Kathy, Charlie, Kelly, Craig and I will be meeting for a GTG in Chartres. We were thinking of taking the Malcolm Miller tours. Does anyone know the cost of a tour? Also, I thought the Labyrinth was a hedge maze in the garden, but Kathy tells me it's in the catheral itself. What is it exactly? And lastly, how do you pronounce Chartres. Are the last three letters silent as is Charts or do you pronounce it Chartrays?

Ginger

Hi Ginger,

We just had guests recently that raved about Malcolm Miller's tour.

The labyrinth is in the cathedral itself and I won't tell you anymore so as not to spoil the suprise, such as it is...

And Chartres is pronounced Shartre, phonetically speaking, more or less - and it is a fantastic city to visit.

-Kevin

Kevin,

Sorry to be so dense but is the "tres" pronounced or is it silent? As in Sharts? Or do you pronouce the it like "Shartrez"?

Ginger

Would anyone else like to join us for our day in Chartres? (We will figure out how to pronounce it before we get there!!) Our family will be driving about two hours from Honfleur, and Ginger and Craig will drive about the same from Chenonceaux.

We are tentatively planning to meet up on Wednesday, July 5, potentially mid-morning. We'll have lunch and visit the cathedral... check out the town.

We could probably get together earlier in the week (Monday or Tuesday) if any other Slow Travelers wanted to join us and that timing worked better...

Kathy

Kathy,

I just heard from Brenda that the only day you can walk the Labyrinth is on a Friday. Would July 7th work??

Ginger

MM's tour was wonderful -- just be prepared for a rather unusual tour, since he takes just one very narrow aspect of the cathedral each time. So you could easily take both his noon and his 2:45 tours and be doubly enthralled. The cost is 10€.

GO THERE OFTEN;
RIGHT ON FOR THE LABERYNTH;
THE CITY IS PRONOUNCE SHARTRA WITH A LONG VOWEL SOUND ON THE a,BUT IT VERY HARD ON PAPER TO TELL YOU;
try to go to La Manigua; is a salsa restaraunt very lively in the evening:the food is great at reasonable prices. it is located at rue Pie in the walking section to your right of the cathedral facing at it.
Enjoy it its a lovely town about 2 hrs from where I live.

Definitely do take the Malcolm Miller tour -- he is phenomenal. I have heard that he is not in very good health (in fact, he was recovering from a bout of something when we were there 4 years ago), and that there may be some question about how long he can continue. I also read some reports recently that some people found him rather brusque -- I will say that he has no patience with rudeness so I couldn't help wondering if the people who were complaining had done something to annoy him. When we were there, he was very distressed about groups of students who were making noise and not properly respectful of the atmosphere. (Not our group; elsewhere in the cathedral.)

I asked him after the tour how he could do this every day with so much love and enthusiasm, and he said for him the cathedral was like a beautiful piece of music that he would never tire of.

Ginger, we could do Friday too, if that's the only day you can walk the labyrinth.

I had a chance to experience a labyrinth at Rancho La Puerta (a health spa in Mexico) last year. I just checked, and it is a full-size replica of the labyrinth at Chartres. I attended a group session to learn about using a labyrinth for meditation, and then we all walked the labyrinth. It took most people about 20 minutes, I think. A few moved much more slowly and thoughtfully. Once I knew more about how the labyrinth might be used for personal reflection, I wished I was there alone or with maybe just one or two other people, as I found myself distracted by the others, even though everyone was totally silent. I intended to go back on my own later in the week, but I never did. (This particular labyrinth was in a pretty isolated spot in the woods...)

So I wonder if anyone here has walked the labyrinth at Chartres and can tell us something about the experience. If you can only walk it one day a week, is it really crowded? Are other people watching those who are walking? (It seems like that would really take away from the meditative experience.)

