Day 72 - Sunday 14 July - Bastille Day - Chartres

Sunday 14 July

To avoid the crowds of tourists and locals celebrating, and because things happen in cathedrals on Sundays, to day we went to Chartres, 80km sth-west of Paris, where they have the world's best medieval cathedral. It's another one on the b-list. Built on the site of about 5 earlier church buildings back to C4, this one was built between C12-13, and has survived revolutions, wars, you name it, with a host of marvellous stained glass windows still intact.
The train ride was a bit interesting because when the ticket inspector came through he nabbed a family group behind us. There were raised voices, tears and hyperventilation from one woman in particular, and after about 20mins, 6 adults and 2 little kids were escorted off the train. We couldn't work out why, had to be more than just fare evasion where you would expect a bill including a fine, but we will never know.

So we looked a bit around the town, past their ex-post-office-now-library, and their park with notices about their local Revolution hero Marceau, and WW1 memorials,  then called in at the cathedral and bought tickets for a tour.

Then we had a picnic in the market square, remarking how quiet the town was, and how well kept, and went to the small Museum in the Bishop's Palace behind the cathedral.

 

 By then it was 14:45.  The tour was guided by a young Russian lady, ever so passionate about her new home. Inside the building she explained how to read stained glass windows, and outside we examined the style of carved figures, Romanesque very stiff and straight, v Renaissance more lifelike.  Down into the crypt she sang to us in ancient Russian, and told us the history of the site going back to a Druid well from C2BC. 

By the time we'd finished, the 16:15 organ recital had well and truly started.  While we were listening, we used the binoculars to test our newly learned skills and checked out the windows we could see.  We didn't stay for all of it, but went to look at another church recommended by our fellow-Aussie-guidees, St Aignan's, just down the street a bit. 

 

Then we walked more around the streets and little laneways of this very nice town.

 The train back to Paris was crowded, but we made it back, and had crepes for dinner down the road in celebration.  The passing buses had flags, and we did see a few on balconies, but they need a lesson in displaying patriotism.