Thursday, October 30th, I went to Montparnasse Station to board a train to take me to Chartres to see the Cathédral Notre-Dame de Chartres.  Things went well at the station--it was super easy and the man at the ticket counter was super helpful; he found me a reduced rate by 25%.  The trip was about an hour long.  Do you know how sometimes when you are going somewhere you've never been before, you worry a little about how you'll find it exactly?  Or is that just me--notoriously getting lost (but loving it) when I try to follow other people's directions?  No problem at Chartres. 

The Cathedral is in sight as you exit the station and it's about a 5-6 minute walk straight up a hill.

The exterior of the church is stunning.  It was the 4th or 5th church built on this site.  In 1194 a fire destroyed the church that was then on the site and the present church was built in only 60 years--Notre Dame in Paris took centuries!

 This is the west entrance--or the royal portal.  Below you will see Mary with the Christ Child on her lap.  Those skinny guys beneath are the kings and prophets who foretold the coming of Christ.

 This carving represent Christ surrounded by four animals--I'm told they symbolize the four apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  It looked life there was an angel, a lion (with wings), a bull (with wings) and an eagle (obviously with wings).  You can decide who is who, but the word for today is:  Tetramorph, find a way to use it three times in a sentence today and it will belong to you forever!

I am told that Chartres Cathedral was the first to use flying buttresses to support the soaring ceilings--120 feet/40 meters high in the nave.

You can see some of the renovation work being done on the south side here.

But most of the visitors were inside the church looking at the . . . stained glass, more than 26,910 square feet/2500 square meters of it.   Most of stained glass (more than 80% of it)  dates from the 12th and 13th centuries (most of Chartres stained glass was completed in 1230), and is probably the world's largest collection of medieval stained glass.  During the world wars, the glass was removed and hidden.  In World War II, citizens removed all the windows and buried them in Dordogne cellars.  Sandbags were piled up to protect the statutes which is why Chartres is the best-preserved medieval cathedral in Europe.

I went inside to wait for the noon tour by Malcolm Miller.  Sadly there were only two of us (and there need to be a dozen to get the mike and ear phones) and Mr. Miller said it was just too loud with the renovations going on to do the tour.  He was kind enough to stay and chat with us for about 15 minute though and we talked about the Cathedral, it's history and significance, and his more than 50 years of scholarship and giving tours here--since he was 24 years old!  He was charming and gracious and I'm sorry to have missed his tour.

 Here are some of the photos of the interior of the church, the choir screen and many of the windows.  My little iPhone camera did a good job, but I borrowed the pictures of the rose windows and the Blue Virgin from the internet--I just couldn't get the detail and clarity they deserved.  The less spectacular photos are my own.

Here is the Blue Virgin and the origin of the color, "Chartres blue."

 The two rose windows first the north door window,

 and the south door window.

Some other windows via my iPhone:

The choir screen depicting the life of Mary (and of course Christ).  There were many scenes I wasn't able to identify--I needed the help of a biblical scholar I suppose.

But here are a couple.  I think this first is the nativity.

 This is the circumcision of Christ.

 And these fellows look to be the three kings (the Magi).

Outside again, I am reminded that the cathedral is one of the stopping points on the Way of Saint James or the Camino di Santiago, if the pilgrims are walking from Paris to Spain.

I went to find the oldest church in town, the Church of St. Aignan.   This was the parish church of the local folks living in Chartres.  The exterior is plain but the interior is lovely and colorful.  And they have a stained glass window or two as well.

Then I continued down the hill to the river Eure and wakied along the river bank for a while.

 Do you see the love birds?

Then back to the train station and back to Paris.  Tired but happy.

This pumpkin and all it's parts--100% chocolate!

Today is Wednesday, October 29th and I've been here for three weeks!  Two more to go . . . Two more days to Halloween, but in anticipation, let's celebrate with this blog post!

According to Wikipedia, Halloween is also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, and is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day.  It initiates the triduum (Try working that into your daily vocabulary at least three times and you'll always know this word!)  of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.

