Chartres - Ambulatory

Chartres is the rather small Chef-lieu de département Eure-et-Loire in France, about 100km southwest from Paris. The gothic cathedral Notre Dame is situated in the center of the city, surrounded by a romantic quarter with medieval charm. The church with it's enormous dimension towers above everything.

But let's start with the interior of Chartres cathedral, because when I arrived there was a heavy cloudburst and I absconded inside without a chance to look at the architecture xD
It's amazing inside, but (marvellous for the art historian, unfortunate for the photographer) Chartres is still undergoing widespread restoration work. Protective covers were installed everywhere in the nave, the only truly visible thing was the choir, which is moulded in the taste of baroque. Furthermore, the restored colouring of the walls is very bright yellow and the modern illumination feels rather inconventient... Currently it's hard to take good shots there :/ Nevertheless, it's an awesome architecture and place to be - I'm very glad I took a day to visit it.

Here you can see a view from the vertex of the choir ambulatory (right behind the main altar) up to the vaults of the presbytery and the crossing. Almost everything you can see from this angle is restored gothic architecture, with some traces of former coats of paint at the columns at the bottom.

Enjoy!