Chartres and Chenonceau

The day after the Study Abroad students and my parents arrived, we departed for a trip by bus to Normandy.

We started off our trip with a visit to the Chartres Cathedral. Our guide, the inimitable Malcolm Miller, kept us entertained and attentive, even though it was freezing cold within the cathedral. He taught us about its history and about reading stained glass windows, how the masses would have been illiterate but could read the scripture stories in the windows. This is the only photo I got because I was busy comforting Eva, who was freezing and couldn't be distracted by Mr. Miller because she couldn't seem to acclimate herself to his British accent. :)

After a quick lunch and an encounter in which an ATM machine ate Marc's debit card (!) we proceeded to Chenonceau.

It was raining so hard, I don't even know how to describe it. Even with umbrellas, we were soaked through.

rainy view of the gardens

Eva holding her fabric shoes in front of the fire in a vain attempt to dry them out!

My mom trying to engage Eva. (Did I mention she had wet feet with blisters, and she didn't particularly want to be at the château?)

Apparently, the salamander and the ferret were royal symbols!

I found it humorous that this guy appears to be holding a security camera.

side view

one of the outbuildings

the grounds were enchanting!