.
FRANCE 2012
DAY 2 , TUESDAY, SEPT 4
SENS
We slept until 7:00 this morning - about 10 hours to catch up on our
sleep. Our hotel had a delicious breakfast buffet which was included
with our room. We packed up then went over to the train
station to check on which track our train was on.
We had decided to travel by car on this trip. We did not want to drive
in Paris so we had reserved a car in Sens as it was a small town south
of Paris and had an Avis rental car agency. Our plan was to take the
train to Sens.
Our train left at 10:50. We almost had the whole very well-appointed
car to ourselves...3 other people. It made several stops before
arriving at Sens at 12:18. We took a taxi to our
hotel-Hotel-Paris-Poste. We have a very attractive room on the first
floor (really the 2nd floor).
We were very impressed with the loveliness of Sens, which has a
population of about 28,000. It is built on the right bank of the Yonne
River. From antiquity the town was walled. The ramparts have been
replaced by boulevards which now separate the old town from its
suburbs. Sens was a very early capital of a Roman province and was
converted to Christianity by St.Savinien and St.Potentien who were both
martyred there.
From the beginning Sens was one of the most important religious centers
of France. The head of the diocese was primate of the Gauls and of the
Germans. Two
popes came from Sens: Clement VI and Gregory XI.
We had lunch in the front garden of the hotel. I ordered a hamburger
which was the largest that I've ever seen or tried to eat. We enjoyed
watching school children and their parents walked past the hotel. Then we
walked to the cathedral which was about 2 blocks away.
The present Cathedral is built on the original site of a pagan
temple and three former cathedrals. Work on the present Cathedral was
started by Archbishop Sanglier between 1130 and 1135. In 1163 Pope
Alexander III, during his struggle with the
Emperor of Germany Frederick
Barbarossa took refuge in Sens and consecrated the alder of Peter and
Paul. The front of the Cathedral was finished at the end of the 12th
century. Like so many other towns, a fire in 1184 in the town also
burned the Cathedral. When the Cathedral was repaired, they build higher
and wider bays in the choir and reshaped the vaults. In the 13th century,
two similar towers hadbeen built but on Maunday Thursday 1267 the
south tower collapsed, damaging part of the nave, the front and the
Synod Palace. The reconstruction was immediately undertaken and
continued until the end of the14th century.
In viewing the Cathedral from the front, it is obvious that the north
tower (left side) is much shorter and different from the South Tower
(right side). The North Tower, known as the Tour de Plomb (lead)– 1180 –
1200, is 138 feet tall. This tower was never finished. The South Tower
known as Tour de Pierre (stone) is 255 feet high which includes the Bell
tower. It dates from the 13th to the 16th century. The upper part of the
tower is highly ornamented with flamboyant balustrades, pinnacles with
crockets, crowned by a Bell tower. The Bell tower consists of two
octagonal stories held by light flying buttresses ornamented with
unusual gargoyles.
There are three portals – doorways – into the Cathedral. The tympanum of
the central portal dating from the 13th century illustrates the life of
St. Stephen in several medallions. There are countless small statues
surrounding the door. There was scaffolding in front of the right portal
which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The left portal tympanum
portrays the life of John the Baptist. The lower register shows the
baptism of Christ, Harrods feast, and the beheading of John the Baptist.
In the panel above, John is welcomed into heaven by Christ. Viewing the
Cathedral from the street, the view of the left portal is blocked by
buildings and a outdoor café.
Part of the interior was design by William of Sens who designed
part of Canterbury. There were only about four other people in the
Cathedral and the organist played the whole time.
The Cathedral is 370 feet long, 95 feet wide and 78 feet tall.
Large pillars, can consisting of one main and for smaller shafts rise up
to the clerestory Windows where they take the on the weight of the roof.
The beautiful grill which c
loses the choir was for many years in the
courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace.
There are a number of beautiful
stained-glass windows as well as a number of side and apse chapels. One
very graphic Chapel is that of St. Savinien. On the altar was a life
size sculpture of St. Savinien being beheaded.
After Henry II charged Thomas Becket, his Archbishop of
Canterbury, with treason in 1164, he escaped arrest by fleeing to France
where he spent six years at Sens Cathedral. There is a beautiful window
in the Cathedral depicting the life of Thomas Becket. For more
information about Thomas Becket, click here.
We spent several hours at the Cathedral.
We came back to our hotel, got our GPS, driver's licenses etc and took a
taxi to the Avis Rental. We got our car which is a VW Polo. Not far
from our hotel was a detour and our little TomTom GPS got us around it
on some back streets right to our hotel.
My wife had a short nap, then we went back to the
outdoor courtyard for
drinks. Then we walk around the town. It is a very charming place,
narrow streets, very old beautiful buildings.
We ate in an outdoor
restaurant -L' Assiette. It was right next to the cathedral. We ate
facing the Cathedral. I had scallops and my wife wife had trout.
We walked back to the hotel taking some photos of the lighted
buildings. This certainly is a beautiful little town and we are so glad
we were able to stay here.
