Whenever I thought of the remote possibility of travelling to China, I always felt a strong attraction to the rural part of the country. Maybe I felt that the true Chinese wisdom was better preserved far from the urban turmoil…
Hello friends, and Happy New Year ! Or should I say Happy Chinese New Year, since our first meeting of 2025 is dedicated to the most important celebration of Chinese culture and an opportunity to start off the year with…
In the bustling inn at Southwark, where Geoffrey Chaucer gathered his motley band of pilgrims for their journey to Canterbury, the evening air would have been thick with the aroma of simple, hearty fare—dishes that sustained both body and spirit…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 24 Hello, dear friends, and Merry Christmas! For this festive day, we’re boarding a train from Paris to visit the yearly Christmas market in the medieval town of Provins. You might remember we visited the Saint-Ayoul…
Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. The Christmas feast is upon us, so it’s about time we start preparing some delicacies for the festive table. One of the defining dishes of the Middle Ages is the…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 22 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to the twenty-second day of Advent here at The Ritual of Reading. Today’s episode features an unexpected guest: a subject that not long ago held little interest for me whatsoever—the…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 21 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to this year’s celebration of the winter solstice. The longest night of the year has summoned ceremony since ancient times, and in the Middle Ages, many pre-Christian rituals remained vividly…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 20 Hello, dear friends, and welcome back to Fontevraud Abbey for the second part of our exploration. Yesterday we situated ourselves within this exceptional site and spoke of its glorious past—the powerful abbesses, the royal tombs,…
Hello everyone, and welcome to another stroll through medieval sites. For this 19th day of Advent, I’m revealing one of my sanctuaries, a place where I truly feel at home in an inexplicable way : the royal abbey of Fontevraud.…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 18 Hello, dear friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. Today we’re teleporting ourselves to Christmas 1183, to the fortress town of Chinon in the Loire Valley—not with a book for once, but with…
