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I’ve seen videos and read about the Cathedral at Chartres and it looked as though it was worth a visit, maybe we’ll spend the afternoon walking around and then head off to Orleans. I’m really not a believer in any of the God, JC or VM nonsense but I enjoy wandering around the huge medieval churches and try to imagine how they were designed and built without the use of technology available these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We successfully navigated the Versailles traffic and headed South and within a couple of hours had arrived at the new campsite just outside Chartres. After parking up and settling in we unloaded the bikes and were off to visit the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloody hell, what a place, what a masterpiece of medieval architeture, design and engineering. It is unbelievable. A spire built in 1190ish of over 100m in height, 130 metres in length and 30 odd metres wide. There are over 1200 stained glass panels in the windows, many of them originating from the 12th century. Staggering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of spending just the afternoon in Chartres we ended up spending an extra day and splashed out on the guided tour of the Cathedral. The tour was given by Malcolm Miller, who is pretty much the world authority on reading and interpreting the windows at Chartres. The tour lasted 90 minutes and focussed on the 12th and 13th century windows; it was absolutely gripping stuff. The windows can be read like a book and they tell a story; they are not just pretty pictures. Actually, they are a shocking propaganda that tell a story that the church wants us to believe, it contrives to join JC to Adam in the garden of paradise, it links the new testament to the old in obviously contrived ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow, as I sit here in the sun typing this a pair of treecreepers are fluttering around us and walking up one of the trees in our camping emplacement. Bloody marvellous!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few of the photos we took in Chartres:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The western or Occidental facade which is the main entrance surrounded by gothic carvings including those of JC and his gang of 12 but they have substituted Judas for someone else. Don’t know why.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n