Chartres City .....

About 80km southwest of Paris, CHARTRES is a small and relatively undistinguished town. However, its Cathédrale Notre-Dame is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe and, built between 1194 and 1260, perhaps the quickest ever to be constructed. It's best experienced on a cloud-free winter's day when the low sun transmits the stained-glass colours to the interior stone, the quiet scattering of people leaves the acoustics unconfused, and the exterior is unmasked for miles around.