June 13, 2009 - Chartres, Day 1

June 13, 2009 - Paris to Chartres
This morning I woke up early, got dressed, and got all my things together. Then I went downstairs for my free breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast consists of croissants, French bread, ham, boiled eggs, cereal, milk, orange juice, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. There’s also butter, jelly, and “La vache qui rit” cheese. I ate my breakfast, then made myself a ham and cheese sandwich and wrapped it up for lunch. I grabbed my bags, paid my bill, then went to the post office to mail back all of my bike stuff. It wasn’t cheap, but it was less expensive than I expected.
From the post office, I walked across the street to the Gare de l’Est train station and took metro #4 to the Gare Montparnasse train station. The train to Chartres was only 13 euros and took about an hour.
The backpack is definitely easier to travel with. Today I carried it from 10am-12:30 pm and 1:30-4:30. The hardest part was probably walking the mile and a half (some uphill) to the hostel. BUT all in all—it wasn’t too bad. I just think of it as exercise.
Upon arriving in Chartres, I bought a ticket to go to Chateaudun tomorrow afternoon. Then I walked a half mile or so to the Office de Tourisme. I have learned that the tourist bureau has a list of all of the hotels and hostels in town and their prices. They will even call ahead and make reservations for you. However, the hostel office was closed until 3pm, so I had to wear my backpack to the cathedral and follow the guided tour (in French, of course) still carrying the backpack.
The Chartres cathedral is huge and amazing. 172 stained glass windows, gothic architecture and carvings, flying buttresses, huge towers in different styles, and my favorite, a labyrinth laid into the floor with black marble. I wish I had arrived yesterday


Because on Fridays, they move all the chairs and you can actually walk the labyrinth. Oh well. Instead, tomorrow there is a Gregorian mass at 9:15. I have always loved Gregorian chanting, so I’m going to listen.
After the guided tour, I went back to the tourist office and they called the hostel for me. Then I walked the mile and a half to the hostel, claimed my bed, and locked up my bags. I connected to wi-fi, checked my email, called my folks, rested a few minutes, then began the walk back to town. To get back to the cathedral, you can either walk up some very steep streets, or climb about 150 steps. I chose the streets. (I had walked down the stairs earlier and knew what I was in for. I think the stairs might have been easier. I’ll try them tomorrow morning. After all that, I got back too late for the museum, and it will be closed tomorrow.
At the moment, I am sitting in a café, next to the cathedral, having an after dinner coffee, and listening to the bells of the cathedral and the organ music escaping from within.
It’s 9:30 now and the sun is just beginning to set behind the buildings. Blackbirds dance and play in the blue skies and the white feathering of clouds are changing their plumes to shades of pink and purple. The temperature has dropped from the 70’s to the 60’s. It is very beautiful and pleasant indeed. I have decided that I like Chartres very much. It is quaint and peaceful, which is a drastic change from the hurried, harried, crowded, cluttered atmosphere of Paris. I could live here.
I don’t know if I can explain the feeling of being in the presence, of buildings which are 500-1000 years old: the juxtaposition of the present and the past, and knowing that 500 years from now, long after I have become “food for worms”, someone will be in this same spot, admiring these same buildings.

At 10:30, there will be a light show where light murals will be projected on all of the historic buildings and monuments of Chartres. I am taking “Le Petit Train” to take the tour, since I will have already walked 5-6 miles (most with a backpack) at the end of the day. I’ll tell you how it went tomorrow.