Chartres Cathedral

It's my second weekend in Paris and the weekend is free for taking in the sights and I choose Chartres Cathedral.

Chartres Cathedral isn't even in Paris. 

Why Chartres Cathedral and not the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre,  Orsay or any of the other fabulous sights in Paris?  I have no idea.  Perhaps I was subliminally influenced by having twice read and recently watched Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth.  Maybe I was still a little jet lagged and experiencing gray matter turbulence.  It's also possible I'm afflicted with a touch of the whimsy.  Nevertheless, Chartres was what I wanted to see and Ron was happy to oblige.

We left the apartment mid-morning and it is a 1 1/2 hour metro/train ride to Chartres.  You don't need directions as the cathedral is the main attraction in town and can be seen from the train station.  Plus, the good town of Chartres posts signs along the way.

View from the square in front of the train station

As you can see, it was a dreary day, and it was quite cold.  We walked along the streets toward the cathedral where we came upon a familiar face:

With all of our layers to keep warm, we sort of felt like this guy!

We reached the square in front of the cathedral, and as luck would have it, the front facade is under scaffolding.

An excellent example of Gothic architecture; constructed 1194 - 1260

Since it was cold, windy, a little drippy and lunch time, we decided to eat before we toured the cathedral.  We found a nice little restaurant down one of the side streets:

Ron and I have recently been introduced to Kir and we like it.  We thought it would help us warm up a bit while we waited for our food and as we snacked on the olives placed on our table:

Kir is a popular French apéritif made with Crème de Cassis and white wine

Excellent olives - covered in garlic, tomatoes and herbs!  We emptied that bowl.

Since we want to try so many different things, we have discovered that if we order three or four courses and share, it's not too much food and we get a very nice variety. Today, we ordered three courses (no dessert!):

Cassolette: ham and potatoes are dipped in the cheese

A chicken salad with raisins

And a Rumsteak with green beans

Lunch was very good and it turned out to be dinner as well!

Chartres Cathedral is considered to be one of the finest examples of French High Gothic architecture and the use of heavy flying buttresses allowed for many large windows.  The cathedral is well preserved and the majority of the original stained-glass windows are intact.    On a cloudy day though, the inside of the cathedral is quite dark, and there was more scaffolding obscuring the beautiful interior.

The cathedral is massive

From the nave looking through the crossing of the north and south transepts to the choir at the back

From the south transept looking up into the choir

Another interesting feature of Chartres Cathedral is the labryinth built into the nave floor.  The labyrinth is meant to be walked either as a pilgrimage or for repentance.  The labyrinth has eleven circuits which means the path of the labyrinth circles around the center 11 times.  A labyrinth is not a maze; mazes are games designed to make you lose your way with multiple entrances/exits and dead ends.  A labyrinth has one entrance and one path and is designed to help you find your way.

The labyrinth - I want to visit again when the chairs are removed and visitors can walk the labyrinth!

There are 3 large Rose windows in the cathedral, but the one in the narthex at the main entrance is covered by scaffolding from the outside.  The two here are in the north and south transepts.  These windows were made circa 1225-1235.

The south transept Rose depicting the Glorification of Christ

The north transept rose depicting the Glorification of The Virgin

There is a wide aisle that wraps around the outside of the choir, and along the outside of the aisle are seven chapels; three are large and four are small.  The Chapel of Notre Dame de Pilar, one of the large chapels, is a favorite.

Chapel of Notre Dame de Pilar - The Black Madonna of Chartres

The intricately carved choir screen and scuptures

On the inside of the aisle, there is an intricately carved wall/choir screen that was erected in the 16th century.  Sculptures depicting scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary were gradually added over the next two centuries. 

Here are a few more favorites images from the inside of the cathedral:

 

View into the north transept from the nave

Candles are at the entrances to the chapels

When we went outside to tour the grounds we were treated to sunshine!  We walked around the north side of the cathedral:

The north side and tower - and the sun is shining!

Flying Buttresses

Sculptures on the facade of the north porch

Steps leading to the north porch

Details of sculpture on the north porch

At the back of the cathedral is a museum and gardens.  We wandered around a bit:

The back of the cathedral - you can see the semi-circular chapels

Admiring the architecture

The north garden

Another labyrinth - or is it a maze?

Finally it was time to head home and we walked back to the train station to catch the 5:30 train.  Moment before the train arrived at the station, Ron looked back at the cathedral...

Sometimes you just get lucky!

Although the view from inside the train station isn't the best, it was pretty cool ending the trip to Chartres with a lovely view and a rainbow!