Travel, travel, travel

So, where I last left off was the day before our trip to Chartres. We took the train out to Chartres, which is really just a little village but is also one of the most visited places in France, due to the Cathedral. The town was cute, still retaining some of its medieval organization and buildings. The Cathedral is the biggest gothic cathedral, which definitely says something. Fun fact: Chartres Cathedral's stained glass windows use a lot of blue, which other cathedrals do not. Also, that color of blue glass has never been able to be replicated. When we visited, they were in the process of cleaning the cathedral. The dirt and pollution over hundreds of years clings to the stone and glass, making it dingy and dirty. The cleaned portion of the church was absolutely amazing! The stone was clean and bright, almost white, and the glass was brilliantly colorful. The entire church will be cleaned and restored in 5 or 6 years, and I definitely want to revisit it then. It totally changed my perception of gothic cathedrals. I always imagined them to be kind of dark and dingy, when really they were built to be taller and let in more light. When they are clean and sparkling, I can only imagine how much more beautiful they will be.

Also at Chartres, we got to climb the bell tower, which was fun. However, the long and narrow spiral staircase made me a bit claustrophobic. It was cool to see the cathedral and town from such a high vantage point.

The first weekend in Paris gave us a taste of just how many tourists visit the city. I happened to pass Notre Dame on Saturday, and the entire area was packed. I certainly didn't feel like a tourist after I saw the hordes of truly touristy tourists.

Monday we began a two day trip, first stopping in Normandy. We saw Arromanches beach, where in WWII the British sunk all of their damaged ships to create an artificial harbor. Next we went to Omaha Beach, the site of the d-day invasion. The beach was absolutely beautiful, which was kind of weird. It was hard to imagine the invasion taking place there. There were the remains of sum bunkers and gun turrets that we got to see, and there was a memorial museum and cemetery. I'm really glad we got to stop there, it was very cool to see.

We finished up our travels on Monday by going to San Malo, which quickly became my favorite place. It is an old walled town, and has the greatest tidal change of anywhere in the world. At high tide the water rises 40 feet, and San Malo becomes an island. At low tide it exposes awesome beaches and creates tide pools. We arrived during low tide and explored the beaches and climbed on the rocks. That night we went up on the wall that surrounds the city to watch the sun set.

The city itself is pretty quiet, and very cute. My friends and I all agree it would be the perfect place for a vacation home.

On Tuesday we were sad to leave San Malo, but we headed out for le Mont St Michel. Like San Malo, Mont St Michel is sometimes an island. When the tide is out it creates vast expanses of sandy flats, which are absolutely surreal. As for St Michel itself, it looks like something straight out of a Tolkien novel. Its a town on a steep hill, with the church on top and the city spread out below it and a wall around the perimeter for protection. A little narrow main street winds counter-clockwise around the island all the way to the church at the top. It was really very cool, but the ambiance was ruined by all the people packed into the tiny island.

Tomorrow is the beginning of independent study break #1. I am taking off to Rome for 5 days, then Venice and Seville for two days each. I am so excited to see Spain and Italy!