Chartreing an Unusual Course

Sunday was our drive from Normandy to the Loire Valley day.  We decided to add a bit of a detour on to go to Chartres and see the Cathedral -- a sight Carol had always wanted to visit.

The Garmin took us the back route.  We drove through many Norman and then Loire Valley villages, and took very few highways.  We saw a lot of villages, country churches, cows, sunflower fields, sheep, and very few cars.  If we had been tracking the number of traffic circles since getting the car, it would number in the hundreds after that day's drive.  By the way, I've always been a huge proponent of traffic circles -- much quicker than lights, much safer than crossroads/stop signs.

Going to Chartres via Omaha definitely added two hours to the trip from Normandy to our hotel in the Loire Valley, but it was worth it.  (Not sure the girls agreed -- because we were traveling with luggage in the smaller car, the three of them are crammed into the back seat on travel days).  At least the car allows us to hook my iPhone or iPad into the radio system through the USB port.

After we got to Chartres and parked in the narrowest parking garage ever built, we had lunch across the street from the Cathedral.  My duck was excellent, and all of the food seemed pretty good.  Chartres is considered to be part of the Loire Valley, but it is further North and East than the famed chateaus. 

The Cathedral is spectacular (I know, I keep writing with the same superlatives, but it has the added advantaged of being true!).    Rebuilt after a fire in just 25 years, it was finished in 1250.  We went in through the elaborate South Porch and stared at the stained glass windows, which were removed for safekeeping during both World Wars.  The windows cover a surface area of over 28,000 square feet and are beautiful, particularly the three rose windows. 

We then climbed the 300 plus steps of the North tower -- which dates from the 16th Century and thus is, as a guidebook put it, "flamboyant Gothic in style."  The two towers are of different heights -- the North tower is taller, and we were able to go quite high on it, and then walk all around the outside of the tower, affording views of the farm lands outside of Chartres.

Afterwards, we got a snack and walked down to the riverside, through the windy streets.  It was Sunday afternoon, so most of the shops were closed, and there was not much going on.  A huge difference from the Saturday afternoon hustle and bustle of Honfleur the day before.

We made the two-hour drive to the hotel just south of Tours without incident, except for the toll machine rejecting our Visa card and spitting out our ticket to fly in the window.  Fortunately, the toll worker responded quickly to our button pressing and while it didn't take Visa, it did take American Express (sounds like an ad).  We've been using our credit union Visa card almost exclusively because the fees are lower on foreign exchanges, except for toll machines now!