May 24th, 2024

Tim is still not feeling terrific, but well enough to continue on. We are both thankful that this is a relatively easy day.

CHAMBORD

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, constructed between 1519-1547, it originally served as a hunting lodge for King Francis I. It is the largest chateau in the Loire Valley and is a combination of French medieval and classical Renaissance architecture.

It has been suggested that Leonardo Da Vinci may have influenced the design.

Originally intended to be a hunting lodge, King Francis I only spent seven weeks in total here.

Since its purpose was for short stays, with no village nearby, there was no immediate source of food. That meant everything had to be brought with the group, which averaged 2000 people, each time they visited. Also the large rooms with high ceilings were difficult to heat

…the château was completely unfurnished during this period. All furniture, wall coverings, eating implements and so forth were brought specifically for each hunting trip, a major logistical exercise. It is for this reason that much furniture from the era was built to be disassembled to facilitate transportation. ~ Wikipedia

The King died of a heart attack in 1547, after which the chateau was abandoned for almost a century.

One of the more interesting aspects of the chateau was the center roofline. When Francis I commissioned the construction of Chambord, he wanted it to look like the skyline of Constantinople, known as Istanbul today.

The roofscape of Chambord contrasts with the masses of its masonry and has often been compared with the skyline of a town: it shows 11 kinds of towers and three types of chimneys, without symmetry, framed at the corners by the massive towers. ~ Wikipedia

Built on marshland, they are currently battling some instability in the foundation and are injecting concrete to try to stabilize the structure.

CHARTRES

Chartres is located only 56 miles (90km) SW of Paris. Much of the town was damaged during WWII, however, the church was mostly spared and the original stained glass windows are intact.

CHARTRES CATHEDRAL

Also a UNESCO World Heritage site, whose construction started in 1145.

The blue glass in the windows is a unique shade that no one has been able to replicate to this day. Combining the stained glass, the massive statuary and the painted decorations, Chartres represents some of the best examples of Gothic art preserved from that era.

After visiting numerous churches and cathedrals, I am often looking for something different or unique. A couple of things stood out for me.

There is what is called a labyrinth inside, which is a pattern in the floor. In essence, it is a pilgrimage path. “The purpose is to meditate with Christ on death and eternal life.”

Quite a few people were slowly walking along the pathway, and anyone from our group was welcome to join if they wished to.

The other feature that was of interest was the massively carved “story board”. The carvings were used to tell the story of Jesus Christ through visual images. What was unique, was that the material that was used was chalk instead of stone or marble.

LUNCH IN CHARTRES

Lunch was on our own and we (along with several others from our group), chose a small sidewalk cafe that served crepes. Of note were the bottles that beer was served in that was commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

GATE 1 FAREWELL DINNER

Ana had given each of us a list of choices for our farewell dinner at L’Escarmouche and I’m kicking myself for not taking a picture of it. We had a wide range from which to choose a starter, main, and dessert. Some choices that I remember include:

Starter: Escargot, French onion soup, frog legs, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail

Main: Lamb, Cod, Steak, Chicken, Risotto

Dessert: Lava cake, apple tart, peach tart, pear tart

And there were several other choices in each category that I’m forgetting.

There was also what seemed to be unlimited wine, a fruit infused champagne and live music which we all enjoyed.

We were sorry to see this portion of our trip come to an end, but looking forward to our last three days on our own in Paris!

GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful for another wonderful, successful Gate 1 trip “in the books”. We had a great group, a fabulous tour Manager, a good variety of stops including Monet’s gardens, art, history, reflection at Normandy, nature, chateaus, cathedrals, famous monuments, an abbey on an island and so much more.