Eure-et-Loir: Chartres Cathedral and the Beauce Grain Belt
Eure-et-Loir is dominated by Chartres Cathedral, whose two mismatched spires are visible across the flat Beauce plain for miles. The cathedral's stained glass, particularly the twelfth-century 'Chartres blue,' is unrivalled. Chartres, the prefecture, is a city of about 39,000 that draws visitors primarily for the cathedral but also for the Chartres en Lumieres light show that illuminates the city's historical buildings each summer.
The Beauce, France's grain belt, covers much of the department. Dreux, the second town, has a royal chapel that is the burial place of the Orleans branch of the French royal family. The department has about 433,000 residents. The Perche, in the department's southwest, is hilly pastoral country that contrasts with the flat openness of the Beauce. The department's proximity to Paris (Chartres is under an hour by train) has made parts of it commuter territory.
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Eure-et-Loir is dominated by Chartres Cathedral, whose two mismatched spires are visible across the flat Beauce plain for miles. The cathedral's stained glass, particularly the twelfth-century 'Chartres blue,' is unrivalled. Chartres, the prefecture, is a city of about 39,000 that draws visitors primarily for the cathedral but also for the Chartres en Lumieres light show that illuminates the city's historical buildings each summer.
The Beauce, France's grain belt, covers much of the department. Dreux, the second town, has a royal chapel that is the burial place of the Orleans branch of the French royal family. The department has about 433,000 residents. The Perche, in the department's southwest, is hilly pastoral country that contrasts with the flat openness of the Beauce. The department's proximity to Paris (Chartres is under an hour by train) has made parts of it commuter territory.
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