied in modern times, the half-timbered houses I came across are from the original period of time they were built.  Supposedly it was a common style from the 13th-18th centuries, I have no idea what period of time the houses I saw come from.  Of course, one would also assume that they have been restored, but they had to have been maintained adequately over the centuries anyway.

I was rather surprised to find this old British phone booth just tucked away in a little corner.  As I understand it, Britain is getting rid of these famous booths and selling them when they can.  Apparently, Bourges bought one of them and artfully placed it so that all of us could enjoy it, too.

Half-timbered house with turret

British phone booth

I'm sure one can come across pretty fountains all over the world, but this is one I happened to come across personally, so you can see it, too.  As well as part of another half-timbered house.

We stumbled across this old doorway salvaged from a destroyed 11th century church after the Revolution.  St. Ursin was the first Bishop of Bourges around the third century, and apparently this church had been dedicated to him.  It is still amazing to just come across such history amidst more modern construction.

A pretty fountain

11th century doorway from the destroyed St. Ursin church

Well presented cheese shop

I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of a very old city.  Our hosts had only been in town about a month and still have a lot to learn themselves, so we missed a lot of other interesting aspects. 

Perhaps one day we'll get back and have more time to do a more extended tour.  Funny how old stuff can be so interesting, while the old stuff in my own house just seems outdated!

Here is one last example of what you can find just walking down the street.  This is a local cheese shop.

Next, we'll tour the fantastic authentic cathedral for which this town is quite well known.

Remember, you can always tap a smaller picture to get an enlarged view.