Day Trip to Chartes

We left too early this morning to make a trip to the boulangerie, but I don’t want to disappoint those of you waiting for today’s pastry pic. Last night (Tuesday) Peter and I took his walker on a test drive to Mamie and had a little dessert, like the Pane Chocolat for breakfast and the chocolate cake/ice cream for lunch wasn’t enough sugar for one day. But we wanted to hit the trifecta so our after dinner sweet was cheesecake with berry topping. We split it, though, so that makes it alright, doesn’t it?

This morning we took the Metro to the Gare Montparnasse to catch the 9:00 train to Chartres (pronounced Shart). The metro was an experience as we had to change trains and walk up/down about a zillion steps but we finally made it. Experience #2 was finding where the tracks were in this gigantic train station. We finally found a guard, and while he didn’t speak English, we were able to use enough sign language to let him know what we needed. After finding the train, it was an uneventful trip about 50 miles southwest of Paris.

Chartres is most famous for its Cathedral, which is officially titled Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres. It was mainly constructed between 1194 and 1220 and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Around the outside of the high altar area were magnificent carvings, about 50 in total.

There are 167 stained glass windows in the Cathedral.

For you history buffs, the cathedral was almost destroyed in August of 1944 because the Allies thought the steeples and towers were being used as observation posts by the Germans. But unlike the monastery at Montecasino in Italy which was totally destroyed for the same reason (except there were no Germans), wiser heads prevailed. An American colonel went to the Cathedral to check it out and, when he realized it was empty, rang the Cathedral bells as a signal for the Americans not to fire. As a result, the bombardment was cancelled, and the Cathedral was saved. A sad postscript, the colonel was killed in action later that same day. He was posthumously decorated with the War Cross, the Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit by the French government.

There really isn’t that much to do in Chartres, at least according to the woman at the tourist info office. But we did finish at the Cathedral just in time for the last Petite Train run until mid-afternoon. It took us all through the town allowing us to see spots we wouldn’t have otherwise seen do to the hills and cobblestone streets.

After the 35-minute train ride, we headed to a local restaurant for a delicious lunch.

As our blood sugar levels were still pretty high from yesterday’s overload, we passed on dessert and headed back to the train station.

Once back in Paris, we planned to take a bus home but couldn’t find the right one so we finally gave up and jumped in a cab. Now we’re resting as we have a late night dinner with friends who live just outside of Paris. We met Romain and Charline this summer when they were visiting Jim and Kathy, our friends at the Ranch. It will be wonderful to see them again.

Tomorrow we back at the airport to pick up car #3 for our month of traveling through France. As much as we love the cool vibe of our neighborhood, we’re looking forward to getting out of the bustling city and into the countryside. The next two nights we’re in Lyon. Not exactly the country but our flat is out of town so it should be a bit quieter. Have a great evening everyone.