France A20
Saint Aignan at Chartres, hidden gem
Saint Aignan at Chartres, OUT!
Aire at Chartres
St Aignan's Church Chartres
Chartres cathedral
Etang de la Roche to Chatres via La Periouille
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Day 16
It rains heavily in the night. I am awoken at 03.38 by the rain hammering on the roof of the Hymer, I Iie and listen for a while but must drift off to sleep. An hour later I am woken again, and so it goes on until around 7.00 when it wakes Alan.
We think of the soft grassy ground and our big tyres sinking into the grass. We are a long way across the grassy field! It is still dark, the sun not rising until 7.42.
We have coffee and, as it lightens, look out of the window onto a dark grey day and no let-up in the rain. It has been so dry in France that the ground is probably rock hard… it is, and we have no difficulty driving off the grassy aire. We empty the grey water and toilet cassette but cannot access the fresh water as the column to pay with €2 has been vandalised. We had noticed other campers going into the toilet block with various containers, now we understand why.
We leave by the D14 around 8.30am, past the village of Luant and onto A20, a good dual carriageway road. We stop at Aire de Service du Val d’Indre and have breakfast, the rain stops briefly but is followed by another torrential shower. On our way again by 10.15, taking the A20 (also E9) around Chateauroux, Vatan and Vierzon.
This is an excellent dual carriageway road and we make good progress over the 80km to Vierzon. Here we take the D2020, another good road, straight and wide enough for trucks to pass easily, although it does slow us through the towns: Sabris where we cross the Sauldre river, Nouan le Fusilier to Le Ferté Saint Aubin where we stop for lunch at an aire by the river Cosson in the middle of the town. It is pouring down, we watch the rain as we eat our lunch, bouncing off the road and making big circles in the river. The town is busy, but we get back on our way, on the D2020 all the way to Orléans where we cross the Loire. We take the ring road around Orléans, it is a big city and quite industrial.
Back on the D2020 to Artenay, a total of 100km on D2020. At Artenay we take the D954 to Allaines Mervilliers and then N154, an excellent dual carriage all the way to Chartres. We find the Aire de Camping Car on Rue de Launay, a parking area parallel to the road, but set back under trees. There is room for about 30 campers (only about ten of us today) overlooking a large flood defence field with a good view of the park and Chartres cathedral.
We find a level space and park between two of the trees. These would give good shade from the hot sun, but today it is very overcast, at least the heavy showers have stopped (mostly). It is about 3.00pm, so we put on our coats and shoes and walk the 2km (takes 35 minutes) along Rue St Brice to the old town walls, only noticeable by a tall conical tower made of the old stone. From here we weave through the narrow passage of Rue des Grenets and find Eglise St Aignan set back in a cobbled courtyard.
Saint Aignan's is very old and not in good condition but is a little gem inside. Built around 900 or so, the original church burned down and the present stone eglise rebuilt in the 15th century. It was a place of peace and solitude and full of the spirit. The old stone walls have retained the internal painting and a few tapestries hung on the north wall. Four stained glass windows depicting 12 small panels each of a biblical event were beautifully done with some charming additions (Jonah’s whale with rows of large teeth!). Over the years the new town has been built around it, even using some of its stone walls. The town has not respected its medieval past.
The ‘tear-shape’ of the old city walls is still there in outline but most of the walls have been built over with the occasional section of wall or a tower still evident.
We reach Chartres cathedral which has a magnificent exterior, positioned opposite the old market square and so much more pleasing with similar twin spires than Rouen. It was built to impress with massive flying buttresses and stained-glass windows typical of the gothic style. We enter quietly through the double doors obeying a ‘Sshhh’ sign on the door. Inside it is as noisy as the marketplace. It is full of people, talking, listening to guides describing, wandering around with their audio guide hanging around their neck, there is no peace of even a sense of peace or history in here.
It is built in the high gothic style, but much more ornate (Romanesque) than most. No single columns going up and up, rather columns with more columns built around each with a row of capitals at their top. Curiously, half of the interior was pale stone, the other half was almost black. On close inspection, and looking behind some plastic screens, the whole of the interior is being cleaned, rather like we used to strip paint from old pine furniture. A thick paste is applied to the stonework and left to dry. When removed the dirt comes away with it and the stone underneath is washed clean. The finish is remarkable, perhaps more remarkable is how black the stonework is inside.
Perhaps a thousand years of candles burning has deposited more soot than you might imagine. It is an interesting cathedral, but we leave with no sense of its history or of its place in time. No information or dates about the cathedral or of Chartres or of the old city walls, no written notes (only expensive glossy guidebooks), nothing to help the visitor know more.
We pass Eglise St Aignan again on the way back and agree that, in its own simple way, it was a much more satisfying experience. Even here, at this very poor and simple church, there are type-written notes in English telling the visitor about the church and its origins and those fabulous stained glass window motifs.
We return to the camper; the rain has stopped and a weak sunlight drifts across the park and grassy flood plain. I heat up the spaghetti bolognaise, and we drink a bottle of very light pinot noir, the visit to the two very different churches has given us much to talk about.
Summary of motorhome journey
Total miles |
mpg | average speed mph |
hours driven |
143.4 | 32.3 | 33 | 4:15 |
Totals for this journey |
|||
1525.2 | 30.2 | 31 | 47:59 |