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On Sunday night, our tour group met in the lobby of our first hotel for an overview from our guide, Patrick Vidal. We also introduced ourselves, mentioned how many Rick Steves tours we had taken (some have taken as many as 8!), and why were excited about the tour. He also gave us the ins and outs of what to do and what not to do over the next two weeks. We then did a walking tour around Chartres, followed by a nice three course dinner at Cafe Bleu...red pepper soup, chicken with a scallopped potato, and a chocolate brownie type dessert...and of course, wine! Great comfort food after our long journeys and the chilly weather. The next day, Monday, was our first full day of the tour. We started the day with another quick tour of the town, followed by a tour of the Chartres cathedral. A 90-year-old gentleman name Malcolm gave us a detailed tour of the inside and outside of the cathedral, including storytelling of the stained glass windows. The poor guy was fighting a cold and fighting the ...

Well, this is my first blog post in a loooooong time. I arrived in France yesterday by way of Paris, met my driver outside of the CDG airport, went to the Montparnasse train station (train + mall in one), then took a 1.5 hour TER train to Chartres. While at the train station, I visited a gift shop owned by the co-worker's husband. She was kind enough to gift me a small box of macarons, and one of her employees helped me purchase my train ticket to Chartres. I wandered around town yesterday late afternoon and came upon the annual harvest parade which included in a parade of geese and sheep. It was really random but very cute.  Not much was open, but I did find a kebab shop with a menu that brought out my inner and Beavis and Butthead. (I'll pass on the ass kebab, thanks.) Haven't gotten much sleep over the past two nights due to travel, and there was an obnoxious American family upstairs from me who decided to argue at midnight. So I was awake, then started worrying about my...