We departed Paris this afternoon headed for Lille to meet up with our ANZAC day tour.
Before we left we were able to spend half a day finding something new to check out!
And this is what we found! Sainte-Chapelle in the centre of the Ile-de-la-Cité.
This Gothic church was the Chapel of the Royals and was built between 1242 and 1248! Old! The Palais de la Cité also housed the Conciergerie (Marie Antoinette stayed here before she had her head separated from the rest of her). The chapel also housed relics such as the Crown of Thorns (they are now at Notre Dame). The Conciergerie is now part of the Palais de Justice.
The Palais de Justice
There are 1,113 scenes depicted in the stained glass windows which fill the space. Each window is 15m high! Only the King, his family and close friends were allowed to worship in the upper chapel. There is also a lower chapel which was for the Palace staff.
The Rose Window
We also visited the Ile St-Louis, enjoyed lunch (found a guy with a Yarawonga t-shirt on - he had only played golf there though) and had a Paris-famous ice cream.
So, what did we enjoy about Paris? Too hard to pin it down to a few things - the constant vision of recognisable sights was amazing, the history and the French obsession with their story, the setting and the fact we had the chance to spend a week there! How lucky are we?!!!
"That's all there is. There isn't anymore." (Final line of Madeline for those who don't know - Col's favourite French story!)
Posted with Blogsy
Quote for the day
ReplyDeleteIf you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man (or woman), then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.
Ernest Hemingway