Chartres

Chartres – Monday, 27th June
After 464 kms from home, we arrived around 1pm. Most of the way was on autoroutes – first of all north on the A6 towards Paris, then west towards Orleans, then north on a smaller road to Chartres. Different landscapes as we drove along, different crops, lots of golden fields of sunflowers, ripe wheat and green vegetables. The harvesters were working away, and many fields are full of huge bales of hay. It is big cereal crops country around here, and very flat. We could see the spire of the grand cathedral from quite a distance away. It’s very hot – 35c – so we are enjoying a beer, and have decided to have a rest, before venturing out in the late afternoon. The hotel receptionist told us that we ‘must’ see the cathedral at night! So that suits us well in this heat, as it is the famous cathedral that we have come to see. There is some intriguing looking architecture, with houses and roofs of extraordinary angles and decoration. Small cobbled pedestrian streets and heaps of bicycles.