A Sunday in Chartres

Hi All,

Another weekend gone and past, however I have not finished my previous weekend, as one week ago Sunday I went to Chartres to see the beautiful cathedral there.

It takes about an hour by train to get to Chartres, and then another 15 minutes of walking, but then, one can see the following cathedral.

It really is quite amazing, especially considering that it was built in the 13th century. How so long ago! A thought that had crossed my mind: how did it compare to other achievements around the world at the same time? Even though Europe was not as ‘advanced’ or ‘cultured’ at that point in history as other countries (empires) around the world, I still have to imagine that the cathedrals rivaled many other impressive monuments around the world.

However, such monuments do need to be renovated, even though it sometimes feels to me that I always go to monuments in France that are under some type of construction. At Chartres Cathedral, there was a fair amount of construction everywhere, but (for the most part) did not interfere with the viewing experience. Most importantly, they had already finished some of the renovations, as in the following picture, which just beams light and freshly cleaned white especially in comparison to the rest of the cathedral. Even the place where the beams meet at the top had been coloured! Just a taste of such renovation made me wonder how such cathedrals looked when they were first built.

So, to change the topic a bit in relation to my classes in Paris, I do have to make a bit of a retraction of something I said for this summer about Polish roads. In my research for my economics final paper about the effect of integrating into the EU on Poland, I have read lots about the Polish transportation system (including roads), which hasn’t been that positive. Although I did admit to the lack of quantity of roads, I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions of the roads in general (although there were some roads that were awful, but there are awful roads in San Francisco as well), a paper stated 50% of the roads in Poland are in desperate need of repair. Maybe my observations are not that accurate, but at least I can definitely understand the need for bigger roads that can handle more traffic at higher speeds (and rarely being able to take any freeways because they didn’t exist where I was.) And as for my other classes, they are wrapping up to the end of the semester (my two big finals are December 1st,) and not much else new is happening.

One big thing about French culture is how Sunday is treated a big day of rest. Although Paris remains ‘awake’, one can still definitely sense how most stores close and people tend to stay inside or go to the park more. My host family even told me that they were aghast with the idea that I would do work on Sunday instead of putting it aside to do restful activities. The effect of the Sunday is much more a factor in a small town like Chartres, where the streets feel empty and seems like almost all of the shops. I do wonder whether France will go more the way of the United States in which Sunday is just another weekend day like Saturday or if Sunday will manage to remain its very special status and big supermarkets like Monoprix close (although not all nowadays.) The following picture captures the Sunday tranquility of Chartres (and I do believe going to Chartres is a Sunday activity my host family would definitely approve of.)

Before I go, a last picture of Chartres from the top of the cathedral tower (which is taller than Notre Dame of Pairs.)
Until later,
-Andrew