Very slow start to our last day in Paris as Sue didn't have a great night sleeping due to coughing. We have booked a visit to Sainte Chapelle (Holy Chapel) for 1.30pm. It's a royal chapel in the Gothic style and was the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century.
Construction began sometime after 1238, and the chapel was consecrated on 26 April 1248. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns - which was later held in the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral until the 2019 fire (which it survived).
The chapel was damaged during the French revolution and became a laboratory for the restoration of historical monuments in the 19th century. Here's the outside of the chapel from the left, centre and back:
The chapel is divided into 15 stained glass bays of 15m in height, with 1113 stained glass panels relating to scenes of the Old and New Testament telling the history of the world according to the Bible. It was restored in the 19th century and contains one of the most extensive 13th century stained glass collections anywhere in the world. It currently operates as a museum by the French Centre of National Monuments. Here's some pics of inside the chapel and those 15 stained glass bays of 1113 stained glass panels:
Part of our ticket included a visit to the 'Conciergerie' - a former courthouse and prison in Paris that housed Marie Antoinette before she died. Had no idea what to expect but it was a fantastic interactive experience. The shell of the building remains, but what they've done is replicate how things would've been on a hand held tablet. You walk around each area, scan an image and as you view the room again through the tablet, it morphs in to what it looked like back in the day.
This is the foyer area of 'Conciergerie':
As you click on chosen markers, it provides a brief explanation. They provide a map, so you know where you are and where you should be heading, a treasure hunt to encourage you to click on everything, as well as a 'selfie' in period costume where you choose which outline you want and take a selfie - which they will then email it to you. Sadly I hadn't received mine at the time of writing this blog - so that may just be something I keep to myself 👌.
Absolutely brilliant, and it keeps their costs down as they don't need to maintain expensive aging artefacts. They even added a timeline to one room. I viewed it as a meeting place, but when I clicked on the timeline, and viewed the room again through the tablet, it was 100yrs later and had converted into a court room during the French revolution - bloody brilliant.
It provided me with some great ideas for training scenarios as well. We even viewed some of Marie Antoinette's belongings and were able to read about the 'women' involved in the revolution who refused to follow the norms of the day - and of course were all murdered. This is Marie's (we are on 1st name basis now) chair and bonnet:
Here as some of the keys used to keep the prisoners locked up:
Fascinating way to spend a few hours.
We headed off home, so Sue could rest up and keep fighting the good fight against her cold. Thankfully I have no symptoms and feel fine.
I am absolutely converted when it comes to French baguettes and their croissants - ridiculously yummy. On my last night, I was finally able to mimic a French person, who is consistently seen walking around as such:
And to top off my stay in Paris, I must mention a great advertisement postered throughout their train stations that never failed to raise a smile on my dial - Brazilian Bum Bum Cream (bottom right - no pun intended):
We've ordered a taxi for 9am tomorrow to take us to Gare du Nord - cos we just can't face all those steps again and quite frankly it's not fair on Sue.
Catching the train to Amiens tomorrow which is only about 70 mins - so will be great to keep Sue warm and resting for a bit longer.
What a day. Have enjoyed experiencing Paris and seen everything on my bucket list - so will be leaving it with a smile and fond memories.
Til next time - work hard, or don't, it's all up to you!!
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