Return to Paris and a Visit to Chartres

I've officially returned to Paris and settled in after my winter break.  And, yes, it has been too long since I've written anything, but this semester has felt more hectic than last semester for some reason.  It seems like teachers have picked up the workload a bit, but I'm managing so far.  As I write this, I'm staring out at a brilliantly blue sky, just waiting for the sun to set and create an orange glow across the city.

A few weeks ago, NYU took everyone on a day trip out to Chartres, to visit the cathedral and a little chateau not far from the town.  Chartres is your typical little French village-- tiny cobbled streets with houses and shops lining the sidewalks, inevitably slightly rainy, and a beautiful cathedral set as the backdrop.

It was extremely cold in Chartres.  I was solidly bundled up, with layer after layer of sweaters, a scarf, a hat, gloves, and a giant coat, but, being me, I managed to still almost freeze.  I had thought that once we made it into the cathedral for the tour, it would warm up; oh, how wrong I was.  The cathedral didn't seem to be any warmer than outside-- they possibly hadn't installed heating since it was built in the late 1100s.  The tour was interesting, though lasted for much longer than it needed to, but it gave me lots of time to take pictures of the gorgeous stained glass inside.

That lighting though

Some of the stained glass lining the cathedral

A rose (I think that's what they're called?) stained glass

More stained glass

Some carvings along the side of the cathedral

A shrine off to the left

A statue behind the alter

After we finished the cathedral tour, it was well and truly raining and everyone was ready for a good, warm meal.  We got back on our buses and headed to the chateau we would be touring, which also conveniently had a restaurant in their barn.  Again, not heated-- too large?  The jury's still out-- but they gave us a wonderful sparkling rosé along with a red wine to warm us up, so I can't complain too much.  The food was delicious, and the tour of the chateau was very interesting, though I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside of it.

That's about it for these past few weeks-- not much exciting has happened, I know.  This weekend I'm going to Grenoble with one of my friends, though, so I'm sure I'll have many exciting stories to tell when I get back.

Katrina