France Trip - Day 3 Chartres' La Maison Picassiette

After a great visit at the Cathedral we packed the car and headed to La Maison Picassiette or "the Plate Stealer's House.

To learn more about La Maison Picassiette you can Google for their site.   But basically, this is a real work of art by a gentleman suffering from some mental issues that collected all kinds of ceramics and made them in all kinds of mosaics.   At one point, the neighbors made fun of him, but they came to appreciate him and his work.  After he died, his second wife offered his property to the city of Chartres.  They own it and show it off.  There is a very good book on it that they sell on site.  The artwork is very beautiful and eccentric.

The young lady closest to the camera gave us a very informative t

After this, we left Chartres and found a grocery store to get supplies.  We have a kitchen for the next 5 days.

We didn't find the ruins we were going to have lunch at so we just headed to our next "home", Chateau de Nazelles.

France Trip, Day 3 6/18 - Chartres Cathedral!

We had a wonderful breakfast, all homemade: yogurt, granola, applesauce, jams and pastries!
The weather is overcast but the sun is peaking through with perfect temperatures.

We headed out for a walk to the Cathedral, a couple of blocks  away

Doesn't EVERYONE park on the sidewalks?!!

If I knew all my biblical symbols better I would be able to tell you who and what they depict.

About every bit of the cathedral is covered in symbols that tell stories.

The Cathedral is under restoration and has been and will be forever....there is so much to cover!  When my husband and I visited in 1989 they were really working on cleaning the stained glass windows.....they still have some to do.

Sorry about the blurred photo, but the 2 bottom windows are examples of windows that haven't been cleaned yet.  All the windows were dark like that before being cleaned

These windows have been cleaned and they are so beautiful!

They have been working on cleaning the inside of all the dirt and candle soot of all the centuries and seem to be about 3/4 done.  During the cleaning they have found that the walls, ceilings and statues, inside and out, were originally painted.  It must have been quite a sight!  In 1989, it was soooo dark inside, and rather dreary.  But, after much controversy. it was decided that after the walls and ceilings were cleaned they would paint to match the original color, which is much like the color of the stone.  It has lightened the Cathedral up so much and is very beautiful.

The famous labyrinth in the Cathedral is still covered to protect it while the work is being done in that area.  I read some months ago it will be uncovered this August.  Many people come to just see the labyrinth.

What is Jen confessing?

Detail story telling in sculpture and glass.

     The altar statue showing Mary's acention into heaven is huge. It shows just how tall the Cathedral is. 

The ceiling restored and painted.  The color isn't pinkish in person.  These stained glass windows have also been cleaned.

This shows the left side has been cleaned, the right side not cleaned. It looks like the right side is in shadow but it is not.

Even the architecture is sculpture!

Everything has been around so long it has layers on layers in places.  This is in the courtyard.

Our next stop is "La Maison Picassiette" or "The Plate Stealer's House"....


______________________________________________________________
Our itinerary from home:

June 18 ~ Saturday ~ Day 3~ Chartres to Nazelles

Morning~ Have Breakfast in our room in Chartres.

10:00ish ~ Pack car and leave on foot to explore Chartres (walk about 5 min)

11:00ish ~ walk to bakery to get some bread and a little snack. Map 3a

Ioos Arnaud

2 Bis Rue du Soleil d'Or

11:30ish ~ Walk to back to car and drive to store Map 3b

Think picnic, dinner and lunch type food and water for next few days.  It will be a while before we can put it in the fridge.

 2:30ish leave for La Maison Picassiette

20 Rue du Repos, 28000, Chartres, France

(Plate Stealer House) (1.1 mileish depending on which market we come from) Map 3c, 3d1

cool place made complete out of mosaic 1930-1964 Right through WW2

1:30ish ~ Leave for Freteval Ruins map 3e, 3f

3:00ish Leave for Chateau Nazelles Map 3g, 3h  Check in time is 5-8.

16 rue tue-la-soif

F-37530 Nazelles

Tel : +33.2.47.30.53.79

www.chateau-nazelles.com

Hello Jennette,

With great pleasure i book the pavillon Lucas for the 2 nights of June 18th and 19th and confirm it firmly on my side.

Kind regards

Véronique Fructus

Dinner Reservation- at LA PAUSE DU TEMPS, 80 Rue Nationale, Ambrose (9 min away but have to look for parking.)

