Day 5 - St. Chapelle, Notre Dame & Chartres

Today was church day. I started off at St. Chapelle, a destination that was high on my "To Do" list. St. Chapelle is on Ile de la Cite, a short walk from my apartment. The entrance is a little bit hidden and security is strict but, following Rick Steves' advice, I just got in line with everyone else waiting to enter. As I stood there, something didn't seem right. The people in line seemed intent with business rather than eagerly waiting to see a gothic church built in the 13th century. So, I reluctantly gave up my place in line to make certain I was in the right place and sure enough, the line I had been in was the security line for France's Supreme Court (next door) and there was virtually no line for St. Chapelle.

Exterior of St. Chapelle

I was really excited to see the upper portion of the church with its wall-to-wall stained glass, especially on such a sunny morning. Unfortunately, about a third of the stained glass is currently being restored and under a large cover. This was disappointing but not altogether unexpected. (Note: I just recently found out the church has been being restored for four decades and is due to be completed in 2014.) I found many sites in Paris were under some sort of renovation which has to occur from time-to-time for preservation purposes.  I was still able to get a couple of photos and truly, the place is magnificent nonetheless.

Inside St. Chapelle

Inside St. Chapelle

Notre Dame is just a short walk from St. Chapelle. Since I'd already toured the inside, my goal this morning was just a quick jaunt up the tower to get some photos of Paris from above. Waiting to gain entrance to climb the tower was the longest I had to wait in line for anything in Paris, and it was only about 20 minutes. It's a 400 step climb to the top up a spiraling staircase. Phew! They only let a certain number of people up at a time which makes the wait down below a bit long but it is really quite nice once you're at the top as you don't have to fight with hundreds of other tourists for a view. While it was a fabulously sunny morning, the view of the city was a bit hazy.

Token gargoyle shot atop Notre Dame

Hazy view of Paris atop Notre Dame

Having quickly ticked off St. Chapelle and Notre Dame from my list in the morning, I headed to Gare Montparnasse to catch the one hour train ride out to Chartres. When I told some photographer friends I was heading to Paris, one of their biggest recommendations was to visit the cathedral at Chartres. I did some research, agreed that it looked amazing, and added it to my list.

Other than traveling within a city's metropolitan area, the only train travel I've done in Europe was Vienna to Budapest and back. So, it was a bit of a learning curve to leave the comfort of the Paris Metro, figure out how to buy a ticket to Chartres and then find the right platform for departure. Sometimes your platform isn't announced until just minutes before departure so you have to stand and intently watch the departure board with everyone else. Being in an unfamiliar train station, this can be a bit stressful. And then you need to remember to validate your ticket in a machine before getting on board, otherwise you could face a steep fine if caught traveling with an unvalidated ticket. I didn't have too much difficulty. I stood in the wrong ticket line initially but the person working the desk was very helpful and pointed me in the right direction. I couldn't readily figure out the validation machine so I just waited until someone else did it first and followed their lead. The supposed one hour journey to Chartres actually took about an hour and a half. The train stopped for a period of time which seemed to frustrate many passengers but the announcements were in French so I had no idea what was going on! And there was not much to do except sit and wait.

My guidebook said that it was a 10 minute walk up to the cathedral from the train station and since the cathedral could be easily seen from the train station, it would be a cinch to find. That was mostly true. The roads are a bit winding and intersecting up to the cathedral so it's not like it's a straight shot. And given that this was a Monday in early February, there weren't throngs of tourists to follow. It took me about 15 minutes or so to reach the cathedral.

This was simply mind-blowing. Photos just can't do it justice. It's on par with seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time and it is easily, hands-down, the most spectacular church I've ever seen. After burning to the ground in the late 1100's, Chartres was rebuilt and dedicated in 1260. According to Rick Steves, it is considered one of Europe's best examples of pure Gothic architecture.

Chartres Exterior

Chartres - Front Entrance

Chartres - Stunning Interior

Chartres

One of the many stained glass windows

I wasn't able to take the highly-rated tour with Malcolm Miller as he is not in residence during January and February, perhaps a downfall to traveling off-season but having the church nearly to myself was a bonus.

Getting back to the train station in Chartres wasn't as easy as it should have been. I thought I was retracing the path that I took up to the cathedral but somewhere along the way, I took a wrong turn and couldn't figure out where I was. I had a map with me but couldn't determine what direction I was heading. I found a nearby bus station and, in my limited French, asked an older gentleman if he knew where the train station was. He wasn't understanding me, even when I pulled out my map and pointed to "la gare." He kept telling me I was at a bus station. At some point, he (seemingly) understood and pointed me in a certain direction and indicated "cinq minutes" or five minutes. I walked and walked and walked and after 10 minutes had passed, I stopped a couple of girls to ask again about "la gare" and it was, quite literally, right around the corner and 15 minutes later I was on the train back to Paris.

That evening I was feeling pretty wiped out, not only from the day's adventures but the cold I had caught was in full swing. Having a kitchen in the apartment and a place to lay low for the night was very welcome!