Kathy

Chartres was the reason for me going to France last year...and I spent a whole day in Chartres, and walked the labyrinth TWICE! Do not miss the experience, please...it is amazing.
Here's my trip report page about that day...enjoy!
I'll post more later, as it is past my bedtime!
Ginger, check your PM's...I sent you a huge list of references to the cathedral, as well as Malcolm's e-mail address.

"This building is like a book. Its architecture is the binding, its text is in the glass and sculpture." ~ Malcolm Miller, on the cathedral at Chartres
Brenda

I've done the MM tour of Chartres and it is really great. He wears a little microphone and the clients wear earphones so it is like he is standing next to you. I emailed him first to make sure he would be there on the day we were. He was disgusted with tourists roaming into the church wearing shorts and sometimes carrying ice cream to eat. There are several books by him for sale in the cathedral book store. By the way, don't hang around after his tour is you want to eat in the town, which is wonderful to walk around, but hot foot it out of there as every place closes, as we discovered on our trip. We did find a wine bar open across the way from the cathedral and had a good lunch but it wasn't where we wanted to eat. There was a cool little place on the stream with a water wheel that was no longer serving lunch when we arrived. Go back and look around and shop in the gift shop after lunch. This is if you do the morning tour. The labyrinth is covered with chairs when it isn't Friday. MM didn't think much of it giving me the impression that he thought it was nonsense. Many labyrinths were removed from churches-it was a huge practice at one time-as I believe the church thought it wasn't the thing to do. It is magnificent cathedral and a lovely village.

Okay, I just read the Chartres page from Brenda's trip report. WOW... I had forgotten that from my first reading. (But then there was just so much to remember from that great report!!)

So. Sounds like we definitely need to plan on going on Friday, July 7th to walk the labyrinth. Anyone else want to join us?

(And Lpennin104, thanks for the tip about making sure we get a good lunch-- which of course, is an important part of any daytrip!)

Kathy

Brenda,

Thanks so much for your help. Wish you could come with us.

Ginger

Brenda,

I just read your trip report page again and I can't tell you how moved I was. It made me cry, I had forgotten how special a place it was for you. Thank you for writing about your heart. I will think of you when we are there.

Ginger

Merci beaucoup, mes amis de vos mots aimables...
I would lovelovelove to be there with you. This place was the reason I went to France in the first place...in the hope that I would be able to walk the labyrinth at Chartres cathedral. It was a dream of mine for many years, and it was so amazing to actually BE there.

The labyrinth is inlaid into the great huge floor area of the cathedral. During the week, no one is allowed to walk the labyrinth, but on Fridays, the seats are moved aside and there it is...the ages-old stones, inlaid in a familiar pattern, some stones worn smooth, some with pieces missing, some pitted and deteriorating...a lot like people in this life, I think.

It is more enormous than I imagined, and the process of walking it is whatever is comfortable for you. Sit in the seats along the front row, and watch others and how they walk. Some are very meditative and slow, others walk briskly as if to hurry up and get it over with...interesting to see how each person reacts and what effect the experience has on each person.

There is also a tour of the crypt, underneath the cathedral, dating from the 4th century AD. We were blessed to be allowed a second tour, and were also allowed to go directly to the chapel area and stay there for about 45 minutes unattended. My son was in awe of that privilege, as was I...that whole experience changed my life, in ways that I'm still discovering.

You can join the crypt tour by walking along the right side of the cathedral, towards the back, where there is a little shop with a sign outside of it that indicates that you are to wait there for the tour. We waited there for the guide, and we paid him directly, I think. He was an older gentleman, with Donald Trump hair, who was very familiar with the grand lady, and was so interesting and so knowledgeable. I'd take that tour again in a heartbeat. He had a palpable love for his cathedral and it showed in his manner and in his patience with our many questions.

If you have questions, please ask...I'm happy to share my experience with you. I also posted my 2 photo albums of Chartres cathedral on the

Here's the timeline of the cathedral's existence.
Here's a good history of the cathedral.
Here's the St. Lubin window...with the famous Chartres blue glass! You can click on the zoom feature on this page and get a really spectacular close-up of this window. The window I love the most is the Blue Virgin.
Here is a site that has some good photos of the labyrinth as well as one of the Blue Virgin and other stunning stained glass windows in the cathedral.

