Woohoo! Tash got her Visa for England, and it seems legit and EVERYTHING! Looks like our epic weekend in the land of the Pomms is ON LIKE DONKEY KONG! Beer to celebrate!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Concerning Trains & Stairs
Quick post about our day in Chartres yesterday :)
Chartres is a super beautiful tiny town about 90km SW of Paris. It's sleepy and twisty, with cobblestone roads and mossy pavements, and the reason anyone ever goes there is because Chartres has the most stunning, well-preserved Medieval cathedral in the world. Like, the whole world. It's super cool!
Tash & took a train from Paris Montparnass at about 12 - have I mentioned how awesome I find trains? In a perfect world, they are my only mode of transport. As we wooshed past beautiful countryside, Tash remarked that it reminded her of Harry Potter. Man, I love that girl.
The cathedral slowly grows closer as you approach the skyline of Chartres - dominating almost every glance up at the sky in that tiny place. It is super epic, and makes you feel really small. The intricate sculpture work combined with the massive stained glass windows really takes your breath away. They're also in the process of restoring it extensively - the clean stone next to the grimy stone really highlights how much medieval gunk is embedded in the walls. But the coolest thing about Chartres cathedral is not how dirty it is: you can risk your life there, too!
The kind folks of Chartres cathedral let you climb the 300+ steps up one of the towers (the intricately decorated one, in the photos), which Tash and I heartily agreed to. We bought tickets (and when I say 'bought', I mean that I got in FOR FREE YEAH BOI and Tash got in for HALF-PRICE YEAH BOI), and we started off, excitement leading us up a TINY TINY staircase. We were young! We were fit! We were excited! We were thin enough to squeeze up the staircase!
Alas, no.
At about 75 steps, we collapsed. We went on, and lost count because we were heaving so badly. When we reached the first landing, we made camp and took photos. The urged ourselves upwards, dragging ourselves upwards and onwards. The top was near - we could smell victory. Intrepid explorers, we made the last sprint and were rewarded with one of the most stunning views. It's SO worth it. Wow. Super amaze. The air was clear, and you could see for miles.
What a great day! After a lovely pack lunch, we ambled around, bought Chartres beer (which was amaze) and hitched a train back to our home town. An awesome day trip! I love travelling with Tash - she is pretty amaze, I must say. But she's mine. For keeps :)
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