A Little Bit of Everything

My friend Roz said that we could not miss the Chartres Cathedral. In planning my route, I looked at the map and couldn't make sense of how I should fit in a trip up to Chartres. It wasn't completely out of the way, but enough so that I questioned how important it was to see another cathedral, especially for a group of young children. We ended up committing ourselves to Chartres and at the end of the day, we all agreed that it was worth the drive. 

The cathedral is the finest example of high gothic architecture and perhaps the most beautiful one in France, according to Fodors. It was spared during the Revolution due to a fear that destroying it would create so much rubble, it would take years to clear the streets. Again during World War II, an admiral for the Allied Forces refused to allow it to be bombed and even snuck across enemy lines to ensure that the Germans were not occupying it, using it as an observation point. He reported back that it was vacant and thus need not be bombed.

The stained glass is magnificent. The unique method of glass production that was used created richer, brighter colors, which depict stories from Christ's life. The facade is intricately designed with carved statues of Christ and his disciples. When we arrived the organ was playing, which filled the nave of the cathedral. Being in the cathedral was a moment the children will not forget.  

Our next stop of the day was Montargis. Again, we drove out of our way to reach this town, but we knew that we would find the most ancient, charming candy store there. In fact, it was the candy store that provided sweets for the kings of France. We couldn't afford much, but each child chose a truffle, I bought several salted caramel chocolate bars and we picked up a box of almond pralines. We tucked these treats deep in our bags, only bringing them out when we really deserved them.

We drove to Barbizon, a quaint town where the first impressionists painted. The town had a walk with mosaic replicas of the artist's works. We picked up macaroons along the way.

Although it was raining, we stopped in the Fontainbleu forest. The area was full of walking paths that wound around huge boulders. We had fun playing hide and go seek and man hunt, climbing up, over and through them and collecting rocks and sticks along the trails.

Our last must see stop in the area was the Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte. Before coming to France I had heard about this palace and it's interesting history, so it was on my list of things to do. Louis XIV's good friend, Nicolas Fouquet, built the chateau and invited his friends to a party to celebrate it's completion. Louis and his mother attended the party, which was the most extravagant party any of the guests had ever attended. It included a feast, a ballet in the gardens and even a fireworks display. The King and Queen Mother immediately became jealous. In fact, they were so jealous they were unpleasant guests, making rude comments throughout the night. After leaving, they devised a plan to throw Fouquet in jail, where he stayed for the remainder of his life, and sent his wife into exile. Louis XIV returned to the chateau and took many of the tapestries, statues and paintings and then created Versailles, using Vaux le Vicomte as it's inspiration. 

We wandered through the great halls and rooms of the castle, understanding why Louis would be envious. We enjoyed our tour, but it was our experience in the gardens that was most memorable. Despite frigid temperatures and pouring rain, we rented golf carts to explore the gardens. We had the grounds almost to ourselves, so our afternoon on the carts turned out to be a wild ride. Sarah, with a cart full of girls, and I, with the boys and Mia, raced around the shrubs, down the grand canal and out to the roman statues. The paths were flooded, so water splashed all around us. Jonathan thought that it was such fun to jump off the cart and race beside it and Emilie couldn't believe that Sarah let her drive. Our time on the carts will be one of our favorite memories from our trip, I am sure.