• 
  

France Trip - Day 2 continued - Light show on the Cathedral

After our nap we left for dinner.     The food was great.

A half-timbered house with carvings.

We walked about a bit after dinner, it was the first chance to really see a bit of France outside the car.

We arrived in front of the Chartres Cathedral just in time for the "luminare" or light show projected onto the cathedral.  It was beautiful and immpressive!

The luminare was very well done, telling stories of building the cathedral and others with beautiful art.  Our pictures really don't do it justice but may give you a glimpse of what it was like.

Back to our room for much needed rest and adventures await tomorrow.

France Trip - Day 2 6/17 Paris to Chartres

We flew Air France Air Bus 380.  It is the largest passenger plane currently.  It is huge.  There are 2 floors in it.  We were in Premium Economy on the second floor with the Business class and a few economy behind us.

We were in Premium Economy Seats 83 A, B and C on Flight AF0038 out of San Francisco.  The Premium Economy Seat is a wider seat and reclines more than economy and has more leg room.  Both daughters have back problems so a comfortable seat was important to them. Business and First Class are better but the Premium Economy was much better than the Economy seats.

We landed followed the signs to car rentals, had to take a tram to their site.  The tram was crowded but we managed.  We were to have a Volkswagen Golf and were worried about getting all the luggage in but we were upgraded so we didn't have that problem.

The only problem we had with our flight was that cold air was blowing on the seats in the center area in our section. After a while extra blankets were passed out.

Once we arrived in Paris we had to take a tram from the airport to the car rental area. The tram was really crowded but efficient too.  We were concerned about having enough room in the car trunk for all our luggage.  We didn't want the luggage to show when we were parked in some of the sites we would be visiting.  No problem - they had upgraded us to a larger car.  We went over all the scrapes and bumps on the car with the Avis agent and had her show us all the details of how the car worked, shifting, windshield wipers, etc. We had a little cheat sheet on driving facts in France so we went over that.  Jen decided she wanted to drive first so we took a few minutes in the parking lot to get a feel of the car before getting on the road.  Then we were OFF!

The World Soccer Championships were being held in Paris and since it was a "no game" day everyone was on the freeways crashing.  A one and a half hour trip to Chartres took almost 4 hours to drive.  We were very fortunate to have Jen's husband Robert put France maps on their GPS which we brought with us.  The GPS was so helpful!  We were re-routed a lot because the GPS detected where the freeway was having problems.

We arrived at our destination, "Hotel Maison Ailleurs",  a building that dates back to the 1300s.  It has quite a history.  One of the little buildings on each side of the gate was used as a stable and the other was servants quarters.

Our drive into the courtyard was a bit hairy.  The streets and courtyards were meant for skinny horses, not cars!  We left our mark on Chartres and Chartres left a bit of its mark on the car.

One side of the courtyard where we got a little close.

Inside, the hall shows some of the original timbers dating back to the 1300s.

The beautiful gardens outside our window.

 Jet lag was really setting in so we all took a nap before dinner.

 This was staged, Jen actually had a big pull-out bed!  She did enjoy showing how she fell asleep!

Naps had by all and we head out to our dinner reservations at La Picoterie! 
Great food and wonderful staff!

(To be continued)

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Our itinerary from home:

June 17 ~Friday - Day 2 ~ Chartres

11:35am ~ Arrive Paris CDG (terminal 2E)

12 hour flight

12:30pm ~ Avis Car Rental

Volkswagen Golf DSG

Located in Terminal 2E

******* make sure car has outlet for gps.

1:00ish ~ Leave for Chartres (aprox time 1hr 30min) map 2a, 2b

Collect ticket as you enter toll road and then pay at the toll booth further on. Make sure you have your ticket ready and change.

(type in 17 Rue Muret, Chartres, France into gps for hotel, or Le Brigandville Restaurant, 1 Rue Eglise, 78730 Rochefort en Yvelines)

Possible Restaurant we could go to that is 1:15 from airport and on route to Chartes.  Le Brigandville 1 Rue Eglise, 78730 Rochefort en Yvelines Something for all of us - including Seitan Burger 10:00 am - 7:00 pm  accepts credit cards  - casual! has Parking lot area. Map 2c Call ahead +33130414831

There are tolls roads but they should be easily marked.

Leave for Chartres – Map 2d

As we enter into Chartres, keep our eyes open to one way streets. Roads are very narrow and usually only one direction.

