One Saturday while Mom was visiting, Mark offered to drive us to Chartres, a lovely little town about an hour southwest of Paris. Chartres is best known for its impressive Gothic cathedral, Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Chartres. Most of the stained glass dates from the early 1200’s and is stunning. We had taken my parents there in the fall of 2011, soon after I moved to Paris, and the cathedral was undergoing a massive renovation. We were curious to see how much progress had been made.
So sorry the market was not going on in this lovely old building
unfortunate mismatched spires- one from the 12th century and one from the 16th
On our way back to the car we stopped for a spin on the ferris wheel.
Consider Chartres if you are ever looking for an easy day trip from Paris. I can’t promise that the ferris wheel will be there, but I bet the cathedral will be!
Mais Oui Paris 
This takes me back, Kate. I love Chartres and visited for a few days during one of my trips to Paris way back in the days when I lived in Dublin. Doesn’t look like things have changed much since I was there. Absolutely charming town and I loved the cathedral too. Great pics as usual on your blog. Keep up the good work as both writer and photographer.
Over 25 years ago, I took the train from Paris to Chartres for the day. Back then, a fantastic British Art Historian (I can’t remember his name), gave amazing tours of Chartres. It was a memorable visit. Looks like it remains beautiful! The mismatched towers make it even better — can you imagine the debates they had in the 16th century over “make it the same” versus “make it taller and better”?