Historical Paris

Today we spent the morning on the Ile de la Cite, the island in the middle of the Seine where Paris was founded.  First we visited Sainte Chappelle, an eleventh century chapel built under the reign of King Louis IX to house the "real" crown of thorns, which he purchased from the ruler of Constantinople. In today's Euro equivalent, Louis spent an astounding €500 million for the crown, €370 million for the reliquary that housed it and only €150 million to build the chapel. The chapel, which was built in a mere six years, contains some of the most beautiful stained glass In the world. The glass has more than 1100 panels, each of which depicts a Biblical story. Since the general populace couldn't read, the panels were used to teach Biblical concepts. Ste. Chappelle now operates only as a museum and is not used as a church. 

After Sainte Chappelle, we visited Notre Dame,  which is celebrating its 850th anniversary this year and which is still an operational Catholic church. The picture below shows the central facade of the church. Below the Last Judgment, those below Jesus on his right are receiving crowns and are headed to heaven. Those  on his left are in chains and are being led by Satan to eternal torture. A very graphic reminder of why people should attend church.  

There's a far more bizarre statue to the left of the main entry. Look at the figure holding his head in his hands, St. Denis. He was the bishop of Paris and was martyred. Reputedly, he reached down to pick up his head after he was beheaded, walking north out of Paris for quite some distance before he eventually succumbed to his martyrdom.  

Notre Dame cathedral is almost more beautiful from behind than from the front. Here the structure of its flying buttresses and spires can be seen. Although visitors are allowed to climb to the top of the north tower, the line was long and the wind cold, so we declined. 

While crossing the bridge from Notre Dame to the Left Bank, we noticed thousands of padlocks locked to the bridge railings. They symbolize eternal love, as those who place the padlocks "lock in" their love as they throw away the key into the river. 

 In the afternoon we visited the Musee d'Orsay, which is a converted steam train station.  No photos were allowed of the art in the interior. The only photo I took looks out of one of its transparent clock windows toward the Montmartre art district, which we will be visiting tomorrow afternoon. If you look closely, you will see Sacre Coeur cathedral at the top of Montmartre.