We wake up refreshed in the morning and after a quick breakfast we start on the adventure of getting to the rental car location at the Orly airport. Online we identified where we can get the bus so after carrying our luggage through the metro for what seemed hundreds of meters we emerge at the bus location. However none of the bus ticket dispensers work so we try inside the nearby train station but they have no idea what we should do. So we wait for the bus and the bus driver actually opens up a ticket counter where we buy our tickets. The ride to the aiport is long but uneventful and then we pick up our car and we maneuver the Paris interstate exchanges correctly to start towards Chartres. We know when we approach Chartres as the imposing Cathedral, a Unesco World Heritage Site, is visible from quite a distance.
We maneuver towards it but still we manage to get lost trying to find a parking spot – we follow several P(arking) signs that lead seemingly nowhere so we circle the downtown area twice before finding the correct sequence of streets to the underground parking lot. The parking lot looks futuristic and cramped to us used to the wide open spaces in the US but we find a good parking space and it is off to the Cathedral.
First thing we notice is that the front part of the Cathedral is under renovation – just our luck. Still not everything is covered up and what we can see is quite impressive. The Gothic cathedrals are likely the most beautiful due to the design intricacy and we always admire them and try to see as many details as possible.
Inside we walk around until we find the Sancta Camisa believed to be the tunic that St. Mary wore when giving birth to Jesus and is the relic that attracted many pilgrims here and led to the building of the huge Cathedral.
We also walk around the cathedral and enjoy the interesting view, that few people see, from the back. Funnily it looks like they didn’t have enough money or energy to decorate this part and it is quite plain compared to the front and the sides.
There is however a beautiful view of the Chartres city from the back and an exterior labyrinth. Chartres is famous for the interior labyrinth but this one is less popular and we can play around in it for a while before returning to the car.
On the way we spend a bit exploring downtown Chartres but we are limited by the amount of time we prepaid and soon we have to make our way to the car.
From Chartres we move south towards the Loire Valley and the famous castles. As soon as we get close to the Loire we make a stop for pictures and to our surprise we notice the nuclear plant nearby – the birds however didn’t seem to care that much about the alien structure in their midst.
