A wedding and a funeral

We've been going pretty hard since we arrived in Paris and I said to Maridee, "At this rate we will have seen everything the first week!" So today we slowed down a bit. Yesterday, we stopped by another cathedral (not the Notre Dame) and it had an entry line that went around the block (so we walked right on by!) We got on the Metro (Paris's subway system) early and went to get in line. We were about 50 feet from the door, but it still took about an hour to get in--crazy. Sainte-Chapelle was architechturally interesting on the outside, but kind of plain on the inside, except
that it is the only chapel I've seen that is literally wall-to-wall stained glass. The entire length of the chuch is covered with stained glass. (for the record, Maridee loved St. Chappelle--it's sole purpose was to house the Crown of Thorns. King Louis IX purchased them for 142,000 pounds in 1248. The cathedral only cost 40,000 pounds!)

Right next to it, was a prison called the Concierge (if you can call it a prison--see picture below). Learned something new there. Our use of the term "concierge" comes from that prison. The prison concierge was the one who took care of the inmates--just like the one who takes care of us in a hotel! One important
difference, is we get to check out, but they went to the guillitine. Anyway this is the prison where Marie Antoinette was held before she was be-headed (or is that de-headed?)

That was our morning, so we walked back home and picked up something for lunch. They are big on "for the road" lunches so we decided to try one of theirs. A little cart sells sandwiches, a drink and a pastry for 5 euros. Not a bad deal-the problem is we couldn't quite figure out what we were getting. Maridee got a "french bread pizza" of some sort and I got a "french bread pizza with salmon (we think). The best surprise came in our little pastry bags which they already had made up. One was a cream puff and the other a napolean. After all that eating we decided today would be a great day for a nap! It rained a little last night and so it was overcast and cool today (finally). So today we have had our two windows wide open to let in the cool air. We are on the fourth floor right above a very busy street--Rue de Saint Germain. With the windows closed, you can hardly hear a thing, but when they're open it is very loud. I would say that Parisians like to honk alot when they drive. They say "hi" with the horn, like "toot, toot", and their friend honks back, mimicking them with a "toot, toot".
There is a bus lane on the street, which is open to taxis and motorcycles as well. So if they see someone who shouldn't be in that lane--"tooooooot". It probably doesn't help that the intersection in front of our window is a six-way intersection! Pedestrians are everywhere. They don't wait for the green light. If there aren't cars coming the other way--off they go. If a scooter comes along it's "beeeeep" (I'm coming through! I've got the green light!) People will walk right in front of a bus because they know he'll wait, but they still get a "Hoooooonk, honk" in retaliation. Pedestians are crossing against a red light and a bicyclist is coming through..."ring, ring....ring, ring".

And then there are the sirens. You've heard the European kind in the movies, they kind of go "waaaaah...waaaaah"...high and low..."waaaah, waaaah, waaaah,waaaaah, waaaah, waaaah" You get the picture. These residential streets are lined with six- to ten-story apartment buildings, so the sirens are echoing down the streets. You can hear one coming a mile away and you can't tell where it coming from. They don't go very fast either. Drivers don't do much when they hear one coming. If they're stuck in traffic what can you do. So the police just sit there stuck in traffic too..."waaaah, waaaah, waaaah,waaaaah, waaaah, waaaah" It seems like one comes by evert 15 minutes.

Anyway, remember I said we were trying to take a nap--it wasn't very restful.

In the afternoon, we decided to finish one of our self-guided walks. We did half of it another day while walking home. Our apartment is located right in the middle of Rick Steve's "Left Bank Walk". So today, from our apartment, we continued on. Right behind our apartment is the oldest surviving church in Paris, Saint Germain des Pres. While we were in it, they started setting up for a funeral, we hurried up our pace, but before we could get out, the grieving family came in and we nearly got run over by the casket on its way in!


We visited Saint Sulpice, a very large cathedral a few blocks away. It was featured in Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code". Remember the part where Silas, the murdurous monk, went looking for the keystone under a stone....that was St Sulpice. In the church, there is a big, Egyptian-looking obelisk up against one wall. On the opposite wall, there is a tiny, little hole way up high in one of the stained glass windows. On the Winter Solstice, December 21, the sun shines through that tiny little hole, across the chapel, and hits a mark on the obelisk. Cooooool! Running down the center of the oblisk and embedded in it, is a metal, brass line and when it hits the floor, the
brass line continues in the floor across the chapel, and it ends right in the center in front of the high alter. It's a sun dial. The brass line is marked with dates, and at other times of the year, the ray of sunlight that comes through that tiny little hole hits the brass line like clockwork. Cooooool! Below is a picture of one of the chapels with Mary and the Christ Child. It has a sunburst effect around it making it very spectacular.


As we continued our walk we ran into a wedding party right outside the church. We went on further and ended our walk at the 60 acre Luxembourg Gardens. They were built by Marie de Medici (of the Medici's from Florence, Italy), wife of Henry IV. After he died she wanted a palace and gardens that reminded her of home. The palace was begun in 1615. It is 60 acres of beautiful park land. The view from the front door looks down the avenue to the domed Pantheon ! What a view!

Today was the day for churches. Tomorrow brings new adventures. Since it is the weekend we will probably stay away from the tourist attractions. We will tell you all about our shopping experiences in another blog. Quite funny from our perspective, not so probably from those trying to get in and out of the market. Print this post