Help! Is there anywhere safe to park in Chartres if you have luggage in the car?

Maybe the Chartres Tourist office would have suggestions

Well we did exactly what you shouldn't do -- simply parked in the main city center parking garage close to the Cathedral -- and got away with it. But as the person's post on another Forum topic highlights, it's really not the smart thing to do. We were doing exactly what you did - left Paris with our luggage and were headed to the Loire Valley; we stopped and saw the Cathedral and had lunch. We were lucky but of course if the car had been broken into, we wouldn't have had any recourse.

If you decide to take the risk, then at least pack and cover the trunk upon departure from Paris and don't open it in Chartres. Anything you want for your visit should already be with you in the passenger compartment. That includes carrying valuables with you - electronics in your day bag and cash and passport in your money belt.

It would be a real shame to miss the Chartres Cathedral. I don't know specifics about parking in Chartres, but we have not had a problem with theft in 9 weeks of travel in the UK and France over the last 3 years. If we have luggage in the car and stop somewhere, we don't open the trunk when we stop and we don't leave anything in the main body of the car. We also try to look like we know what we're doing! It would be very inconvenient to lose our luggage, but we don't travel with anything valuable. Anyone who stole our stuff would be very disappointed.

Hope you are able to work something out.

Also, in addition to Laura and Eef's great advice, make sure you don't leave tourist maps, etc. out on any of the seats or visible anywhere. i've always heard that you should toss a local newspaper in the passenger seat or floorboard, don't know how well that works as a decoy, but would only cost a euro or two to buy the paper!

I have left luggage in my car in several "high crime" story areas. My rules

1. Luggage is NOT visible. I won't accept an SUV type car anywhere. It has to be a real trunk and my luggage has to fit. (Packing light helps) EVERYTHING goes in the trunk when we leave the hotel.

2. Nothing else is left in the car. Don't leave bags etc... Car is empty.

3 Remove the giant bumpersticker that says "Europecar" or "Hertz" (They peel off easily as the rental car companies want to sell the used car later!) That still leaves the little bar code stickers, but it's not the "see the rental car a mile off" flag :)

Parking right by the cathedral.

https://www.q-park.fr/fr/se-garer-chez-q-park/parkings-par-ville/chartres/parking-cathedrale

Merci a tous! Your answers were wonderful! I now feel so much better regarding the whole parking situation in Chartres! Happy travels to all!