Church in Paris

On Sunday morning we took the train to the Paris First Ward.  It was near the Pompidou. We saw is guy on our way and this strange street art square.

The church is in an old building.  You drive, or walk, through this arch to the inner courtyard and all the rooms surrounding the square are the various church rooms.  We were in a small room, directly across from the entrance to the courtyard, where we watched a video feed of sacrament meeting in the adjoining room and listened to an English interpreter. There were many visitors there that day.

After church, we stopped for a croissant and a short rest in the square in front of the Ministry of Defence.  There was a big map on the ground of the square that showed the 1914 defensive installations of Paris.  The legend showed what they were such as bunkers, trenches, baracades, etc.  Here's a panoramic shot of the building.

And a section of the map.

One of the doors. 

Of course there was a Diwali half a block down from the church.

We then made our way to Notre-Dame where we were met by crowds and lines that had to be seen to be believed.  Like at the Louvre, the whole front square and back garden were teaming with people.  And because it was Sunday, it was closed from 1:30 to 6:00. Even though it was closed for hours, there were still long lines of people waiiting to get inside. We walked around and took pictures of the outside, which is still amazingly impressive.

Work began on the cathedral in 1163 and it's wild to imagine how is must have looked and felt to the Parisians of the time.  The tallest and biggest thing around, you can hear the bells ring all over the city.  It must have truly reinforced their puny place in the cosmos and elevated the church and the priests as the intermediaries between man and God.  The labor used to build such a structure that long ago, not to mention the resources, must have been staggering.  No wonder they took centuries to be completed in some cases.  

Notre-Dame was built on the site of an ancient Roman temple circa about 50 AD, and pillars from that original structure are in display at the Cluny. Hint for world domination or just conquering another land: always build your God's house on top of the conquered culture's. Reinforces who's in charge now.

And then we gave up and went to Sainte Chapelle to see the stained glass.  It was also crowded, but nothing like the other biggies.  It is small, but exquisite. Also of medieval construction, the stained glass work and interior painting is miraculous.  Most of the glass dates to the 1200s. And it is constantly being restored.  I'm sorry that the rose window was not open when we were there.  It is being worked on.  But here's a few highlights.

When you first walk in there is a little gift shop on the ground floor in this room.

Then you wind up, up, up these tight spiral stone stairs to the main alter room.

A panoramic shot of the room with the blocked off areas at each side.

Each window is different and depicts various bible stories and stories of saints and martyrs. 

The detail on the ceiling, walls, and floor is incredible.

I can't even imagine how it would have been to live when the world was so dark and go into a cathedral like this and see the light streaming through those windows.  They must have thought that was how heaven looked.  

After Sainte Chapelle, we decided to continue our medieval journey and go to the Musee National du Moyen Age, or the Cluny, to see the unicorn tapestries and other medieval artifacts.  Ever since reading about the unicorn tapestries in high school, I have wanted to see them.  They did not disappoint.

Surprisingly, no photo restrictions here.

The Cluny was originally a Roman bathhouse circa 200 AD.  The remains of the fridgidarium are still downstairs where it is nice and cool.  The bath room is cool, both literally and figuratively because it has 40 foot high ceilings built by the Romans, and you can see one of the baths, stone alcoves to relax  in after the cool bath, and those old Roman columns built to honor Roman gods that were excavated  from the sight of Notre-Dame.  In a neighboring room you can see the stone heads from Notre-Dame.  According to Rick Steves, the 21 stone heads are the kings of Judah, sculpted between 1220 and 1230, and used to grace the front of Notre-Dame.  In 1793 an angry mob of Revolutionaries mistook them for the kings of France and decapitated them.  They were buried in some Frenchman's back yard for centuries when some workers accidentally unearthed them in 1977, much to the surprise of an astounded world. The ones on Notre-Dame are replicas. 

They also have some examples of medieval stained glass from St. Denis and St. Chapelle that you can see up close and personal.

They also have a very large collection of carved ivory religious artifacts that includes alter pieces, boxes, handles, and lots of statuary. Most is elephant, but some is narwhal. 

They had several alter pieces similar to this one carved from wood.  The detail and 3D aspects were incredible.

A Virgin Mary kind of Matryoshka doll

I loved the illuminated manuscripts

And all kinds of elaborate religious containers.

And, of course, lots of tapestries.

And the tapestries are huge--the people about life-sized.

When we returned to modern times, we continued Hannah's Pinterest vacation quest and searched out a creperie for dinner where we had both savory and sweet crepes.  Delish!

The final destination of the day was one of my picks.

Heaven.

Although Matt was disgruntled because it was sososososo crowded and he wanted a book they wouldn't sell him because they said it was part of their library.  I can't believe the nerve of them! Sheesh!