Chartres is about 80km from Paris so we went by train from Gare Montparnasse, one of the main line stations in central Paris. The train trip was fun, but perhaps more on that separately for those with 'special interests'.
The cathedral is huge and magnificent, even compared to the many we have seen before. There were major renovations going on with many workers and scaffolds on the site.
There has been a cathedral on the site in Chartres since about the 8th century, with todays one dating from about 12th century albeit with many modifications and extensions over the last 800 years. Prior to that there were numerous fires and rebuilds from scratch.
Chartres is particularly known for its stained glass windows - lots of them , and reputed to be the finest collection of stained glass in Europe. It is especially known for the particular blue colour used in the windows. They were beautiful, and tell the bible stories in very intricate detail, using vivid colours.
The other very impressive aspect to the cathedral was the choir screen (see photo). It had 40 detailed tableaus showing scenes from the life of Jesus and his mother Mary (being a catholic cathedral). One sculptor had been commissioned to do the first 6 scenes. It took him 15 years. It was clear how the sculpting styles changed as one progressed around the screen - with sections by different artists and just the passage of time changing sculpting styles.
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