By "scale" I mean échelle, as in "a sense of scale" — une idée de l'échelle du lieu. As it applies to these three photos of the interior of the cathédrale d'Amiens, for example.
There's not much here to give you an idea of the scale of the cathedral. Maybe the chairs.
I this one, there are several people. They are dwarfed by the scale of the building. Of the interior space.
You might recognize one of the people I'm talking about. He's the one among the chairs.
I don't know who this person is but, again, she provides scale.
You can enlarge these images by clicking on them with your mouse or "unpinching" them on your tablet. Do you know that you can press the F11 key on your PC keyboard to put your browser in full-screen mode, and push it again to put it back?
We have been following your series on the Amiens Cathedral. I passed there on a motorbike many years ago and spent a long time admiring the outside, and tyring to get my head around the man hours (because it was probably men) involved in carving all that stone relief and lacework.
ReplyDeleteThe Amiens cathedral really is an amazing place. I was hoping to go thee again in April, but the pandemic foiled those plans.
DeleteI went through the photos and enlarged them first before reading the text. Hey, I know that guy - good to see a friendly face in the middle of that wonderful architecture! The piliers cantonné in the interior are quite impressive.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard from CHM these last few days?
DeleteHave not heard from him, but not sure he has easy access to a computer.
DeleteHello everybody. Still there. Didn't seem to have anything if interest to say.
DeleteToday, I'll repeat what I said a few days ago which I think gives an idea of the height of the nave of the cathedral. It is almost as high as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Everybody can visualise it that way.
No progress to speak of so far. Just a slight improvement, enough to give me hope for the future. I'm still optimistic!
Bon courage, Charles-Henry. Je pense à toi tous les jours. Avec mes allergies aux pollens, très sévères cette année, et la période d'adaptation à mes nouvelles lunettes, je suis quasiment aveugle, mais j'essaie de publier quelques photos tous les matins quand même. Je retrouve avec plsisir toutes ces photos de nos périples en Picardie il y a une dizaine d'années. Elles me rapellent de très bons souvenirs.
DeletePour moi aussi, ce sont de bons souvenirs.
DeleteWow. Somehow, it's the last picture that really drives home the échelle of the building, for me. I'll be showing that one to my students, in next year's Cathédrales unit :)
ReplyDeleteI really like that one too.
DeleteSo great that you teach more than just the language part to your kids! Our teacher in Grade 5 showed us all the chateaux of the Loire and cathedrals and that's what really hooked me on studying French, and has stayed with me all these decades. She also played music for us (Johnny Hallyday, eg) and took our class to a French restaurant on her dime.
DeleteDiogenes, I'm so glad to know that you feel that way! I, too, think that my kids will remember all of those wonderful places in France, well past what they remember of the language, if they don't continue to study it, so, if I can develop a love of the place, maybe they'll actually go to France some day... and, then, they'd actually have a reason to learn the language :)
DeleteIt is breathtaking beautiful. I can only imagine seeing it in person.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance to come to France, put it on your list.
DeleteI am impressed not only by the scale but by how beautifully luminous the interior of the cathedral is, how the light moves on the stone.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Emm. Dizzying, I say. And then you look more closely and you discover so much color, so much statuary. It's one huge gallery.
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