{"id":21281,"date":"2013-06-26T19:33:29","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T23:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=21281"},"modified":"2013-06-26T19:36:04","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T23:36:04","slug":"day-trips-from-paris-part-ii-chartres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/day-trips-from-paris-part-ii-chartres\/","title":{"rendered":"Day Trips From Paris, Part II: Chartres"},"content":{"rendered":"

The day after MrB and I broke the “rules” of Parisian travel by leaving the city to visit Chantilly<\/a>, we repeated our evildoing by taking the train to Chartres to see the medieval cathedral<\/a> there.<\/p>\n

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The cathedral from a distance.<\/p><\/div>\n

I wanted to see the cathedral (which, like the famous Parisian cathedral, is called Notre Dame) because it’s particularly well-preserved. The building that’s there today has survived virtually unchanged since the year 1250.\u00a0 The majority of the stained-glass windows are the original, 13th-century ones — meaning that Chartres has more of its original stained glass than any other medieval cathedral in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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I find stained glass to be very inspiring.<\/p><\/div>\n

Other buildings in town are also well-preserved. We got to look at them when we hopped on a little tourist train for a 35-minute ride around the cathedral’s surroundings. I told MrB that my policy in life is: “If you see a little train, get on it.” Especially on days that are cold, rainy and windy! June felt more like October that day.<\/p>\n

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The brochure for the train. You can find it right outside the cathedral.<\/p><\/div>\n

The tour let us peek at quaint cobblestone streets and timbered 15th- and 16th-century buildings.<\/p>\n

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I wonder what it’s like to live here.<\/p><\/div>\n

I noticed that quite a few buildings had cheerfully painted shutters.<\/p>\n

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The lavender shutters were my favorite.<\/p><\/div>\n

The trip to and from Chartes (on a big train) only took about an hour and 15 minutes. We got back to Paris in time to take a late-cruise on the Seine <\/a>on one of the Bateaux Mouches<\/a>. We’ve done this so many times<\/a> that we don’t listen to any of the commentary on the sights anymore. We just enjoy hanging out on the river. A mini bottle of Champagne and plastic flutes made sitting outside in the chilly weather more bearable.<\/p>\n

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You can see I’m wearing my trench coat. I had a wool sweater underneath.<\/p><\/div>\n

When a downpour started, we had to flee to the boat’s indoor seats, but I ran back out to get a good shot of the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n

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Click for some video of the tower twinkling. The video may or may not be sideways, depending on YouTube’s mood.<\/p><\/div>\n

There is no such thing as too many photos of the Eiffel Tower!<\/a> <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The day after MrB and I broke the “rules” of Parisian travel by leaving the city to visit Chantilly, we repeated our evildoing by taking the train to Chartres to see the medieval cathedral there. I wanted to see the cathedral (which, like the famous Parisian cathedral, is called Notre Dame) because it’s particularly well-preserved….<\/p>\n

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