Religiously speaking.

Cathedrale de Notre Dame, Rouen, Normandy

Religious participation is decreasing the world over. People have chosen various past times over their religious obligations. I myself am no exception! I could never imagine going back to a catechism class and learning the verses of the bible by heart. I don't go to church anymore on sundays and now that I think of it, I don't think I will be hearing mass for a long time (unless my mom suddenly shows up in France and drags me to church because that's what "good catholic girls do"). I'm not sure if my children would be obliged to be catholic, only because one of their parents was born into the religion. But I will from time to time convince them and others to go an sit a while in church, not to recite the prayers that you learnt by heart, not to kiss the statues that represent God, but to just sit. I have no idea what aspect about religious monuments appeals to me why it cannot be recaptured in our homes. I love incense and candles and I tried to recreate the same composed ambience of a church in my own house but it doesn't work! Actually going into church and sitting on one of the hundreds of wooden benches helps in many ways I feel. It gives more perspective to your being, your sadness, your joys or sometimes you can go there and just be free of your thoughts. Just stop thinking and be. Try it sometimes! This helps me a lot because I'm always thinking. Not like the greater thinker or anything but what I mean is, I always over work my brain with random thoughts and when I sit in church, I feel as if I'm there by myself and not with thoughts about where I go next, where I've come from, etc. I'm just present with myself. Me. 

Candles attract me immensely. They come in all shapes and sizes and the ones sold in churches are inexpensive so that anybody can light one without burning a hole in their pocket. I think it's this act of offering a little gift to some superior power makes the church experience so beautiful. I've never entered a church that has never had candles lit, I guess it's part and parcel of the age old traditions. For me personally, I love looking into the flames, they are so tiny and yet so bright. I wonder sometimes who must have offered them and what were their thoughts. I have tried on numerous occasions to capture the flames of the candles on my camera but I never get it spot on. These were the best photos out of the dozens I took and even these aren't satisfactory!

Living in a little town in France is a beautiful experience. I have the countryside all to myself and all the little churches and chapels scattered around as well. But the only unfortunate thing is that most of them are closed either because most are privately owned or the Mairie (the mayor's office cannot afford to keep them open to the public all the time, owing to the high cost of electricity, repair work, etc. So here's where living in Rouen (the capital) comes in handy. The churches are always kept open in Rouen and I could go in there as and when I please. But a true architecture fan will still find ways to admire the architecture whether it is present inside the monument or out. The little church in my village is open on certain days and I need to out the timings because if the exterior is so beautiful, the interiors must be lovelier.

It's a medieval church and a few metres away from the Franco-British cemetery. There is a peculiar monument in front of the church, exactly the kind I used to see in Bretagne. It's a tall pillar with strange little impressions on it and right on the top stands a cross. I presume this was one of the medieval architectural styles!