CHARTRES

Leaving Paris is always difficult for me, but the French countryside offers its own beauty and charm. The town of Chartres is about an hour Southwest of Paris and is known mostly for its fine Gothic cathedral.





While I'm a fan of Gothic cathedrals, this one intimidates me a bit so I spent more time exploring the town itself. They've done a great job of blending the very old (Chartres dates back to the 900s)...the narrow streets and walkways...with the more contemporary and even very current looks in houses and shops.






As the most important market town in the region, Chartres has shops selling many tempting goodies and, whether a new or an old facade, the treats are just as good!

PARIS by Day

What an assortment of sights!!!

The businesses in the neighborhood...




There's an interesting custom in Paris regarding locks and bridges. I saw the locks on at least three of them. I'm told that you write your sentiment on a lock (usually "somebody loves somebody") and then place it on one of the iron bridges...to be seen forever...or at least as long as the love lasts. I wonder how heavy that gets!?



The city of Paris does its part to bring the tropics to the banks of the Seine River each summer for the vacation season. Paris Plages (beach) is created with truckloads of sand, lounge chairs and even palm trees! It stretches for over a mile and includes refreshment stands, play areas, concert venues and even sand sculptures! Quite a sight!


Of course, the Louvre area and Tuileries Gardens with it's many statues always provide plenty of photo ops.