David Downie: The Tale of the Two Labyrinths of Chartres

Published by Thursday, July 11, 2013 Permalink 0


David Downie: The Tale of the Two Labyrinths of Chartres

David Downie, The Rambling Epicureby David Downie

Introduction by Jonell Galloway

Chartres is not only my home, but remains one of the most mystical places on earth, even after years of living there. It has everything I need in a city: a spiritual atmosphere, good food, good wine, beautiful stained glass, a beautiful cathedral and 128 or so other beautiful churches, and honest people who, being from the bread basket of France, have never lost their work ethic and healthy attitude. People were already making pilgrimages to Chartres long before the Christianized Romans appeared on the scene, and they continue to do so in droves today.

Chartres Labyrinth

Chartres labyrinth (Photo credit: Steve Snodgrass)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was pleased to see Rambling Epicure contributor David Downie’s article on Gadling about the labyrinths of Chartres, the city that may just have more history than any in Europe, and about how its sacred sites continue to inspire people of many denominations and beliefs who travel from all over the world to soak up its telluric energy.

France, Chartres, Labyrinth

Labyrinth reproduction in the garden below the cathedral (Photo credit: hdes.copeland)

Outdoors in a panoramic park behind the famous cathedral of Chartres a teenage girl skipped along the concentric pathways of a grassy labyrinth. Other kids shouted and kicked a soccer ball. Young lovers simultaneously pecked at each other and the touchpads of their handheld devices, observed by curious onlookers.  

Most such onlookers in Chartres are day-trippers from nearby Paris: The capital is an hour’s ride east on a commuter train.

Click here to read rest of article.

 

vitrail de la cathédrale de Chartres

Stained glass in Chartres Cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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David Downie: Portofino, the Italian Riviera’s Most Glamorous Time Warp

Published by Friday, October 28, 2011 Permalink 0

by Wandering Liguria

Nobody knows Liguria better than David Downie. In fact he knows it so well, he’s just launched a new site about it, Wandering Liguria, to add to his exquisite Food Wine Burgundy and Food Wine Rome guidebooks for the thinking man who wants to avoid places frequented by busloads of tourists.

A picture-postcard faux fishing port, Portofino is the Riviera’s most glamorous time warp: the villas of the super-rich perch on pine-studded promontories jutting into the Mediterranean. Billionaires like Silvio Berlusconi spend precious leisure hours here. “Precious” is the operative word.

Five hundred years ago one irreverent overnight traveler noted that in Portofino “you were charged not only for the room but the very air you breathed.”

Click here to read more of David’s Gadling article on Portofino.

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