Here, you can actually watch the labyrinth pattern evolve! Scroll down the page and click on the butterfly near the bottom of the page...you can see the labyrinth unfold! Try not to look ahead of the little green ball, but stay in touch with it, and you will find your mind slowing down, your concentration increasing and a calm that will settle over you, if you allow it.

Here is a good bit of information about walking the labyrinth...Jill has some interesting thoughts about this process!

Google Chartres cathedral, Labyrinth Chartres cathedral and Chartres Cathedral crypt...you'll find lots of other great sites.

"The experience of praying the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral is something pilgrims are likely to remember the rest of their lives. In using this ancient spiritual tool, one walks on beautiful stone as pilgrims have done for centuries; there is a sense of having entered holy history. As one moves on this circular pattern, different views of the cathedral’s architecture and stained glass come and go, inspiring, comforting, challenging, reassuring. There is a pervading sense of safety one feels within the magnificent sacred space of the dark cathedral. The sounds and sights of a parish at work and prayer add their flavor to the encounter as well."
~ Rev. Jill K H Geoffrion
Brenda

Yes, you must visit Chartres on Friday, and you must be there more or less all day, or at least for a few morning hours, and a few afternoon hours, at least until five pm or so. Only that way will you be able to see all the different windows properly lighted from behind (outside). Do look closely at the page http://www.labyrinthos.net/chartpics.htm posted by BGE. The roundels in glass near the bottom of the page come from the http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-id...ity=0&evl=full-image Zodiac window just next to the Blue Virgin window. Be sure to find your astrological sign in that window, and see what the activity is for your sign. We were tickled to death to see that Loie's Pisces activity was sitting warming one's feet at the fire (and BGE's page shows those roundels!) as she always has cold feet.

Brenda (and BuckyE), thanks for all the great information. I'm now looking forward to this day even more.

Brenda, we are looking for content for the France website! (Have you been following this discussion?You have so much information about Chartres and all those great links. It probably wouldn't require much more to turn these into some great travel notes!

Kathy

I have a partially finished report in my computer on the cathedral at Chartres and the labyrinth inside! One of these days, I'll turn it into a great and glorious bit for Slowtrav...one of these days...

Please do some reading before you go to Chartres, so you know what you are going to see. I have a DVD that I bought in the wonderful gift shop in the cathedral. It is a long, detailed piece about the meaning and the indentification of the ka-zillions of sculptures and statues that are in every corner of the exterior. As well, there is information and great images of the interior of the cathedral. It was a few EEE's to buy, but it is a perfect memory for me, because it shows the details so clearly, and that is not possible to see, and so close-up, when you visit the cathedral.

I'll post some more information here for you, after I get through the rest of this week...my darling daughter is home with that nasty-nasty 'flu that I had a few days ago, so I'm doing all the jobs here for the next few days!!!!!

"Some things are transportable; others, like Chartres Cathedral, you have to go and see. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world; I go there whenever I have the chance." ~ David Rockefeller
Brenda

Dave, Pedmar, Riana, Dude and anyone else are you available on this day?? Friday, July 7th. Last call before I make reservations.

Ginger

Brenda - one of your e-mails included a link to your day at the Chartres cathedral. I read that then over the past 3 days have read your entire 38 page journal of your trip to Italy and France. I'm so impressed with your planning and everything you did on your own - and your expressive writing. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
I went to Italy in 2004 with a group of girls and we spent a couple of days in Florence and Venice plus a week in Tuscany. I've just returned from a trip with the same group spending a week in a villa in Provence and three nights in Paris.
Let's hope we both can go again although it always takes me awhile to forget the ong flights
Pink

awwwwwwwww, Pink,
...thank you so much! I am always happy to hear from people when they tell me they actually read ALL of my report! I was so unsure when I was writing it, because it seemed too emotional, too wordy and chitty-chatty, too long...BUT, that's how it was for me, how I experienced it, so I left it alone, posted it, thinking that I'd likely hear some less-than-savory comments, and voila! People actually like it! How totally cool is that? So, you made my week...thanks!

