Chartres Cathedral

Thursday was our day trip to Chartres.  Kriegers, Monsons and the Pattersons caught the train at Gare Montparnasse for Chartres.  Everyone looked bright-eyed and happy, despite the fact that most of the Kriegers were awake at 2 am, suffering from jet lag.  Every time we've been to Chartres over the last few years, it has been very cold.  Sometimes there has been snow on the ground!. We were excited to go to Chartres in the summer but unfortunately it was not sunny!  In fact, the rain came down heavy while we were on the train and we wondered if we had made a big mistake.

Sande and Kate on the Train

Quin and Kate

Kelly and Mike Clowning Around

We caught our first glimpse of Chartres from the train.  On a clear day, you can see it from 30 miles away.  It was a short walk from the train station and of course we were greeted with rain.

Walking to the Cathedral

Kate and Mike at the Cathedral

Since the French Revolution, the churches in France have been owned by the government.  Since 1801, the clergy has been able to use the churches, but they don't own them.  In the last few years, the state has been cleaning the windows and interior of Chartres.  Years of burning candles with black smoke and heating the cathedral with oil have blackened the interior.  In some places, old paint was revealed and they kept the original paint.  Like all the gothic cathedrals, Chartres was originally brightly painted, inside and out.  The oldest windows in the west portal have been cleaned and the Chartres blue is gorgeous.   Our pictures can not do it justice.  These are the oldest windows in Chartres and are from the 12th Century.

West Portal

Stem of Jesse Window

We wandered around the cathedral a bit before our tour with Malcolm Miller.  You could see a huge difference between the areas of the cathedral that had been cleaned and those still untouched.

North Portal Rose Window

 

Kate in front of the Screen, yet to be cleaned.

Malcolm Miller arrived just before noon and asked us why we came to Chartres in November--that is how damp and rainy it has been the last week.  He is now 80 years old and has been at Chartres for 57 years.  He wasn't sure if he'd be able to do the noon tour because the workers were erecting scaffolding and were banging the metal pipes.  We hoped that the workers would take a nice leisurely lunch break and luckily they did so we got our tour.

Malcolm Miller lecturing
at the North Portal

Melchezidek (far left) and Abraham with Isaac next to him
Notice Isaac's feet are bound.  He is standing on a ram
that has been provided for the sacrifice.



Peter (far right) holding the keys to the Priesthood
John the Baptist next to him with a hairy robe standing
on a dragon and Simeon in the middle holding Jesus--
Simeon was promised he would see the Christ child
before he died

 

La Reine de Saba

After the tour we went across the street to a little restaurant called the Reine de Saba --The Queen of Sheba.  I ordered a plate of fries with my mushroom omlette to share with Kate.  We didn't expect this many fries!  There were plenty to share with the whole table.

Barquette des Frites

I still wanted to spend time at the cathedral and I was happy Quin and Kate Monson felt the same way.  So everyone else went back to Paris on the train and we went back inside to explore.  We were lucky to have no more rain the rest of the afternoon.
First we climbed up the north tower.  It is the tower on the left that was built much later in the Flamboyant Gothic style.  It was still threatening rain and very windy.

Kate Monson

There were "only" 300 steps to the top of the tower.  But it was worth it for the views.  It was a narrow, circular stone stairway with a rope around the middle column to hang onto.  Kate realized after we climbed up that she really was afraid of heights.

View of the flying buttresses from above



Kate and Quin  part way up the tower

A very nervous Kate at the top of the windy tower

Looking at the roof of the cathedral below the tower
and the town beyond

The older South Tower and the
town of Chartres below

After climbing back down the tower and feeling a bit shaky in the knees, we decided we hadn't had enough.  So we bought tickets to see the crypt under the cathedral.  It is the oldest part of the church.  We saw an old Roman wall--the construction was like those we see at the Cluny in Paris that is built on the old Roman baths.  There was also a very deep well where legend says early Christian martyrs were thrown down.  The tour was only in French with a paper in English sort of explaining things.  I don't think anyone on the tour spoke French.  But the guide spoke slowly and I could understand him if I concentrated.

Madonna in the Crypt hanging
on a modern Gobelins Tapestry

We loved all the hydrangeas planted in front of the cathedral and around the town. 

White Hydrangeas
Kate and Jeanene



More Hydrangeas
Jeanene and Quin

We had time for a little walk in the town before heading back to the train station and Paris.  We were glad we had stayed and taken more time to explore Chartres Cathedral.  I had never been up the tower or in the crypt so I was glad to see something new.  The parts of the cathedral that have been cleaned are beautiful.  Is was exciting to the see the progress and once again see that deep cobalt blue in the stained glass windows.