Recuperating...

...after a packed weekend.

On Saturday, despite the rain, we took the train to Chartres.  Buying tickets wasn't the trauma it was before when we missed our train fumbling with the machine.  We arrived in Chartres about lunch time and started our walk from the station towards the cathedral spotting likely lunch stops.  It was a grey day and the fine drizzle was icy at times.  Peter, ever the optimist, kept glancing up at the sky for signs of it clearing up, but it persisted all day.

We wandered about the busy shopping area near the cathedral and finally opted to go back to the first place we had seen where we had lunch and dried off a bit.

Nativity scene in shop window

Chartres

Then to the cathedral where we bought the audio guides and gave the stained glass and the sculptures our serious attention.  The cathedral is in the process of restoration which involved much scaffolding and shrouding so our appreciation of the nave was limited.  The parts they have restored - returned to their original colouration - were sparkling.    We have been to Chartres twice before but this was the first time we have studied the windows in such detail.

Cathedral

On Sunday morning we set off on foot to try and find a flea market we had seen from the bus.  It wasn't where we thought it should be and we decided it was probably not a regular thing.  Our circular route brought us back to the flat and Peter set off to buy cheese to go with our soup for lunch.   After lunch we set off again, this time by bus and then on foot to the French Lebanese church for a concert of Bach by a choir and orchestra.  The church was huge and packed.  They played one of the Brandenburg concertos and the other three pieces were masses and a cantata.  We quite enjoyed it, though it was best to concentrate on the sound and ignore the words which in some cases were rather gloomy!   After the concert we headed north along the Boulevard St. Michel and crossed the Seine heading for Les Halles and the cinema.  The cinema turned out to be in the labyrinthine building that was Les Halles and is now a shopping mall in the process  of restoration!   We saw 'Mr Turner' and decided we'd both give it 6 out of 10.  Mainly on the grounds of the photography, the interiors and the acting.  In some other ways it left us a little flat.  There isn't the depth of characterisation you usually find in Mike Leigh films.    We came out of the cinema by a completely different route to the one we had entered by and lighted on a brasserie for a late supper.   Walking back towards the Seine to catch our bus, Peter spotted it coming to a stop at the lights right along side us.  We tapped on the door and the obliging driver let us on board.   And home, tired!