This morning started off smoothly. We had a quick croissant breakfast in the room, packed up and checked out. After parking nearby, we went into Beaune and visited the L’Hôtel-Dieu. Laura and I had visited it 5 years ago, but it was interesting to see the kids response.
They had kid-oriented audio guides for Katie and Elodie and the kids all basically ran their own tour and looked at what they wanted to see. It was fun to see them engaged.
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| The Blind-Worm and the Fly depicted on the knocker were the narrators on the kids' audioguides. Finding them was a highlight for the kids. Apparently, there's some story connected with them, but I don't know it. |
After the museum, we got some meat, cheese and bread and had a picnic in the town square. The kids lobbied for and won more rides on the little carousel.
Then, it was time for the 3 hour drive to Chartres. It was uneventful, but full of nice French countryside sights.
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| A driveby sighting of Château de Châteauneuf. |
Our B&B in Chartres is tiny and right across the street from L'église Saint-Pierre in the center of Chartres. It's very cool to be in the middle of things.
Before dinner, we walked up to the cathedral and peeked inside. Then, we found a cool, low-key creperie and salad place that was perfect for our mood. It was nice because we were the only English speaking people in the place, too. Always a good sign. I am constantly amazed at how much French I can summon when I absolutely have to. Three years of junior high school French classes were not wasted.
On the way back to the our B&B, we discovered yet another church in Chartres, the Église Saint-Aignan. We became very intrigued about the history of this trio of churches and how they all came to be here.
Tomorrow, the plan is to see the cathedral and all Chartres has to offer, Versailles on Friday and Giverney on Saturday before turning in the car and heading into Paris.
