Where in the world has David been today? Chartres and Orleans (and the Beauce)

Cor blimey. There were 130 pictures to upload and tag today before I forgot what they all were.That's what comes of visiting one fascinating cathedral (Chartres) and one quite interesting cathedral (Orleans) in one day! I hope you enjoy them after all that. And I was feeling really whacked so I've had to do it all by shifts. Still, a final burst and this should be all done...

The good thing that I can report about today is that at least it didn't rain. There were times when it threatened to, but it didn't come to anything. In fact, it has been a pleasant temperature all day, with sun breaking through when I got to Orleans to give a lovely evening. Weather-wise, the notable thing today was wind. The weather forecast had said there would be some, but it gave the impression it might swing around and be helpful in the afternoon. It didn't, and so it was a bit of a flog all the way. I commented on it to the lady on the desk in Orleans Cathedral, and she said something to the effect of: "Well, that's the Beauce for you". The Beauce is the flat, exposed agricultural area I've cycled through today - often referred to as France's bread basket. As a result, what should have been a four-hour ride became a five-hour ride.

Anyway, let's rewind to the beginning. As planned, I rode back into Chartres this morning to visit the city and cathedral with a mental deadline to leave for Orleans by midday if I could. I was totally charmed by the city. I made my way in by the first way I could and visited the church of Saint-Pierre, as recommended by the pilgrim guide. It was a lovely peaceful place to begin the morning, and from there I wandered through the old town toward the cathedral itself. The shopping centre was full of interesting shops, and would have been delightful to explore given more time. The Cathedral, once you come upon it in the labyrinth that it is the city, is no disappointment. At least it wasn't to me!

For starters, I was finally able to get my first pilgrim stamp in my credencial. They were keen to tell me where I could stay tonight in Chartres, but I had to disappoint them because I needed to press on to Orleans. However, I spent a long time enjoying the cathedral. It was both peaceful and alive. Alive not just with tourists but with school-children, mostly being given guided tours of the stained glass by obviously knowledgeable and  passionate guides (I did a bit of listening in). First impressions were good because the first sign I came upon was all about the activities of a living church - not on a grotty noticeboard, but in the same style, and with the same prominence, as the excellent signage explaining the cathedral for tourists.

The stained glass truly is amazing, and the darkness of the the interior simply serves to emphasise its luminosity. I wish I could have spent longer looking at it all and reading about it. Guides sometimes talk about the darkness of the interior of Chartres as being somehow sombre and forbidding. I found it rather soothing and friendly once my eyes got used to it. The cathedral was full of interesting corners and curiosities both inside and out, and I took rather a lot of pictures (all in the photostream). Because of the darkness of the interior, my Gorillapod came into its own as I could fasten the camera to just about anything, use the self timer and avoid camera shake almost 100%. Mastering the exposure compensation and the self timer made it so much easier to get decent stained glass pictures - God bless my Lumix DMC-TZ10 for being so easy to use and having so many features of a good manual camera!!!

Bits that charmed me particularly were the Ecumenical Chapel, the staircase to the Chapelle St-Piat which one couldn't visit, but which were visible both inside and out, the zodiac window and carvings on the north porch, the clock, the sundial...and many more. Suffice to say I would love to visit again with no pressure of time at all. Memo to self: next time bring pocket binoculars. All the stained-glass and carving aficionados seem to have a pair. The only disappointment was that the famous labyrinth was almost entirely covered by chairs. I had thought I might walk it if time allowed, but about the most you could have managed today was some sort of spiritual hop-scotch. I didn't really want to leave, so I had a rather expensive tuna and tomato sandwich and a cup of tea on the terrace of a cafe facing the cathedral before moving on.

I managed my 12 noon deadline to within a few minutes, but found Chartres harder to find my way out of than to find my way in - a bit like Milton Keynes, but mediaeval. It didn't really seem to want to let me go any more than I wanted to leave myself. From there my route was easy and straight (oh, with a kink half way) but on a very busy roads, so today's word is: lorry! Some were friendlier than others, I have to say, but even the worst weren't as bad as many in England. I stopped a bit over half way in Artenay to do some food shopping so I can have a picnic lunch tomorrow, and then pushed on to Orleans - a much bigger and much busier city. It was strange after having been able to see Chartres Cathedral from miles away that I couldn't spot Orleans Cathedral entering the city at all. In fact it wasn't really mentioned on signs either and I had to look at the map to see where it was. Even then, it seemed to be so shy that it didn't show itself till I was just a block or so away, and then there it was - wow!

It was after 5.00pm by then, so I quickly made the bike secure, but as I did so I realised I was parking outside the music Conservatoire. There were students practising their various instruments, obviously with the window open on such a lovely evening, and I was loath to hurry into the cathedral. However, in I went, and straight away got my second pilgrim stamp from the lovely lady who knew all about the wind in the Beauce region! The cathedral was almost deserted by that time, so I had it it almost to myself - a very nice feeling. I have to say that by comparison with Chartres the interior was a slight disappointment. It somehow lacks some of the character of Chartres, but nevertheless still has interesting features. Perhaps it is simply that after the richness of the stained glass at Chartres, something simply feels missing - many of the windows are plain. The benefit is a lightness and airiness that is good in itself, and it has to be said that some of the bits of stained glass that there are were very interesting and different in style from anything at Chartres. At any rate, both cathedrals were very comfortable places to be and to pray quietly as I went around. Back outside again, the wow factor of aspects of the exterior was still there, having none of the quirky assymetry of Chartres, but its own oddities such as the bits I think of as being crowns on the top of the west end towers - which I even caught in shadow on a transept roof.

So there we are, the pilgrimage has begun properly in the sense that I have been recorded in the book at the two cathedrals, and I have their stamps in my credencial. Once there are a couple more I will photograph the page and post the photo in the blog! The ride out of town was through some lovely old areas to begin with, and then along the Loire - I was amazed to see what a fast-flowing river it was - taking me to the western edge of town. and giving me a bit of a head start tomorrow. For now, it is time to rest and recharge ready for a longer ride tomorrow. I really can't fathom why the map software says that there is going to be so much climbing when I thought it was mostly following the Loire, but at least I have been warned.