Saturday in Chartres and Paris

Carter said that Chartres was one of his favorite places that he had studied about in his Humanities class.  He had liked my blog entry about our trip there with the Monsons and Kriegers.  When Kate told him it took only an hour or so to get there on the train and that we could go on Saturday, he was really excited.  We took the 10:00 am train from Montparnasse Station.  Kate and Carter took advantage of the train ride by catching up on some sleep.

Train ride to Chartres

We walked up from the train station to the cathedral to see if Malcolm Miller would show up to give his tour at noon.  Unfortunately, the beautiful hydrangea bushes we had seen two weeks ago had faded but the hollyhocks were pretty.

Walking to Chartres Cathedral

Kate, Carter and Kelly by the Hollyhocks

Kate and Carter at the Cathedral

We were disappointed that there was no tour that day.  So we gave Carter our guided tour of the cathedral, trying to remember everything we had learned about the history, the stained glass windows and the sculptures.  He loved Chartres Cathedral and the beautiful blue stained glass windows.  He recognized the Stem of Jesse window right away.
 

Main Square in Town

Stem of Jesse Window

Since there was no tour, Kate and Carter wanted to climb up the tower.  But this is the countryside of France, and everything closes down from noon to 2 pm.  So instead we went into town to eat lunch and found a crêperie.





Lunch at Creperie du Cygne

Tables were set out in the square under the shade trees.  It was so relaxing and we had a long French lunch.  Carter tried a raclette crêpe with potatoes, raclette cheese and charcuterie.  Mine had four cheeses and walnuts on top.  The main course crêpes used the buckwheat flour typical of Bretagne.  The dessert crêpes were so yummy--mine had apples marinated in a caramel sauce.  

Buckwheat Crepe with Nuts

It was such a leisurely French lunch that we really didn't have time to look around the town any more before we had to catch our train home.  Carter and Kate both took advantage of the time on the train to take another nap.  There was still a lot to do in Paris Saturday evening!



Down a side alley walking back to the train station



Another nap on the train

After a little rest at the apartment, we went to Ladurée for macarons.  Carter had never heard of them before and wondered what the big deal was.  We each picked out our four favorite flavors and tucked them away to enjoy later at the apartment.

Buying macarons at Laduree

We walked around the corner and passed the Maille mustard shop.  Maille is our favorite Dijon mustard.

Maille Moutarde

We were right by the Madeleine Church and going inside was on my list for this trip to Paris.  The church was one of my favorites when Kelly and I were on Study Abroad in 1980 and I couldn't remember what it was like inside.  So Carter thought it looked pretty cool--like a Greek temple--so we added it to Carter's List and went inside.

View from la Madeleine
towards Place de la Concorde with the
Obelisk, National Assembly and
Dome of Les Invalides

Columns of la Madeleine



View from the front porch of la Madeleine

On our way to the métro we passed a cute children's clothing store.  Kate and Carter liked the little embroidered white dress in the window and wondered if Michelle could copy it.

Next stop was the Arc de Triomphe.  Kate loves the view from the top and she didn't think there were too many stairs.  It turned out there were only 284 and Carter led the way climbing them really fast!  I could hardly keep up.

Kate and Carter at the Arc de Triomphe

Looking towards the Eiffel Tower

Looking towards la Tour Montparnasse and Les Invalides

The view was definitely worth it and there was a nice cool breeze.

We strolled back down the Champs-Elysée to find Andrew a French National Team soccer jersey at the Nike store, but no luck.  Sorry Drew!  We were hungry so we continued down the Champs-Elysée to Kate's favorite pizza place--Pizza Pino.  Kate of course ordered her favorite--the Caprina with goat cheese and fresh tomatoes drizzled with honey.  Carter thought it was delicious.

Strolling down the Champs-Elysee

That night Kate and Carter went back to the Champ de Mars to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle.  When they returned, we finally broke open the macarons.  Carter laughed at Kate and me as we savored one or two.  The rose flavored macaron was once again divine.
Only one day left to see the rest of Paris!