travelchat

I’ll once again be in Paris last week of October with my adult son. Last year our week’s itinerary covered five of the major museums as well as a couple sightseeing forays, seine cruise, hop on hop off to refresh my son’s memory after his last visit during his college years. This time we want to take a day to visit Chartres and plan on traveling from Gare Montparnesse. Any input for the day would be much appreciated in terms of how much time to allow, other sights beside the cathedral, restaurant recommendations, etc.
Thanks in advance.
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youngtom2910

one special thing about the cathedral, of course, is the stained glass. I was fortunate to visit once on a sunny day, and I spent some time in the church and saw the sun light up the various windows. so try to go on a sunny day!

KTtravel

I don't know if Malcolm Miller is still giving tours as I think he well into his 80s, but it doesn't hurt to send him an email: [email protected]. He is famous for his tours of the cathedral and is worth reading about if you haven't heard of him.

Michael

We had a decent lunch on the main square near the cathedral.

Janeyre

Could you swing a late evening return or possibly an overnight in Chartres? Chartres projects colorful lights on various buildings at night.
www.chartresenluminaires.com. Hoping to see this in 2024!

Coquelicot

The night time illuminations in Chartres are fabulous. There are over 20 locations. The Collegiale Saint Andre in particular is not to be missed, though the light show on the cathedral front is top of the top.

k_marie

We like to use binoculars to see detail in the stained glass and In architectural features. And, yes, do go on a sunny day!

travelchat

Wow! Thanks to all so far for your very helpful input. Lots of food for thought. Definitely going to Chartres.

swandav2000

Hi travelchat,

If you'd like to do something a bit different, you could do a bike tour.

Some years ago, my friends and I did a tour through French Mystique, and it was fabulous! You meet the guide at a bike shop in the morning, where you are fitted for your bike. Then you ride through the streets of Paris to the train station and board the train for a ride of about 45 minutes. You ride the rest of the way to Chartres, about a 2h ride through French countryside and impossibly-cute towns, and you even get a short break for a picnic by a river of wonderful cheeses, hams, & bread. You are left alone to explore Chartres on your own, then the group meets up again to take the train back to Paris & ride to the bike shop.

Have fun as you plan!

s

john183

We really enjoyed our day trip to Chartres in 2019. Below is an excerpt from my TR.

We purposely picked Friday to go because the chairs are removed from the labyrinth on most Fridays and we really wanted to be there when the chairs were removed. We took an Uber to Montparnasse, bought our tickets and had an easy trip to Chartres. Walked toward the Cathedral and found a place to have a coffee before our noon tour with Malcolm Miller. I had emailed him about his tour and he replied that he planned to be there on this day. A little before noon we checked in at the ticket counter and found he was not going to be there. We were disappointed but hoped he was doing OK. We found that a tour in English was available later in the day so we headed out to walk around the town and have lunch.

What a beautiful little town. We stopped by the tourist information office and found a map of different walks. We wandered around for a while and took a lot of pictures of this very picturesque town. We had lunch, bought our Cathedral tour tickets and spent time admiring this incredible place. The chairs were in fact removed from the labyrinth so we walked it as people have done for hundreds of years. Then it was time for our tour.

Our guide was outstanding. At one point in a chapel in the crypt, she unexpectedly sang a beautiful hymn as she slowly walked by herself with her arms outstretched, up the aisle towards the altar. Our group just stood there mesmerized as her beautiful voice slightly echoed around the empty chapel. Goose bump time. Also the veil of the Virgin Mary is displayed in the crypt. It was goose bump time again when I thought about exactly what I might be looking at.

I highly recommend taking a tour – especially if you get a guide as good as ours was. The upper part of the Cathedral, the crypt and all the stories about them were just incredible.

travelchat

Wonderful responses! Thanks to all. I’ll keep checking back for any additions.

jan47ete

I LOVE markets and love to go to towns on their market days. Had planned to be in Chartres the last Saturday in November for their market day. As I will have been to about a dz markets by then should I skip the Chartres Saturday market and go on Friday when the chairs are gone?

zebec

TC, we too were planning to visit Chartres for the first time this fall. Apparently, the current interior renos will not be over by then---the church PR department confirmed that fact for us recently. Dunno whether you want to factor that into your thinking but just thought it'd help to know.
I am done. the end.