Chartres

On my Thursday in Paris, I took the first of two day trips out of Paris. The nice thing about one's third visit to a major city is that you can do things outside of the city. Since I feel that I'd already seen most of Paris' must-sees, I definitely wanted to take some day trips out of the city this time around.

For day trip #1, I headed to the Gare du Montparnasse to catch a train to Chartres. Chartres is a town that's located 96 km southwest of Paris. It's a pleasant approximately 1.5 hour train ride through French countryside, and a great thing to do on a sunny day.

I love the train stations in Paris. The reason why I love them is because they feel like real train stations. They have so many tracks and trains running that they put Toronto's little Union Station to shame. What's more impressive is that there is more than one major train station in Paris. It just makes me feel that trains are respected in Europe, whereas sometimes in North America, train travel feels likes it's an outdated dusty old mode of transportation from the past. Not in Europe.

Once I found the proper place to buy my ticket to Chartres, I snapped a quick picture of the Departures board. See, lots of trains!


The ride was very pleasant. I loved looking at the small towns as I passed by. I wish I could have snapped some pictures of the rolling countryside, but I was just too content to sit and watch to bother myself by trying to get a good shot.

When I arrived in Chartres, I thought to myself "now where to find the Cathedral?" It was pretty easy to spot as soon as I exited the train station.


This cathedral, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, was mostly built between 1193 and 1250, and is apparently one of the finest examples of the French high Gothic style (thanks Wikipedia). It also houses a famous relic said to be the tunic that the Virgin Mary wore while giving birth to Jesus Christ. However, the tunic is not currently on display in order to preserve it.

No matter one's views on religion, I think cathedrals are such interesting displays of architecture and history, and that's why I enjoy visiting them. In addition, when I do visit one I do feel a sense of peace and thankfulness for life just because they are so beautiful.

At first, I walked around the grounds of the cathedral. At the back, you could look down upon the gardens, and there was this interesting pattern planted:

When I was hanging out with my friend Jane after the trip, she mentioned that she'd gone to Chartres when she visited Paris, and asked me if I saw the maze on the floors of the cathedral. I said, no, but I saw it outside. I guess next time I visit a cathedral, I will be sure to look down at the floor.

Here's another view from the gardens.


Then I went inside the cathedral. A lot of the stained glass survives from the 13th century, which is a bit insane, don't you think? No wonder I kept looking up instead of down at the floor!

After visiting inside, I spent some time admiring the crumbling facade of the cathedral. The number of statues and other details was amazing. Many of the statues had aged. There was one of Mary holding a headless baby Jesus. I should have taken a picture but I didn't, because I think it rather disturbed me.

I decided to spend some time wandering around the town a little bit, and getting myself lost along its narrow streets, and admiring some interesting looking houses.

Here's Chartres' Hôtel de Ville:


I decided to return to the cathedral, because at 2 pm, the North Tower re-opened from lunch break. For about €7.50, you could climb the North Tower of the cathedral. I figured it would be a nice view, so I sat on a bench in the square in front of the cathedral and relaxed until 2 pm.

I didn't ask how many stairs I would have to climb. At the end I found out it was a 300 stair climb. I worked up a bit of a sweat.

Totally worth it though. The view was magnificent.

Here's the view of the square where I hung out before my climb.

Goofy self-portrait to prove that I did it!


I love gargoyles.

When I returned back to the ground, I took a picture of the tower I climbed as a memento.

Then, I returned to the train station to catch the train back to Paris.

For a snack, I got a bottle of Orangina, and one of the most amazing granola bars that I discovered at Monoprix this trip. I don't know why I didn't stock up on them and bring them back home. So good. Macadamia nuts, coconut, and dark chocolate.

When I returned to Paris, I had some time to relax and read in the Jardin du Luxumbourg before meeting up with Becca T and accompanying her to a party. It was fun to meet some of her Paris colleagues and friends.

Next post - my day trip to Bruges. Yup, adding another country to my list!