T, 28 June 2005 (Chartres, France)
Getting to this point has been nothing short of a miracle. I'm so excited to be sitting outside thedoors of the Chartres cathedral, where in about 20 minutes they will open and I will get to walk the labyrinth. It truly is a spiritual moment, plus there's a sign here saying Santiago de Compostela is 1625 km from here (apparently the road is longer than I thought).
The walk through Chartres is very pleasant. There are some beautiful areas, including two bridges over waterways and a neat alley with 134 steps on a hill (that was fun to climb back up this morning with all my luggage).
The cathedral is impressive and definitely the centerpiece of the town, rising above everything and seen from quite a distance. It really is majestic, like something out of a fairy tale or ancient legend.
And now I'm sitting in front of it.
 | There was no walking the labyrinth. Chairs covered over 3/4 of it. I was devestated. It was such a depressing moment.
And while I'm still a little bummed out about it, I realized that if I couldn't walk it, I could still draw it. |
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It seems that from about 1600ish on the clergy (as well as most everyone else) have forgotten the labrynth's significance. What to me was the drawcard of this cathedral was not only covered in chairs like any other part of the floor, but had no writeup on any display and its only note was a brief marker on one of the floorplan maps. The gift shop had very little on it except the typical schmaltzy tourist stuff that probably no one understands why they're buying or where that particular image came from. I guess not no one, I did. *sigh*
[DIAGRAM OF LABYRINTH TO COME.]