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| Saint-Chapelle |
Saturday in Paris
was another busy day for me. I took the Metro to Ile de la Cite, an island on
the Seine, to visit Saint-Chapelle, noted for its 15
magnificent, wall-to-wall stained glass windows that soar 50 feet to the roof
of the church. The windows depict more than a thousand religious scenes, like a
pictorial Bible. The church was built in 1248 by Louis IX as a fitting place
for what some believe is the Crown of Thorns, which has since been moved to the
treasury at Notre Dame.
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| La
Conciergerie |
Next I visited La
Conciergerie, the famous prison that housed thousands of people until they
were put to death during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. The most famous
inmate was Marie-Antoinette, and they have a replica of her cell, complete
with clothed mannequins, to demonstrate her last days in prison before she was
beheaded. The building itself is impressive as seen from the Seine.
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| Notre Dame |
Just around the corner, I found Notre Dame, another imposing
building that is built along the edge of Ile de la Cite. There were long lines
for free entry to view this landmark of Paris,
but they went quickly.
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| The park behind Notre Dame |
After my stroll through the church, I happened upon a
lovely park located behind it, where I lunched on a crepe filled with (way too much) chicken and
cheese.
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| Entertainment! |
Next, I crossed the bridge to Ile St. Louis, a smaller
island that is known for its quaint shops and pricey living. Musicians were
stationed on the bridge to entertain the crowds, and the music added to the festive atmosphere of a sunny
Saturday afternoon in Paris. While
I was there, I found an Italian gelateria that fashioned my cone to look like a
rose.
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| Amarena cherry and pear gelato |
Next, I rode the metro to Montmartre,
another sight that I had longed dreamed of visiting. I’d heard of its fame as a
bohemian haven for freethinkers, including artists, painters and musicians, and
imagined it to be something like the Trastevere quarter in Rome.
However, it did not live up to the image I had had in mind. Instead, it was crowded
with tourists and souvenir stands, so much so that it was hard to walk down the
streets.
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| Paintings for sale in Montmartre |
However, the majestic white church Sacre Coeur sits at the top
of the hill in Montmartre and people flock to this area
to see one of the best panoramic views of Paris. It’s also a great place to watch the sunset, and the crowd was getting
progressively larger when I left about 6 pm.
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| Sacre Couer | |
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| The view from Sacre Couer |
I headed back to St. Germaine to go out to dinner with the
Ruggeri’s and their friend Tonino, an Italian expat living in Paris.
First we went to a place called Buffalo Burger Grill. You can imagine my
surprise to find an American Western -themed burger joint as a place that
suburban Parisian families enjoy dining. But when they had problems in the
kitchen and couldn’t feed us, we went to another popular French chain, the
Hippopotamus. Here again, burgers and fries were the food of choice. Who knew?
As usual, when faced with large slabs of meat, I chose a salad instead.
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| Look at the prices on this menu: 10,50 euros for a cheeseburger! |
By the time we headed home, it was nearly midnight, and I was truly tuckered out, and happy to
spend the next day hanging out in St. Germaine.
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