La Veille Ville

Chartres is an incredibly old town. The cathedral was re-built in 1096. And the city was here long before the first cathedral was ever built. As with most Catholic buildings in France, it was actually built on top of a pagan worship site. Most of the area immediately around the cathedral has been modernized to accommodate tourists, but once you get behind the cathedral and closer to the Eure river, you really get to see the old town. Since it was such a hot trading spot, proximity to the river was important and the richest people lived there to help their trading businesses. Now the richest people live there because it’s “historic” prime realty right on the water. Amazing how things don’t really seem to change. The walk down to the river is either very steep, or involves a massive number of stairs, but the views make the knee pain totally worthwhile. Here’s a few photos from my trip down to the old section of town last weekend.

That's another assistant, my friend Danielle, enjoying the view.