Although I hate to say it, sometimes you need to venture outside of Paris to see all that France has to offer – and that’s exactly what a group of us did today! Fortunately, we don’t have classes on Wednesdays or Fridays, so that really opens up our schedule, allowing us to take full advantage of the day and do whatever we want. Last week, we decided to try and conquer Chartres, a town just west of Paris. We bought train tickets and planned a day trip. This morning we woke up super early and barely made it to our 9:30 AM train. It was a quick ride to Chartres and we arrived around 10:45. None of us had eaten breakfast so we stopped at a boulangerie for croissants and then headed towards the main Chartres attraction: the Chartres Cathedral.
There was a ton of fog, but even through the brouillard (French for fog) we could see the top of the Chartres Cathedral and, needless to say, the stature and beauty of the church took our breath away. Unfortunately, because the church is so old, it’s constantly under construction and reparation, so one of the entrances was covered with scaffolding. But as soon as we got inside, we realized it wouldn’t take away from our overall experience. We were overwhelmed the minute we walked in. The cathedral is enormous; luckily, we had our trusty and reliable Rick Steves’ tour guide book to guide us through.
I’ve never been one of those
tourists who walks around with their head in a book, constantly snapping photos, but I couldn’t believe how much more I learned as my three friends and I took Rick Steve’s suggested tour around the church. He told us where to stop and why everything was important. I honestly can say I learned more about the Chartres Cathedral and about the history of France than I ever would have without the help of our trusty pal Rick Steves. For example: did you know that stained glass windows were originally used for teaching younger kids Bible stories and for theologians to better explain complex lessons about Christianity? I didn’t until today!
After our tour around the cathedral, Rick suggested that we explore the town of Chartres. We followed all of his suggestions and wound up at his favorite creperie just as we were ready for lunch. Once we sat down at le Trois Lys Creperie we looked through the huge menu and were overwhelmed by the assortment of crepes they offered. We each ordered a crepe salee (savory crepe), devoured them, and then (after hearing that the café made their own chocolate sauce) decided that we had to order dessert crepes as well. The meal was delicious and served as a much-needed break from all the walking and cold weather.
When we left the creperie we were greeted by sunlight! The fog had lifted, just as my friend Mia, who comes from San Francisco and knows the fog well, had predicted. We headed back up toward the Chartres Cathedral and decided that we should try and make our way to the top of the cathedral’s towers. Because we’re students in Paris, we got in for free (always an added bonus in such an expensive city like Paris) and headed for the top. There were SO many stairs, but eventually we made it to the top of the cathedral and were rewarded with spectacular views of the surrounding cities and towns. At the very top, there was a wooden door where people who have made the ascent sign their names. Of course, we all had to make our mark on this historic French landmark and prove that, yes, we were here. On our descent, we decided to count the number of stairs and figured out that it was 300 steps to the top. What a way to work off those dessert crepes!
After coming down from the towers, we only had about an hour until our train home, so we decided to enjoy the sunlight and walk around Chartres. We explored a few side streets and discovered, much to our surprise, that Chartres is actually pretty bustling and is not the sleepy town we had first thought. We were exhausted during the train ride home and tried to get some homework done, but of course, napping trumped all. What an amazing day… who knew that there was life, fun, and history outside of Paris? Now I do!
Photo Sources:
Get your own copy of Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door here: http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-Europe-Through-Back/dp/1598806556