During art classes of yester-year Sara had been told that one of the hot spots for stained glass and architecture was the Chartres Cathedral, just South West of Paris. I did a bit of research and discovered that the cathedral is France's largest, and that it features a gothic style spire AND a romanesque style spire. Such information left me chomping at the bit to go check it out, plus we were both in the mood to see a bit of the French country side en route, so off we went to Chartres. The train ride there was only an hour, and not very expensive; the only real problem we had in getting to the place is that it is completely impossible for any American to correctly pronounce the
word "Chartres", so many ticket vendors were confused. Not to complain, but you'd think that someone who's sole job is to sell train tickets to tourists wanting to go to Chartres wouldn't have to look smug and say "Pardon" three times as I pronounced the word over and over again. I believe the key is to do a lot of snorting. The Cathedral had everything we had hoped for; largeness and stained glass. Those spires are pretty neat, eh? I guess I ought to note that the actual name of the cathedral is The Cathedral de Notre Dame de Chartres, the big Cathedrals are always named after Mary, as she seems to be quite the inspirational figure.
During art classes of yester-year Sara had been told that one of the hot spots for stained glass and architecture was the Chartres Cathedral, just South West of Paris. I did a bit of research and discovered that the cathedral is France's largest, and that it features a gothic style spire AND a romanesque style spire. Such information left me chomping at the bit to go check it out, plus we were both in the mood to see a bit of the French country side en route, so off we went to Chartres. The train ride there was only an hour, and not very expensive; the only real problem we had in getting to the place is that it is completely impossible for any American to correctly pronounce the 
word "Chartres", so many ticket vendors were confused. Not to complain, but you'd think that someone who's sole job is to sell train tickets to tourists wanting to go to Chartres wouldn't have to look smug and say "Pardon" three times as I pronounced the word over and over again. I believe the key is to do a lot of snorting. The Cathedral had everything we had hoped for; largeness and stained glass. Those spires are pretty neat, eh? I guess I ought to note that the actual name of the cathedral is The Cathedral de Notre Dame de Chartres, the big Cathedrals are always named after Mary, as she seems to be quite the inspirational figure.
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