Coming by car you should know that parking in the neighborhood is tricky.Consequently, our courtyard is open during check in time for an easy parking. Do not hesitate to take advantage of this free private parking.

*In case you plan to arrive before 4 or after 7 could you please tell us in advance.

+ 33 (0)6 09 47 75 48

 We will do our best to make ourselves available to welcome you outside of opening hours.

2:30ish ~ Arrive at Hotel Maison Ailleurs Map 2e

MAISON AILLEURS

Maison d'hôtes
17 rue Muret - 28000 Chartres

tel : + 33 (0)6 09 47 75 48

www.maisonailleurs.com

(The House Elsewhere)

Check in: 17^th of June, 2016 (between 4 PM and 7 PM)

Check out:18^th of June, 2016 (at the latest by 11 AM)

~3 persons (Room "Charles V", 199€/night breakfasts and local taxes included, one double bed in the bedroom and one double sofa bed in the living room

~Breakfast is served to the bedroom. 

3:30-7:30 ~ Nap

8:00 ~ Dinner at La Picoterie   map 2f

Reservations 8:30pm Under Jennette 

Subject:	RE :votre reservation
From:	Sylvie Brouard (lapicoterie@orange.fr)
Date:	Friday, April 8, 2016 1:42 AM

bonjour nous vous confirmons votre réservation pour le 17 juin a 20.30 pour trois personnes cordialement la picoterie

----- message d'origine -----

De : "La Picoterie" <jenborcic@yahoo.com>

date ven. 08/04/2016 01:45 (GMT +02:00)

À : "lapicoterie@orange.fr" <lapicoterie@orange.fr>

Objet : Nouveau message sur La Picoterie

Vous avez reçu un message en provenance du formulaire de contact de votre site.

Nom : Jennette Chicoine

Sujet : Réservations

Email : jenborcic@yahoo.com

Message : 

J\'espère que ce ne soit pas trop tôt pour faire des réservations pour 3 Personnes 17 Juin à 20h30 Au plaisir de manger dans votre restaurant fabuleux :)

La Picoterie, 36 rue des Changes 28000 Chartres

(On the corner of Money Street and Milk Street)

Tel: 02 37 36 14 54

picoterie.com

http://www.picoterie.com/pdf/menus/MENU_PICOTERIE_2015_GB_US_web.pdf

9:00ish ~ After dinner walk of Chartres (suppose to be really neat at night) the cathedral has a beautiful light show outside.

10:30ish ~ get back to hotel and sleep.

Remember we need to get our sleep on track.

France Trip Day One June 16,2016 Off to France!

The day has arrived and we are ready to take off on our trip to France.  We have been planning this trip for a year and are so excited!

Just to add excitement, in the last couple of weeks, Paris has been hosting the Championship Soccer Games of 2016, having bus and train strikes to add to traffic congestion, and Air France Pilots have gone on strike.

And on top of that, Paris and Loire Valley have been having floods.

The Air France strike was over 2 days ago.  And the flood waters are going down.


Our first day itinerary:

 June 16, 2016 ~ Thursday ~ Day 1

Check that purses and plane bags have all essentials (plane tickets, passports, $, phones, etc.)
***Robert has checked our tickets in!***

9:30 am - Leave Cathy's house to Mom's to pick her up and load her bags.

9:45am - Leave Mom's for SFO.

10:45ish arrive at SFO and head for   

  Air France SFO Terminal 1, Flight AF083 Priority Economy

11:00sh-  check in at Air France 

          Look for SkyPriority signs for baggage ck in and quicker security line.

With SkyPriority, take advantage of a range of exclusive ground services to guarantee easy and priority access at the airport, including:

• baggage check-in and drop-off in dedicated areas,
• priority line for security and immigration clearance (in some airports),
• dedicated line at our ticket offices and transfer desks,
• priority boarding or boarding at your leisure,
• priority baggage delivery.

*You can check 2 baggage items weighing up to 50 lb each at no extra charge.

*In the cabin, you can also transport 2 hand baggage items as well as an accessory, up to a combined total weight of  40 lb.

11:30ish (or earlier) Meet Jen for Lunch

1:50 PM - Head to gate

2:00 pm - Be at gate and relax till time to board.

2:45 the doors to the plane are closed.

3:45 pm take off!! Put your seats in upright position! Depart for CDG airport Paris, France

Lookie, Lookie!!