The idea of seeing one of the medieval masterpiece buildings – often regarded as being the finest in France – if not in the world appealed. So it was that in March 2017 we went. After all when the all time great historian Kenneth Clarke called it one of the two greatest covered spaces in the world – the other was Hagia Sofia – it had to be amazing. I heard that it was full of highly significant religious art embedding age old sacred narratives together with a range of relics.
Before I went I spent a considerable amount of time researching the Cathedral. So I knew that it contained some very special stained glass, had 3 fantastic portico entrances and held a special relic, the Sancta Camissa or the tunic which, reputedly Mary was wearing when she gave birth to Jesus. I knew there was a labyrinth in the floor of the church which matched in size one of the rose windows. The construction was cutting edge 12th and 13th Century and there were geometric patterns everywhere with significance. There had been riots at the cost of building the cathedral. Pilgrims had come from many lands to pray at the shrines and many miracles were reported.
So the cathedral was a place where many of the finest medieval craftsmen had worked for their entire working lives. It contains statues and monuments that took the finest artists decades to complete. Each statue, each stained glass window, each tableau is world class created with an epic story to convey and created with a passion.
Getting There
Getting to the cathedral requires a significant effort – the nearest airport Paris CDG is several hours away and there is no direct connection. Trains from the UK or driving is no quicker. It is not cheap to get to either – the return trip cost over £200 each with the budget airline Flybe.
The Internet made it sound simple showing that there was a connection from Paris CDG airport to Chartres. The fact that there were multiple connections to be made was not clear. Eventually, it turned out that the simplest route was to take a coach from the airport into central Paris to arrive at Gare Montparnasse and then from there take a train to Chartres. Getting out of the airport was a nightmare and took over an hour from touchdown, to collecting our baggage and exiting the airport onto the coach – it even involved catching an internal train to pick up the suitcase. We must have walked a mile or so.
The plane landed at 14:00 local time and so it was that we caught the 15:10 bus to Montparnasse. It crawled through the Parisian traffic until eventually at 17:15 or so we made the station. Ticket machines in France are understandably meant for people who speak French – so we went and queued to see a person in the ticket office who eventually sold us the tickets.
We knew that the trains took different times to get to Chartres but we couldn’t figure which one to catch – so eventually we chose the nearest and plonked ourselves down on the train. It arrived at Chartres having stopped at every station on the track and we got off.
We had no idea where our hotel was – so we got into a taxi which charged us $7 for the 30-second journey to the hotel. The Internet had suggested this was the best hotel in Chartres and it was kind of amazing – with painted cherubs above our bed.
I booked this hotel because it looked to have some character and wow did it. The bedroom was really super. I counted 40 light sources, there were 9 windows, several tables, a sofa, candles, sweets, chocolates, a mini bar, coffee maker and a kettle. There were 3 sinks, 1 shower and 1 bath. We paid just under 200 euro a night including breakfast for the 3 nights from the 28th to 30th of March 2017.
Versailles
Versailles is the massive, spectacular palace complex/tourist trap set just outside Paris. I first went on a school trip in 1969 (which you can read more about here). My memory is of a huge complex of boring, ornate rooms and being taken around by a surly French guide who spoke only French and demanded a tip at the end. I seem to remember tipping him 1 centime (about 100th of a penny).
So on a gorgeous day in March 2017 we decided to go again. As you approach the sheer scale of the place is striking – the gold roofs sparkling over the vast coach park in front of the building. You walk past the array of multinational coaches to a huge courtyard filled with people queuing. Following the signs you find a queue for the tickets and then join it. Most people ignore the automated ticket machines – so we bought our tickets – 18 euro each and re-joined the main queue. Eventually, we got to the security scanners where they were obsessed with selfie sticks and took mine away.
Hall of Mirrors
So now you follow the crowds up and through gilded splendours in every room after room. Mobile phones and cameras whirred everywhere and the people who weren’t busy making the same videos as everyone else were busy listening to the audio guide in whatever language they had chosen. How anyone could get develop any sense of history beat me. Bedroom, stateroom, bedroom, sitting room – and on and on. Eventually, the seething mass made its way to the Hall of Mirrors and took more videos and listened to more audio guides.
Hall Of French Military Victories
Then onward to the Hall of Military pictures which are a succession of massive scale pictures depicting French military glory. From an English perspective – let me just say that this – seemed ironic and pass rapidly on – which is what the crowds did – by now either anxious to get to the coach home, visit the loo or see the gardens.
The Gardens
If the palace is an ornate tourist trap, then in complete contrast the gardens are truly awesome. The gardens run to some 2,000 acres with a spectacular 1.8km canal on which you can hire a row boat for a mere 13 euro. There are cafes tucked away and as you walk toward the canal and classical music leads you on. The fountains are superb with the cascades spraying water in glittering cascades.
Then when you have explored the central formal water gardens you can go on to the other fantastic sections of the gardens, there are sub gardens – called bosquets which radiate from the main paths. There is a major area the Trianon, an intimate area of rural artifice. There is the Garden Anglaise.
All of these are amazing and I could have wandered happily for hours if time wasn’t so limited and my shoes hadn’t decided to blister my feet. Words really cannot do justice – check out the video below.
