I had a very leisurely tour of the Conciergerie during which I sat and contemplated my surroundings in the chapel and revisited much of it while retracing my way back to the entrance. The exit was right next to it. I then had time for an equally leisurely lunch.
I walked just one block to a café called L’Annexe situated just across the street from the Palais de Justice. Their food was quite good and the staff very friendly. The fellow who waited on me told me that people tended to line up at the entrance of Sainte Chapelle about an hour before their scheduled time. So I did just that. They ended up being about a half hour off on their timings and so, although my ticket was for 2:30pm, I didn’t get in until 3pm.
I have visited a lot of basilicas, cathedrals, churches, and chapels in my travels. Many of them have been quite beautiful. Sainte Chapelle is truly one of the most stunningly gorgeous I have ever seen. It is very much like being inside of a jewel box. It is one of the last remaining parts of the royal palace (along with the Conciergerie) and was built in the middle of the 13th century by King Louis IX (the future Saint Louis) to house the most precious relics of the purported Crown of Thorns and a fragment of what he believed was the True Cross.
Back in medieval times, great value was being attributed to such relics. The owner of these items held considerable prestige. After spending two years in negotiations with the Emperor of Byzantium, Louis managed to get his hands on the Crown of Thorns. A couple years later, he acquired roughly 22 additional relics, including the piece of the cross. He then decided to build a building special enough to house these treasures.
The building consists of two chapels. The upper chapel connected directly to the king’s apartments and was reserved for the king, his family and guests. The lower chapel served the palace staff. The lower chapel is quite lovely itself. But the upper chapel is breathtaking.
Fortunately, after standing in line for an hour and a half, walking around the lower chapel, and climbing the steep turnpike stairs to get to the upper chapel, there were a few chairs along the edges of the room. When I managed to get one, I leaned back and took the photo included here looking straight up at the ceiling.
The first time I had seen Sainte Chapelle, I was completely overwhelmed. This time, I knew what I was about to encounter. However, it had been completely and carefully cleaned a few years ago, so the effect of those incredible windows was even more amazing than I remembered.
The gallery of relics was restored during the 19th century after having been destroyed during the French Revolution. The reliquaries and the shrine were melted down and most of the relics disappeared. The Crown of Thorns, however, managed to survive and became housed in the treasury of Notre Dame in 1806.
After taking my time in the upper chapel and venturing out onto the balcony, I returned to the lower chapel and roamed around in there before heading out. They had several stalls selling keepsakes, which I also perused. I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, so I left with just the photos I had taken.
I returned to the Café L’Annexe to have some hot chocolate and some chocolate mousse before starting the walk back to the hotel. On my way, I stopped in at a Merci Jerome! boulangerie/patisserie/café on just the other side of the Seine after crossing the Pont au Change and purchased some takeaway items for dinner. That way I could just go straight to my room and stay there. I still had about a glass and a half worth of a nice, light Reisling in my little fridge. It went quite well with my dinner.
Next time – A Walking Tour of the Marais
