PILGRAMAGE TO CHARTRES

---

Sunday morning, I was up at 6 so I could shower, change have some breakfast and pick up our Zipcar all before 8:30. The Zipcar was about 10 blocks away so it was easy to walk to and the drive back to the hotel to pick up everyone else was just as easy, straight down the road the car was on and one turn on to Rue du Champs de Mars. We were driving to Versailles, where we would drop Christina and Jourdan off for the day, so they could visit what I consider to be the most treasured place in Europe (that we have seen so far) and that is Chateau Versailles (Pompeii is also amazing). I specifically recommended a Sunday so the fountains would be going in the afternoon (unfortunately it rained and they passed on the gardens).

Before I get to far into the day, let me back up just a bit. Jerry and I have driven pretty often in France, two weeks in Spain 3 weeks in France, various other day trips for Paris. We usually rely solely on a good map and his navigation skills. The problem this trip is we somehow forgot to pack our good road map of France, and the one Jerry bought the other day, just wasn’t as detailed, especially for getting out of Paris. The day got off to a rocky start as a result. It took us a bit longer to get out of Paris than it should because we went in a nice circle. We finally broke down and reluctantly relied on the GPS navigation in the car. When Jerry had his Crossfire, the GPS was always wrong, Google Maps is often wrong, so we don’t typically use this technology as a result. However, system worked well and led us right out of Paris and on our way.

Versailles is only about 18 km outside of Paris, so the drive there was pretty quick. We dropped the girls off at the entrance to the Chateau and we continued on to our destination of the day Chartres. We drove, in the rain, for about another 45 minutes. The GPS was a little difficult to follow once we got in to the village of Chartres it told us to turn right when there was not street to turn on, but nonetheless we arrived. I parked in a parking lot that I thought was close to the center of town, but I was wrong. It did allow us to hit up a BNP ATM for some cash, then relied on google maps on the phone to get us to the final destination of the day. Here again, it has us go in all of the wrong directions, then it started pouring. We got back in the car and searched for a better and closer parking spot, and of course there was one right at the base of the city wall with in 200 ft. of the cathedral.

Jerry did not have time to eat before we left, so our first stop was Le Week-end, a small bistro across the4 street from the cathedral. We were going to be having lunch a bit later so he just wanted something light, we spilt a Quiche Lorraine (passable, but certainly not as could as what we had in Nancy 4 years ago) and I had, believe it or not, the first café au lait of the trip.

After I snack we headed for the main event Notre Dame Cathedral – Chartres. The cathedral was originally built in the 11^th century but burnt down in 1194. What was built during the 12^th and 13^th century is the cathedral that stands today. It has been undergoing extensive renovations in the last several years, so there are parts where it has been restored next to the unrestored section, the difference is night and day.

We don’t typically spend a great deal of time in Cathedrals and tire of them very quickly on most of our European trips. Chartres is however one of the largest and grandest cathedrals in all of Europe. My first trip was 21 years ago and I was awe struck then, the weather was exactly the same raining. You can see the cathedral for several miles as you approach the city. We spent about an hour in the cathedral and that was just on one floor. Jerry has never taken so many pictures of one single building ever, in fact he took over 120 pictures that day, most of which were the cathedral.

When we were finished with the cathedral on the inside we walked around it on the outside. It is so big it takes up about three city blocks. The rain managed to stop on our stroll through the old city until it was time to eat, it started pouring just as we choose our spot for lunch. I do have a suggestion if you’re going to spend the day in Chartres, try to find a place to eat a few blocks away from the cathedral the ones that surround it are pretty eh, not bad, but probably not as good if you have the time to explore just a bit deeper in to the old city. Since it was raining, we opted for one next to the cathedral called Le Café Serpente. It was nice very French, and the food was ok. I had a Croque Monsieur and Jerry had a croque Madame. I also had a bowl of Soupe aux oignons (we call it French Onion Soup) it was very good and prefect for a damp raining day.

After lunch we went to basically the only other thing to see in Chartres and that is the Museum of Beaux Arts. It is located directly behind the cathedral it what was once the Bishop’s house. It is a very small museum, even though the house itself is quite large, with its one large chapel. It was interesting but I was not familiar with any of the artists, and much of it was religious in nature. It took us about 30 minutes to see the entire thing. The house itself is in need of serious renovation, the floors are all warped and the stair case felt like it would collapse at any moment.

