The Wandering Idiot

Today was a very lazy 43km ride.  Nothing really to write home about.

I had a nice leisurely morning in Dreux…had a walk about town, went and looked at the church and village centre.

While looking at the church I was paying special attention to the gargoyles.  Most were your average scary creatures hanging off the side of the building…

but one gargoyle had assumed a slightly different position…

It seems that the early church goers of Dreux had a sense of humor!

I said goodbye to my hosts, Anne-Claire and Ludo and set off for Chartres.

The day was beautiful – a touch on the cold side, but the sun was shining all day with just a few wispy clouds hanging about.  What I did have though was a furious headwind…which meant my average speed had come down from about 21km/hr to 14km/hr.  But I guess that’s a fair trade off.  I’d rather have sun and a headwind, than rain and a tailwind.

It didn’t take long before the fields started though…most of my ride consisted of flat fields, inturreupted every now and then by a tiny French village no one has ever heard of…from the looks of them they had a population of maybe 6 or 7 people and some animals…

Chartres is far cuter of a town than I had expected and the Notre Dame de Chartres Cathredal is out of this world.  Absolutely beautiful.  Work on the Cathedral began in the 1100’s …unbelievable… It’s kind of crazy to think people build these amazing cathedrals out of what some may say is a fear of god…I’m not a church going man, but walking through a building of this scale and magnitude and scare god into you!

Incredible place.

In fact you could see the cathedral towering about the field from about 10km from Chartres….that was the coolest site.

I’m being hosted in Chartes by a couchsurfer named Etienne.  We had a relaxed evening – a beer, a bottle of wine, some great cheese and meats, and excellent conversation – what more can you ask for.

Tomorrow I am off to Orleans where I plan to stay for two days.

All is good – I feel like I’m starting to find some rhythm here…

This is Vinko out…bedtime

42km Bicycled Today

485km to Date