Chartres and the Labyrinth

The cathedral looms over the welcoming square.

Sculpture in the welcome square

Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to walk labyrinths, especially the one at Chartres.  Now that I live in France, there is no excuse not to make this dream a reality, but it seemed a little extravagant to go to Paris just to take the side trip to Chartres.  When my friend Jennifer contacted me and suggested we meet in Paris during her spring break, I said yes and immediately booked train tickets to Chartres.

From the cathedral grounds

This famous cathedral town is about an hour and 15 minutes southwest of Paris.  I left Gare Montparnasse a little past 8 in the morning and arrived in Chartres a little past 9.  I so enjoyed gawking at the different scenery and architecture.  The houses are narrow and long and buildings are grouped in kind of rectangles, and enclosed by what looked like shoulder-high walls. I could see this interior space being filled once upon a time with chickens and livestock and a potager--a kitchen garden.  In modern days, this enclosure would probably be parking spots.  

One entrance with high school students on the outside steps

See the "new" addition to the rear--lighter in color

There were lots of woods and the ever-present mistletoe.  Winter is still much in evidence, although little brave patches of forsythia promise that spring can't be that far away.  Browns, greys, relieved by dark green mistletoe bundles and the broad expanse of planted fields turning emerald made up the palette of the train trip.  Imagine, all of this was once the King's land!

The outside labyrinth

Chartres itself was nearly deserted.  There were some school groups, but few people in the shops or restaurants.  I asked the lady in the cathedral gift shop to recommend a place for lunch.  She did so--a creperie on Rue de la Serpent--an ominous name, but a wonderful meal.  (I ran into the lady later on the street and she asked if I had enjoyed my lunch!)

One of the rose windows

David is at the center of this window

After lunch, I poked around in some of the shops.  It felt a bit odd, because I am accustomed to things being closed for lunch.  I bought some local delicacies to send to my sister and then happened upon an antique shop that was open.  What marvelous things he had,,,I could have had a lovely Pisaro drawing for a mere 700 Euros.  I found, and settled for, a beautiful midnight blue pot for not 700 Euros.  It was going to be a pain to lug it home, but sometimes one must lug.

Th cross seems to float

Very effective placement

There's no mistaking the cathedral--it looms over the city.  I descended the train and proceeded to climb the hill.  You don't need a map to find it--you can't miss it if you look up.  There were some high schoolers obviously on a spring break trip, boisterous and preening.  I was hoping to be where ever they were not.  

not yet cleaned

cleaned and restored

The cathedral is wondrous.  It might be my favorite of all the big cathedrals I have visited.  The owner--I suppose the local diocese--is spending money to clean and refurbish it, and the difference between work completed and work not yet done is striking.  Ornate carvings all over the inside in the ambulatory tell Biblical stories.  There are 3 rose windows of beauty, (but I like the ones in Saint Nazaire here in Carcassonne a little better).  

Side by side before and after--all those centuries of candle smoke wiped away

The school groups that were inside were quiet for the most part and respectful of those who came into the sanctuary for prayer, reflection and meditation.  They took turns with their photos and tried to not be in the way of others' photo opportunities.  I have seen adults who were not as well-behaved.

Church workers were decorating the cross with greenery  and flowers for Palm Sunday and Easter.  Every branch was placed just so, in the French way.

decorating the cross with greenery

But what I went there for was the labyrinth.  It is open to pilgrims to walk only on Fridays, as Chartres is a working cathedral with multiple masses every day.  But on Friday mornings, at around 10:00, the sacristans move the chairs that cover up the twists and turns of the path and we are able to walk it. 

chairs cover the path

When I first arrived, the chairs were still in place and I busied myself with photographs of the cathedral interior.  After I had completed a turn around the ambulatory, I saw that the chairs had been moved and people were in various stages of walking the path.

walking the path in meditative silence

my feet on the path

Nobody was in a hurry....there was no "passing."  And yet, there wasn't any sense of impatience...either we were all walking at about the same pace, or people, as I was, were so lost in their own meditation that passing other people to hurry up and get to the center never crossed their (or my) mind.  Some walked barefoot.  Some had their hands clasped in prayer.  Even though the "lanes" are narrow, people pretty much stuck to the path.  People were silent.  It felt wrong to stop to take a photo, so I very surreptitiously just pointed the camera at the ground and hoped for the best.  

The center

What a metaphor for life....you go along for relatively long, smooth stretches of pavement, and then abruptly turn.  You pass people in the next lane going the other way, but yet toward the same goal.  They are just in a different place.  Sometimes you converge at a switchback with other people, you connect for a moment and then head off in different directions. Sometimes I would step in the "ditch," as my feet are much bigger than those of the pilgrims who walked it 900 years ago.  And yes, once in a while you meet someone going the wrong way.  I wonder what their lives must be like.

I fell in love with this angel sundial

Reaching the center and standing there was a powerful moment.  We are all trying to get back to the center, or at least I know I am.  The walk is an act of prayer, of meditation.  I am so happy to have done this.