That concluded our visit to Chartres and it was back to the Car and GPS to guide us back to Versailles where we would meet back up with the girls have dinner and spend the night. The drive back took about 45 minutes and it poured the entire way, the traffic continuing on to Paris was bumper to bumper so I am glad we were spending the night in Versailles.

This was our hotel splurge for the trip. It was called Hotel Le Versailles and about 1 and ½ blocks from the chateau itself. The view certainly was not that of the Trianon that we stayed in on my 50^th, but we did have a view of the top of the chapel of the Chateau. The room itself was large and comfortable, I had prearranged for a split of champagne to be in the room to toast our night in Versailles.

After we checked in we took brought Christina and Jourdan their luggage made plans to meet at 7ish for dinner. We then retired to our room for a bit of wine-thirty and relaxation in Versailles, home of the most lavish Kings and Queens in the world.

La Bouef A la Mode

The night’s dinner was at La Bouef a la Mode, we discovered this place on my 50^th birthday trip, or I should say the front desk people highly recommended it to us and booked the place for us last time. This time I was able, with some assistance from Jourdan, make the reservation online, Jourdan requested upstairs in French. This is one of our favorite little spots. It is typically full of locals and far fewer tourists than most places. In fact, we only were seated upstairs last time because our hotel made the reservation, tourists are typically sat downstairs. When we arrived there was no one there, other than the staff. This was so strange, since the last time the place was packed. However, it was 7:30 on a Sunday so a bit early, it did fill up a bit as the evening progressed but not nearly to the extent of our last visit.

Last time, the dish of the night was Tete de veau (calf’s brain) we didn’t eat it and it smelled horrible, this time it wasn’t even on the menu. We had Kevin (yes a Frenchmen named Kevin) our waiter, pretty much to ourselves most of the night. This was fun, because it gave us an opportunity to talk with him, his English was very good and he helped us with our French.

We started our meal with the traditional glass of champagne, Kevin recommended the Rose, and we are glad we took his suggestion as it was really good. The interiors had changed slightly, for example the middle of the room use to have a very large wood étagère in the center, that has been replaced with a smaller less lavish version. The menu was also slightly different but still very French. We all went with the Menu (three course). Jerry again started with salmon, this time a Smoked Norwegian Salmon very thinly sliced with a buttery cream sauce and secret ingredient we could not identify. I had foie gras, it was simply like butter. Christina had a bone marrow trio, and it was in the running for highlight dish of the night.

The entrees were pretty simple, Jerry and Jourdan both had steak frites, I had the special T-bone with béarnaise, and Christina had a fish dish cooked in a burre blanc. Desserts, I had the infamous ile flottante (meringue floating in cream angliase), Jerry had an eclair, Jourdan profiteroles, and Christina café gourmand.

As for the wine, Jerry and I had a Pauillac (my favorite sub region on the right bank of Bordeaux) Christina had a glass of Sancerre (perfect with her fish) Jourdan and a Burgundy (Passetoutgrain). I list the wine, because the highlight dish of the night is actually the wine, specifically the Baron Nathaniel Pauillac 2012. It was a shining example of a great Bordeaux. This was followed closely by Christina’s bone marrow entrée.

During diner that was good conversation and some humor at my expense, which I will even share with you. When we were at Chartres, there was a high mass going on, and they were also christening some babies. Now, when I first saw this (and remember my eyes are not that good and it was from a distance) I thought they were blessing animals, specifically cats. Jerry, came to look and informed me they were babies not cats. So, forward to dinner and we are all enjoying are entrées, when Jerry was asking what something was and I said it looked like, whatever, Jourdan just pipe in saying yeah and you thought babies were cats. The table got a good laugh at my expense, I thought Jerry was going to choke he laughed for at least 10 minutes.

After dinner, we strolled back to our hotel and all promptly crashed. A perfect end to a pilgrimage to Chartres and dinner in Versailles.

---

Photos

Notre Dame
Chartres

Comments

[David Behrend]

Chartes
Made me homesick! I've been there back in the 80's and remember that all were beautiful! Loved Versailles so hit many memories for me. Thanks guys for sharing, safe travels....??✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️??