A New-York Christmas (5): Dragons dans la cathédrale

Tout d'abord une petite photo prise dans le centre commerciale dans les sous-sols du Rockfeller Center : des hommes d'affaire faisant la queue pour faire cirer leurs chaussures, un spectacle pour le moins pittoresque.

These businessmen waiting in line to get their shoes shined at the Rockfeller Center made me stop and smile. Such a picturesque scene!

Lors de mon deuxième jour à New-York, j'ai le bonheur de retrouver mon amie Catherine de Sciences Po Reims, qui fait le double diplôme avec Columbia University. Après un long déjeuner qu'elle a eut la gentillesse de m'offrir, passé à rattrapper six mois de bavardages itnerrompus, elle m'a fait visité son quartier et son université. Premier arrêt à la cathédrale de New-York, qui accueillait des dragons géants en matériaux de récupération, oeuvre d'un artiste chinois en exil.

During my second day in New York, I met again with my good friend Catherine, who is currently studying at Columbia! It was awesome to see her again and after lunch, she guided me through her neighbourhood. We stopped at the New York Cathedral to admire the giant Chinese dragons on a temporary exhibit.

So I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly from a Cathedral constructed way after the European ones. I was excited to maybe see the evolutions of religious architecture, but instead discovered the New-York interpretation of Gothic style: pretty much eager to imitate traditional European style, but looking newer, less aged by time (like, less ex votos on the walls, less tomb stones on the floor...). So close and yet ever so slightly different from the real thing, it was both familiar and the tiniest weird.

One of the big differences with, say, the Reims Cathedral (Reims is where I studied for two years; its cathedral is where almost all French Kings were crowned, thus it very special) was the light (NY definitely felt lighter) and the folding chairs everywhere in lieu of the wooden prie-dieu.

Catherine showed me the Poets' Corner, the occasion to discuss her favourite American authors. I have quite a lot of American literature catch-up to do, but I have to admit it is hard to read poetry not in your native language. I can enjoy a little Keats, but I can't pretend I have the vocabulary necessary to understand it all. (It's a good thing poetry's interest also is in feelings and general impressions). Anyway, when I go back to Boston, I think my next catch-up will be The Scarlet Letter. After all, I visited Hawthorne's house in Salem and plan to see his one in Concord, so it will be settings-appropriate.