Photo : Jean-Christophe Benoist / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Chartres
Chartres lies about 90 kilometres south-west of Paris, on the Eure, at the edge of the Beauce plateau, of which it is the main town. Prefecture of Eure-et-Loir, it was already the capital of the Carnutes in Antiquity before becoming an important religious centre.
Its Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979. It preserves the Veil of the Virgin, a relic that has drawn pilgrims for centuries and supported the town's medieval prosperity. The town is organised into an upper town, around the cathedral, and a lower town, near the river, where the Saint-André district is found.
The Maison Picassiette, a house entirely covered in mosaics, is a singular visit outside the centre. Every year, the event "Chartres en lumières" showcases the town's heritage, cathedral included, with projections. The sloping streets down to the Eure are easy to walk, and the town is easily discovered in half a day from Paris.
