Such Great Heights

     Looking at a hand-sized portion of wall sculpture (Is that even the right term?), an intricate web of carved stone depicting some sort of religious scene. I turned to Amelia and joked, "That'd take my whole life to do." It makes me think, can you imagine if LinkedIn were around in the Middle Ages? You'd have to write something like, Title: Construction Worker, Location: Chartres Cathedral, Time Period: My entire life, Description: Eternally working my ass off. When you think about it, none of us has done anything so amazing and we wouldn't stand a chance in the applicant pool.

     We were standing in the Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres in--you guessed it--Chartres, France, around an hour southwest of Paris by train. March 16 was a beautiful Sunday with warm weather and not a cloud in the sky, which was shocking to both Amelia (a friend from Central College Abroad who's in Paris for the TAPIF program) and I as now-seasoned faux Parisians. The unseasonable weather had caused an outbreak of extreme air pollution caused by sudden temperature spikes, a lack of wind and cool nights. I'd never seen smog like that before in my entire life and the conditions were likened to Beijing, which is really unnerving. As a result, Paris offered several days of free transportation in Ile-de-France, so Amelia and I were quick to plan a day trip to Chartres.

     We took the free train (I have serious doubts that it was, in fact, free that day. I think we were just lucky we never got caught.) from the Gare du Montparnasse and spent the day at our leisure, eating baguettes and croissants, sipping coffee on a terrace, walking, talking and in general awe of what's considered to be France's best Gothic cathedral. Last summer, my dad and I watched an episode of Nova called "Building the Great Cathedrals" (You can watch it here), which included the Chartres Cathedral and the difficulties it faces as stress continues to build on the arches and vaulted ceiling. I can't even understand how arches hold themselves up. I'll just add them to my list of things I don't understand, in good company with electricity, the Internet, outer space and French cheeses.

     We climbed to the top of the north tower and had the most spectacular view of the town and the surrounding countryside. I heard you can even see the Eiffel Tower on a clear day, but you know, Paris was being all Beijing that day so we couldn't. Drinking an espresso on a sunny terrace without a coat on and reminiscing about our old adventures in Paris, it felt so great to feel the sun and bask in the quietness and serenity of life outside the capital. And to breathe oxygen instead of smog. 

Chartres, je t'aime bien. 

Love,

Rachel