Paris
day-trip : Chartres
Cathedral
Practical information
Trains :
Chartres is accessible by frequent trains from Gare Montparnasse,
Grandes Lignes. Trains take 50-75 minutes. Round trip 22,70 euros. To
reach the cathedral from the train station, walk straight along rue
Jehan de Beauce to Place du Chatelet and turn left in the the place,
right onto rue Ste-Même, and left onto rue Jean Moulin, or, just
head toward the massive spires.
Were is not for a piece of fabric, the cathedral of
Chartres and the town that surrounds it might be only a sleepy hamlet.
But because of a sacred 
relic - the cloth that the
Virgin Mary supposedly wore when she gave birth to Jesus - Chartres
became a major medieval pilgrimage center. The spectacular cathedral
that towers above the surroundings rooftops is not the only reason to
take the train ride here : the vieille ville (old town) is also a
masterpiece of architecture, and will almost let you happily forget the
zooming highways that have encroached upon it.
Founded as the Roman city Autricum, Chartres
is an old, hill-top village at heart. Its oldest streets are clustered
around the cathedral and are still named for the trades once practiced
here. There is even an old "salmon house" on the walking tour (a map of
the tour is available at the tourist office in front of the cathedral),
right by the place Poissonnière. These winding paths offer some
of the best views of the cathedral and are navigable using the
well-marked tourist office circuit. Chartres's medieval tangle of
streets can be confusing, but getting lost here can only be enjoyable.
Timing is important if you want to fully
enjoy your visit to Chartres, as everything closes during lunch time,
casual visits to the cathedral are not permitted during mass, and
English tours are only given twice a day. The ideal day trip would mean
arriving around 10 or 10h30, picking up the invaluable walking tour map
of the vieille ville from the tourist office, and heading straight for
the Musée des Beaux-Arts to catch it before it closes at noon.
(Those particularly interested in stained glass can walk through the
smaller Centre International du Vitrail afterwards, as it closes at
12h30). You can start your walking tour in the northward direction at
the beginning of lunch time and stop en route for lunch at the
beautiful Moulin de Poneau, on the bank of the stream (be sure to make
reservations the day before). A visit to the Maison Picassiette makes
an enjoyable detour. Finish with a visit to some of the beautiful
smaller churches, and make it back to the cathedral in time for Malcolm
Miller's English tour, or just for your own afternoon visit. Rest at
any of the cafés surrounding the cathedral or in the streets
neighboring it, and then finish the day with brief visits to any of the
small museums.
