April 18 - Day 9 - Stunning beauty + Where’s Mona?

I got up and out early this morning. The guy at Sainte-Chapelle yesterday said to arrive before 9:00am, so I left the flat at 8:30am and headed that way. I stopped and got a pastry at the place across the street, Stratto. The chocolate au pain looked small, and I didn’t know how long I’d be in line, so I got two. He told me at the register to go back for a third because it would be free, so I grabbed another one the way out (and ended up eating two, so there’s breakfast for tomorrow!).

I hopped in line at 9:04. 

Others had timed entries for every thirty minutes, and they would be let in first, and then those in the “standby” queue, let’s say. I played a few NYT games on my phone while I waited, and I was past security just after 10:00am. Not bad!

Friends had told me that we hear about Notre Dame again and again but that Sainte-Chapelle has its own beauty and is often missed. Goodness were they right! It was absolutely stunning. Ken and Pauline were behind me, so I had plenty of time to explore everything I wanted to do. I did the audio tour, went to the gift shop and bought an info book about it and my ornament, and then spent some time reading and soaking it all up. 

I’ve loved and appreciated stained glass windows - and the stories they can tell - ever since I was a kid. It all started with the George Duffield window (“Stand up, Stand up for Jesus”) at First Presbyterian Church in Galesburg, Illinois. The stained glass windows at Sainte-Chapelle comprise 1,113 figurative panels - nearly two-thirds of which are original.

I was in there for almost three hours, and it was everything I hoped for and more! So glad I did it. Picture overload here…

The lower chapel:

Then you go up a very narrow, winding staircase to get to the upper chapel. Something I read last night said to take a deep breath before going up the stairs, because what you see at the top will simply take your breath away.

Ahhhhh. So beautiful!

Here you see the annunciation on the bottom and the nativity on the top. 

On the left near the bottom, you’ll see Moses and the Burning Bush.

The rose window is scenes from the book of Revelation. 

So, so happy!

An outer balcony area…

Noah’s ark!

The spire!

Once Ken and Pauline had a chance to tour it, we went on a hunt for lunch. Our VRBO host had given us a list of recommendations, so we started walking toward one of them. We saw this view on the way…

The VRBO host’s recommendation ended up being more than we wanted for lunch, so we found a pasta place around the corner called Little Italy that was more our speed (and priced more appropriately for lunch). Delish! It was a leisurely lunch. We sat on the sidewalk and watched the world go by. Nothing happens quickly here, so it took a while to get a check once we were finished and then to pay the check once we had it, so we just kept people-watching. 

After lunch we headed across the street to a grocery store to pick up a few essentials for the flat. 

Then we made the short walk back to the flat - going a new way this time, which was fun! - and had some quiet/rest time. Around 5:00pm, we took off for the Louvre, because it’s open later on Friday evenings and we had a 6:00pm timed entry. The queue at the main entrance was HUGE, but Ken had read about another entrance that is less busy. We found that one and it was MUCH better. 

We went our separate ways in the museum. I’m not an art museum junkie, so I opted for an audio tour and planned to do the masterpiece tour. The audio tour was on a Nintendo DS, and I found it very confusing. Apparently I needed to have an eight-year-old with me to run the system and tell me where to go. I saw a few of the masterpieces at the beginning… and then I got very lost. I ended up exiting and re-entering either two or three times because it kept directing me to different wings. I finally decided to focus on the Mona Lisa and get there, which I did. 

Perhaps even more entertaining than the Mona Lisa itself was this group of children right by it with an art teacher. I loved their hats!

Then I found the Wedding at Cana nearby… and along the way, I started taking pictures of things where there was a crowd of people and decided I’d figure out later on what they were. (Yes, you can laugh here! My sister would not be proud of me in this moment - she got all of the fine arts genes!)

We met up at 8:00pm where we entered and decided it was time to find some dinner. I pulled up Yelp and there was a good option on the short walk back to the flat, so we ended up at Cafe Blanc. After a lovely meal al fresco (pretty sure that’s not French, but it sounds good so I’m going with it), we walked back to the flat to wind down.

I was also super proud of myself, because I’ve been doing DuoLingo in French (just for a few weeks). It hasn’t taught me much yet, but I did learn a few things… and it helped me know which room to go in when I went to the restroom at the restaurant!

Tomorrow is Pauline’s birthday, so she gets a lot of say in the agenda. TBD what we end up doing!

I can’t sign off today without saying it feels so odd to be on sabbatical during Holy Week. Odd in that during one of the busiest weeks of the church year, I don’t have any particular work responsibilities. I’m in another country, busy with touristy things, and yet the meaning of these holy days is ever-present in my mind. I looked at the window about the passion of the Christ in a different light today. I considered tables at which we ate meals from a different perspective. My UPC family and my colleagues are close to my heart. Thanks be to God for the love that binds us together. 

It was another banner day! Sainte-Chapelle was at the top of my list AND I can now say I’ve seen the Mona Lisa in person.