Last night it was a bitter defeat "al final" for France, but they can hold their head high. It was a great soccer game for the 2016 European Championship.
I walked along the GR 655 (I explained the GR on day 80) for some 25+ km (15.6 mi). I am using Chartres as a home base for 3 days at the Youth Hostel. I'll use one more day going back, and one day going forward.
For much of the way, I couldn't help but feel gratitude for attaining day 81 without any problems and able to bounce back after what seemed like a grueling day yesterday. Super tired--YES, but no pains. THANK YOU!
Visiting Chartres ranks as one of the Camino's highlights. In fact, Chartres, for a long time, was the most popular pilgrim's destination within France. And, seeing the Camino Shell and distance marker from the cathedral to Santiago was very special (only 1625 km; whereas my plan using the del Norte Route has 1603 km to go--about 1,000 mi). I now have confidence again in being on the right path.
According to tradition, Chartres Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres) has housed the tunic of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sancta Camisia, since 876 (a picture included next to the main altar). The current Cathedral was dedicated in 1260 (a number of previous structures did not survive), and has survived the French Revolution as well as both world wars--I find that remarkable!!!
I went crazy taking pictures, but will only post a few, including one of nine portals, the main altar piece, rose stained glass window on the north side (all the stained glass windows form the most complete collection dating back to medieval times), the labyrinth on the floor in the nave once used by contemplating monks and later by pilgrims (the path out is 964 feet).