Paris with all of it's famous cemeteries--or cimetières--should be the ideal place to  explore remembering the dead, right?  Père Lachaise (where Oscar Wilde, Peter Abelard and Jim Morrison are buried)  and Montparnasse (where Jean Seberg, Alfred Dreyfus and the duo of Jean-Paul Satre and Simone de Beauvoir), are just two of the most well-known.  Père Lachaise is just a few metro stops away and I could walk to the Montparnasse Cimetière from my apartment.

But I decided that I would explore a lesser known cemetery:  Cimetière Anialier D'Asnieres-Sur-Seine. 

So off to the suburbs I went--way off my maps of the Paris Arrondissments--which I will blame for the fact that I got lost and walked around for 30-40 minutes before I found my way to the entrance for the Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestiques, 4 Pont de Clichy on Ile des Ravageurs. 

This is one of the world's oldest pet cemeteries and claims to be the first zoological necropolis in the world.  Most of the animals buried here are dogs and cats, however, all sorts of other animals are buried here including horses, monkeys, lions, birds and even fish.

Some of the monuments are works of art and remind us that for centuries humans have loved and cared for their pets.

 My friend Ellie had a cat named Buddha.  This one died in 1907.

 Several monuments showed dogs and cats together.

 This one was filled with fresh flowers--very sweet.

 This one had a container of old tennis balls on top of it.

 I think this stone has been replaced--none of the others this old were as legible.

The setting was beautiful.  Very peaceful and you could see the river through the trees.

During the 45 minutes or so I was in the cemetary, a half a dozen people came and tended the graves of their pets.  Most of the graves had flowers or some kind of momento on them.

My friend Mary lost her dog Willie last year.  This made me think of her.

 An Egyptian looking cat I think.

 This little guy Oscar must have been much loved--look at all these flowers!

 And finally, something from my childhood, and the childhoods of all of us who grew up in the 50's and early 60's.  Rin Tin Tin is buried here.

 I think whether or not you have a pet or have had one in the past, this place is quite moving and you leave with a new appreciation of the importance of these animals in the lives of people who love them.

On my way back to the metro I saw two interesting buildings.

These aren't real windows--they are painted on--they are a trompe-d'öeil.  Hard to believe--I actually looked several times.

This suburb of Paris is home to many immigrants--lots of Arabs (Algerians, Moroccans).  So it shouldn't have surprised me to  find the Yasmine Hammam.

I took the number 13 metro back into Paris and switched at Gare Montparnasse to the number 6 line.  A word or two about this line.  I'm 2 blocks from Place d"Italie where three metro lines (5, 6 and 7) connect.  The 5 takes me to Bastille and north to Montmartre, the 7 takes me to the Marais, the Louvre and Opera.  The 6 follows a semi-circular route in the southern part of Paris between Nation and Étoile.  Even though there aren't as many destinations that interest me along this route, I find it one of the most pleasant lines to take.  Generally speaking, most of the Paris metro stations are underground.  Only 26 stations are above ground, but many of these are found on line 6.  A series of viaducts made of brick and Eiffel-type metal structures made it possible to put the line together without digging a large number of tunnels.  I enjoy coming above ground and seeing neighborhoods, monuments and beautiful buildings as I go.

 This house is almost a garden by itself.

 This is near a station near my neighborhood.

For the foodies among you, lunch today was near the Montparnasse Cimetrière--yes I did stop and take just a couple of photos.

 Note the dates on the bottom of this monument (1944).  Unlike American cemeteries where often graves are separated by religion, the graves of Jew and Christian are side-by-side throughout Montparnasse.

 This is by the grave of a sculptor.

 It's like a little village.

But back to food:  Two things.

Lunch was confit of duck, fried potatoes and a tiny salad with a chardonnay.

And two blog readers have asked for more info about the food tour of Saint-Germain.  The website for Paris By Mouth is:  parisbymouth.com

Hope you enjoy it.

Tomorrow--of to Chartres.  Very excited.