It’s all about Saint-André

Some time ago, I made a note to myself to write a post entirely dedicated to Saint-André cathedral, right in the centre of Bordeaux. I think the last time I mentioned it was more than a year ago. Now, it’s time to get down to business.

I pass by Saint-André every day when I take the tram to work, as it is centrally located in Place Pey Berland, beside the city hall at Hôtel de Ville station, which is also the interchange between tram lines A and B. Even so, every time I walk by it, I feel that sense of grandiosity surround me as the giant cathedral looms overhead. Day by day, I am still amazed by its magnificent architecture, falling in love with it inside out.

Over the two years since I’ve arrived in Bordeaux, I’ve taken a lot of random photos of Saint-André from different angles, some of which I will share with you here. Of course these are taken at various times, explaining the drastic different shades of the sky 😉

First up, we have the southern façade of Saint-André, taken in late January 2012. Tram line B passes right in front of it and I live right up ahead, near Palais de Justice. After visiting so many cities and seeing so many cathedrals in Europe, Saint-André remains my favourite one, though it may not be the largest or most impressive. Notable mentions go to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption in Clermont-Ferrand, France, the Dom in Cologne, Germany, and the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium.

Not enough time for Leuven

I’ve been to Leuven, but I’ve never written about it. In fact, I’ve been to Leuven four times last year, but each time I went, I headed directly to a specific meeting point for fellowship, and never explored the city beyond the route that I took.

To introduce Leuven a bit, it is in the Flemish region of Belgium, which means people there speak Flemish, not French. Leuven is located north of Louvain-la-Neuve and east of Brussels, forming an equilateral triangle on the map. Leuven is home to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), which is directly related to the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL, where I am at) as UCL split from it in 1968. I don’t know the entire history behind the event, but due to some language tensions, what used to be known as the Catholic University of Leuven split into KUL and UCL, and UCL “moved” to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia, providing French-language instruction.

My visits to Leuven generally began at the train station as I arrived at around 19H00. Then I would stroll down Bondgenotenlaan (name of a street) until I got to the Grote Markt and took a turn onto Naamsestraat (another street name) until I reached my destination at 19H30 for the start of fellowship. At the end of fellowship, I took the same route back to the train station at 22H00 in order to catch the last train back to Louvain-la-Neuve. Unfortunately I don’t attend this fellowship anymore due to the tight timing. Sometimes I can’t make the train that gets me there on time, and leaving early at 22H00 doesn’t give me much time to mingle at all 😦

The few times I was there, however, I really liked Leuven. The wide streets and the gorgeous Gothic architecture were certainly refreshingly different from Louvain-la-Neuve. I’m sure there’s much more to see beyond the limits of the city centre, and it’s a trip I’ll have to re-take one of these days, when the weather is slightly better.

The silhouette of an unknown structure glowed prominently straight ahead of me as I walked down Bondgenotenlaan, towards the Grote Markt. In October last year, I usually arrived in Leuven right before sunset, just as the sky was turning dark. This was taken during my first time in Leuven, and that silhouette really stood out and amazed me.