The next time I go to France, I want to stay in Chartres for a few days, just to experience that lovely town. It is so calm and peaceful in spite of the crowds at the cathedral. I think that there is a natural calmness and respectful quiet among the people visiting, so it never had that noisy, rush-rush of the busy tourist attractions elsewhere. There's more a feeling of pilgrimage.

One of the women I met, who lives in Chartres, told me some very interesting things about the history of the cathedral. We were sitting on the steps outside of the main doors, and I commented to her that it amazed me that this stunning cathedral was built so many hundreds of years ago, and with no external help, like cranes, bulldozers, computers and the like. This structure was built by human sweat equity, and it has lasted so many centuries. Today, we cannot build something that lasts 100 years, and we have all the technology in the Univers at our disposal!

The woman, who was listening to me venting about this, began to tell me a story. She said that in the days when the cathedral was being built, life expectancy of the average man was about 35 - 40 years. So, a man who was an alter-builder, would begin the alter for the cathedral, carving stones day and night, until he passed away. Then his son would take over where he left off, carving day and night. The son also might pass on, before the task was completed.

Her point was that a family would live their whole lifetime in service to the building of the cathedral alter, and because of all of the families of craftsmen involved, the whole community's goal was to build the cathedral, for however many generations it took to complete the project.

She said that today, we do not have that commonality of purpose to bind us together as a community, and so we have people moving here and there, living in one town after another and with no real sense of belonging to any particular place.

The construction of the spires is also awe-inspiring. When you climb the 300+ steps to the top of the cathedral (and you will climb them! It's definitely worth it!!!)you will see that the spires are made of perfectly sized stones set, one upon another, with NO MORTAR holding them together! They stay in place by sheer weight of each other, and only by the design of the structure acting as the glue.

OK, the lesson is ended..your bill will be in the mail tomorrow! Later this week, I'll add some other cathedral trivia that I've learned about this past year...that is, if it's not too tedious and boring?

"No man but feels more of a man in the world if he have but a bit of ground that he can call his own. However small it is on the surface, it is four thousand miles deep; and that is a very handsome property." ~ Charles Dudley Warner
Brenda

Chartres - wonderful town and cathedral.

Brenda - lovely reports, thank you.

Malcolm Miller. First met the man July 17th, 1970 when my first wife and I latched on to his tour. Then he was much more active and the tours covered the entire "program" of Chartres. Free then, with him passing the hat at the end. We were short haired hippies with hardly two nickels to rub together and we ran off without making a contribution. Met him again 3 years later when he toured North American University's lecturing. Mentioned my bug out and he said he remembered me.

Heard that he was still active in 2003 and purchased a private tour. (That sure got us even tarif wise.) The man is the reason I have a keen interest in medieval church architecture. A giant of a fellow. Fare thee well Mr Miller.

Chartres cathedral was the templet for the rest of the Gothic buildings that followed. It is the first on the so called 2nd generation gothic churches. Its design was based on the teachings of the School (Univ.) of Chartres, which was the foremost school advocating a mathematical formula for the relationship between heights and lengths. Prior to Chartres there was not a concerted effort to balance the relationships. The evident visual and structural harmony that is the result of strict mathematical adherence to relationships (3:2:3 or 3:1:3 for example) is the hallmark of 2nd and 3rd generation gothic. So stunning was the effect that the 1st generation masterpiece of Notre Dame de Paris was partially disasembled in the 1220's and rebuilt in the style of the 2nd generation. Later at Reims and Amiens the builders learned to build with signicantly less stone in the walls and columns, thus opening the space even more to the glorious light.

I babble on.........