Saturday we took a train ride to Chartres. We took le Metro to le Gare Montparnasse, where we connected to a French regional train. There was great confusion at first as to where to catch the train, but we figured it out. Gare Montparnasse is large, and a very specific train line runs to Chartres, and beyond. In any event, the time we spent waiting for the train made for good people watching. The ride to Chartres took slightly more than an hour each way. On the way, we sped right past the vastness that is unmistakably Versailles. In between catching a few lazy winks, we looked out onto the French countryside dotted with small towns along the tracks. Even in wintertime, landscapes were lushly verdant. We enjoyed looking at the French countryside and the beautiful little country houses that dot the land.
The train station in Chartres is a plain ole station just like the station at Versailles. And when we got off the train, I wondered where in the hell we really were. And then off to the left in a reasonable distance, we saw the gothic monolith that is the Chartres Cathedral. Truly an ancient structure, it originally was destroyed. Then in the late 1100s, a monumental effort was made to rebuild it. Famous for its gothic beauty and for its massive collection of stained glass windows, the cathedral is mind-blowing. The craftsmanship of the carvings and of the stained glass windows is something to behold.
Exploring the church struck me in such a way that set my mind in a new way about religion and about anything influenced by it, including fashion. This might not be a newsflash to most people, but as a Jewish person who has experienced few observances of other faiths, I realized how theatrical Catholicism is. And it took coming all the way to Chartres to figure it out. Good thing. After touring the church and its grounds, we checked out the cute and very busy town before heading back to Paris.
Once back to the city, we did another very touristy and American thing. We took a quick elevator ride high above Montparnasse to the bar on the top floor of Paris’ tallest building for a drink. Montparnasse is a quite tall building built in the 1960s and is typically considered an eyesore. That’s why it’s ironically kind of neat to be in the building. This way you don’t have to look out at it. But from high above, you can look at the bustling beauty of the city below. Rather than paying the fee to enter the observatory, we paid to have a drink and sat at a window that overlooked the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars, Les Invalides, le Rive Seine, and the whole city. If it’s an American way of looking at Paris, then not all things American are so terrible.
We kept up with the American theme by having dinner later on that night at American outpost Joe Allen, located in the area known as les Halles, which is on the eastern edge of the 1st and 4th arrondissments. It’s a fun atmosphere and you can comfortably speak English to the staff. It’s also a great spot if you’re craving barbeque while in Paris.
Sundays in Paris are reportedly quiet, but the reports are a farce. The vast majority of stores in most districts of the city are shuttered on Sundays, but along le Champs Elysees in the 8th arr., and in le Marais district, in the 3rd and 4th arrs., as well as in parks and museums throughout the city, Paris is afoot and out. We decided to be out in le Marais, where shops and restaurants are all open. We like the neighborhood for its charm and for the mix of its gay and Jewish cultures. No wonder why it feels like home!
From our hotel we took a meandering route on the way to le Marais, often the best way to learn about Paris’ neighborhoods on foot. We found one of the city’s fantastic shopping arcades. Although the businesses were not open, the space was breathtaking. Known as Galerie Vivienne, this sort of space was the definite precursor to the shopping mall. A bit further along we happened along a street with a bustling Sunday open-air market. It was great fun looking at all of the fresh produce, poultry, and fruits de mer.
We walked and talked for hours, meandering through the streets, eating lunch at a very popular kosher deli, whose burger specialties kept pouring out of the busy crack kitchen. Cute young men wearing kippot served, while wigged women with their tag-along children ate egg-topped hamburgers served with a heaping side of fries and eggplant spread. It was great to take in the whole vibe of the neighborhood, including walking around the historic Place des Vosges, a gorgeous park with vast buildings around each of its four sides. One of my most favorite places, it was once the residence of writer Victor Hugo.
A surprisingly fun and lengthy stop along the way in le Marais was a visit to the Musee Carnavalet, a gorgeous, sprawling museum in a former mansion. It’s fitting to find a museum dedicated to Paris’ history in its oldest neighborhood. The museum’s collection includes impressive furnishings, fine art, paintings and artifacts. Equally as gorgeous as the museum’s interior are its exterior courtyards. It’s definitely a stop worth making.
Later that evening, we returned to le Marais for dinner, taking a table at a very lively and crowded restaurant called le Gai Moulon – tres gay, for sure, and a whole lot of fun. While there, our tablemates struck up conversation with us. A really sweet couple of women, one lives in Paris, and the other in London. We totally enjoyed our dinner together and wish them well. It’s a leisurely late night walk back from le Marais, past the Centre Pompidou and eglise St. Eustache before we head back to le Westin for some restin’.