A Vacation Diary
Thursday, August 15, 1996
I planned to go to Fontainebleau today and when I went down to the car I noticed the supermarket was closed. Then I realized that today was some kind saint's holiday. Who would ever think that would occur in a country like this. Rather than drive to Fontainebleau and find the chateau closed for the holiday, what better place to go to than a church. So I decided that I'd go to Chartres. I went south on the ring road looking for the hookup with the autoroute toll highway according to the tourist brochure. I took the off-ramp that the brochure stated but I couldn't find the highway. My maps weren't very helpful nor were the road signs. After wandering around for about ten minutes I decided to double back and take the road to Orly even though it didn't seem to be the most direct route. However, I made the right decision. Once on the road to Orly the signs for Chartres appeared. It's about 96 km (60 mi) from Paris and the toll costs 26 F each way. I was driving between 112 and 128 km/hr and many cars were flying by me.
When I first saw the church from the distance it dominated the landscape. Up close the stonework is showing the ravages of the centuries even though the facade underwent a cleaning a while back. To me it appeared that the stones are suffering from a pox. When I entered the church the choir was rehearsing. The music and the atmosphere were overpowering. I immediately fell to my knees and the gave the sign of Z (Zorro). I took photos of the stained glass windows that gave the best light. I wandered around old Chartres for the afternoon taking pictures and had a late lunch before heading back to Paris. 
