This morning, Saturday, is rainy with a bit of a chill so it looks like as good a time as any to sit and write about our short but sweet trip to Chartres yesterday, Friday. (photo: Chartres cathedral across Place Chatelet.)
Friday dawned clear and bright, and after a leisurely morning we headed for the metro: line 7 at Les Gobelins to Place d’Italie, switch to the no. 6 and 15 minutes later we were at Montparnasse train station (“Gare du Montparnasse”). After finding our way to the ticket counters (“billet” which is not to be confused with “bidet”) we picked up our tickets – and I’m still steamed that we can’t use non-European credit cards in the automatic machines. Sometimes I don’t know about this country. . . .
We quickly found our way to track (“voie”) no. 18, got aboard the train and 10 minutes later were zooming south out of the city.
An hour later and the train pulled into Chartres station. Looming over the entire landscape, the cathedral seemed enormous and wholly out of proportion to the size of the small town surrounding it. I suppose that was the idea. And then there is the distinctive asymmetry of the two spires/steeples, which I found oddly appealing.
After leaving the station we walked straight across the traffic circle, up a block and at the Place Chatelet turned left toward the cathedral. As we walked across the new “place” – one of several we discovered throughout the old part of town – my eye caught a superb bit of sculpture off on our left, in honor of those “children of the Eure-Loir” valley that fought and died in the Franco-Prussian war. (photo below: detail of statue.)
From the Place Chatelet we turned right and then left to the tourist office where we picked up a town map. (You can also rent an audio guide that covers the whole town. Very cool.) Another block farther on and we were in the cathedral.
According to the local tourist office the cathedral is registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is reportedly “the most complete and well-preserved example of Gothic cathedrals.” Construction on the present edifice began in 1194 and was completed in just 30 years, a stunning record of achievement in those days.
But it’s not only the architecture that holds such fascination but the sheer size, and of course the unbelievable original stained glass windows. Covering some 2,600 square meters (nearly 28,000 square feet mind you) the 172 stained glass windows are truly impressive and well worth the trip.
The interior of the church is equally fascinating, and we thought the unique choir screen, which appeared to be almost a church edifice inside the church, was absolutely incredible in the detail of the carvings and the stories highlighted in the scores of scenes curving around the screen. Amazing indeed. It struck me that if 21st century skeptics and sometime-cynics can be awed by such a place what an impact this place must have had on the illiterate (and I suppose literate) mind of the 13th century? (photo below: detail from the choir screen.)
After a leisurely stroll around the inside we thought “hey let’s visit the crypt”! In the gift shop there was a sign that said “Visites des Cryptes” but not entrance. So we walked outside and all around – no crypt. So back to the gift shop where we discovered that the crypt can only be visited as a guided tour and the next one wasn’t for several hours. OK.. So we asked where do we go to climb the north tower. Sorry, the mademoiselle at the counter in the gift shop said. It closed for the day. “Pourquoi?” “Why?” I asked. She replied that since two men were required to open the tower for tours and only one showed up, the tower was closed. Not unlike Italy we thought. (Note that both the crypt and north tower require separate fees.)
So the cathedral peripherals were out. Well the tourist office guidebook has a wonderful walking tour of the town and so off we went, strolling down to the Eure River, or rather the “Petit” Eure. Along the way we passed the “Maison du Saumon” near the “Place de la Poissonerie”, built in the early sixteenth century, and down through the quaint “tertres” or passages leading from the upper town to the lower town. (photo below: Maison du Saumon.)
We walked along the Petit Eure, an area we thought to be incredibly tranquil, past several tiny humpbacked bridges and old mills.
(photo: fall is still in color here, along the Petit Eure.)
After an aerobic climb back up several thousand steps to the cathedral we started looking for a place to have lunch. We settled on the Café des Arts, 45-47 rues des Changes, in the shadow of the cathedral. Nice place, good food, pleasant service and with a smoking and non-smoking areas – more and more the trend we think, particularly in the tourist areas. Rue des Changes is itself worth a stroll and exploration – and we would tackle that later in the day.
After lunch we continued our stroll around the “upper” part of Chartres and found several cool “places” and lots of shops and cafes.
After wending our way around the funky, mostly pedestrian-only streets between Place de la Poissonerie and Place Marceau, we made our way back to the train station and walked right on board the next train leaving for Paris Montparnasse. Pretty lucky we thought.
Another hour later and we were back in Paris. Montparnasse train station was packed and I mean literally packed with people leaving for the holiday weekend, it is Armistice Day here on Saturday. Anyway everybody was heading south: Avignon, Montpellier, who knows. We fought our way to the metro in the lower level of the train station, through the throngs heading in the opposite direction. After a quick stop at Place d’Italie – OK I had to pick up Season 7 of Seinfeld – we walked back home in the twilight.
As we were strolling down Avenue des Gobelins, amidst the bustle of the early evening street life, Susan looked over at me and said, “You know for a big city Paris is pretty cool.”
There you have it.
Wish you were here,
Steve
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