Home Sweet Home a Paris

We made it back to Paris late this afternoon. We are comfortably ensconced in our apartment, where we will be staying until our departure on May 5. 

We had a wonderful stay in Maintenon at Le Vieux Logis in the Coquelicot room. Unfortunately, the WiFi (pronounced WeeFee in French) did not work, so we were unable to update you on our progress. We have not had a chance to work on the picture issue either, but rest assured that we will get on that tout suite!

I am afraid this will be rather long, as I have to go back to yesterday morning to begin reporting and we have seen a lot between then and now! So go get a drink or a snack before reading the rest of this - I'll wait....


Okay, all ready? So we awoke in Chartres yesterday morning after a wonderfully restful and quiet night at the Hotellerie St. Yves. We had breakfast at the hotel and it was quite the experience, at least for me. They had a self serve coffee maker contraption that was quite the delight! You just put your cup under the spout and the pressed the button for the kind you wanted. 

I started with a cafe court (cafe short or espresso), and then, because it was so much fun, I moved onto a cafe au lait (coffee with milk, which is two cafe court with frothy milk added - like a latte). I could have stayed there all day making myself all sorts of coffees and chocolates. Alas, there were sights to see! Plus the waitress already had a great deal of material for telling stories about the silly Americans at breakfast.


Our first stop was a climb up the north tower of Chartres Cathedral or Cathedrale Notre Dame de Chartres . We went up and up and round and round a teeny little spiral staircase. The view from the top is unbelievable. Rob took tons of pictures of the sculptures that surround the arch openings even at that height. The amount of work and craftsmanship that went into the construction of the cathedral is amazing. We could have stayed up there for hours, but...

We had to go on the crypt tour at 11:00am, so we had to come down. The name of the tour is a bit of a misnomer as most of the area we toured is actually the lower church. Masses for the public are held there regularly, as are christenings at the baptismal font, which dates from the 12th century. 


This tour included the Carolingian St. Lubin crypt that was constructed in 858. A column there dates from the 6th century and some paving from the 4th century. There is also a well from Gallic times (4th century?) into which the Vikings supposedly flung people in 858. We are talking REALLY old stuff here. I love old stuff. The tour was in French, which I followed a little until my brain got tired (about 3 minutes in), but I was just happy to be surrounded by really old stuff.

Interestingly, they are continuing the tradition of continually adding to and repairing the cathedral. One of the stained glass windows in the lower church was installed about a month ago. The cathedral is a living, breathing building that is still serving the religious community, as well as displaying beautiful religious art for the enjoyment of all. It is also still a pilgrimage destination for the devout.


After our crypt tour we bought a baguette and some camembert and enjoyed a picnic in a park directly behind the cathedral. We then went to the Chartres Centre International du Vitrail (Center for Stained Glass, where you can attend classes even as an average Joe). It has a very informative exhibition of stained glass (all text in very technical French). I really enjoyed the building, the cellar of which was built in the 12th century. It had gothic arched ceilings inside and rough stone outside, but the outside was below ground - thus the word cellar! The upper floors were newer, but still old - timbered with huge beams. All very fascinating.

Our brains were ready to explode after all that visual candy and French translation, so we sat at an outdoor cafe in lounge chairs looking up at the cathedral. Rob had his first citron presse, of which he is now a great fan. It is pressed lemons to which you add your own sugar and water to make the perfect lemonade. I, of course, had a cafe (espresso). We watched the birds riding the updrafts created by this massive building and generally stared in awe. Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station (la gare) to go to Maintenon.


We managed to get on a train which had its first stop in Maintenon, so we only rode for 10 minutes. We headed to the city center to find a map to find our hotel, only to discover that we had actually passed it on our way in. So we back tracked a few blocks to Le Vieux Logis. 

The house was a relais de la poste long, long ago. It is several centuries old and backs up to the Louis XIV Canal, which was built during the 17th century during his reign. It was covered in a wisteria vine that was also extremely old - the stem is the size of a good sized tree trunk! It also had a lovely garden out back complete with cats to play with.

Once checked in, we had a stroll along the canal followed by a lovely dinner at Le Vieux Logis. Dessert was ice cream that was flavored with real flowers - a scoop of violet and a scoop of rose, as well as one called pain epice, or spiced bread. It tasted of maybe anise or cloves or cinamon or all of those. It was very good and very interesting.

This morning (Thursday) we had breakfast in the bed and breakfast, ran along the canal and then headed out to tour the Chateau de Maintenon

The property includes aqueducts that Louis XIV ordered built to carry water from the River Eure to Versailles to keep all the fountains flowing. War broke and the master builder died so the project was never finished. It was a bit of a boondogle anyway as the aqueduct was to be about 66 miles long with three levels. Only the first level covering a short distance was ever built and it has been allowed to fall into ruin since. Very bucolic ruins with vegetation growing from it and birds nesting in its cracks.

We left Maintenon in mid-afternoon on the train and returned to Paris. After a quick walk down a long tunnel, we hopped on the metro. We walked up the long staircase to emerge from the Abbesses metro station in the heart of Montmartre in Paris. A short walk up a steep hill brought us to our Home  Sweet Home a Paris .

We are very glad to stay in one place for multiple nights. The apartment is very spacious and in a great location. We got moved in, went for a stroll and then stopped in a cafe for a great dinner. Probably the best meal I have had yet. I had a butterbean (white) soup, tomato pie with a side of olive paste and a green salad. For dessert we both had a tiny chocolate cake with warm chocolate syrupy stuff in the center and raspberry coulis (drizzly syrup). Yum!


Now we are back in for the night. Rob is checking out all the books, of which there are many, including a cartoon book that he is chuckling over as I type. I think it is making fun of George W. Bush. Plenty to laugh at there.

We plan to reconnoiter, do laundry, label and post pictures, grocery shop and generally get thoroughly moved in tomorrow. Maybe get our travelers checks exchanged. It may rain and it will be a bit cooler, but it is spring time in Paris, after all. 


A bientot!