Upper Chapel of Ste Chapelle Part 2

Upper Chapel of Ste Chapelle

The Upper Chapel of Ste Chapelle, where the Royals and their posse got to church themselves. It's wall to wall stained glass, which makes for a very nice viewing just as the sun goes down.

The Lower Chapel of Ste Chapelle

Right next door to the Conciergerie is Ste Chapelle, one of the prettiest churches I've seen so far. This is the lower chapel, where commoners were allowed to worship.

Out of commision

This is the place just behind the church where the pieces that fall and the very worn statues go retire from active service(ie looking pretty for the tour buses).

Doors of Notre Dame

The work that must have gone into the carvings around the doors is amazing. The doors themselves aren't bad either.

Inside Notre Dame Part 3

I'm sorry for the bad image quality of all these as well as the lack of light; it really was tough to get a decent picture in that gloom.


Upclose and personal with the organ.

Inside Notre Dame Part 2

The chandeliers that were the only other source of light(other than the windows).

Inside Notre Dame Part 1

My original plans were to visit both the Conciergerie and Sainte Chapelle, but because of the transit strike, many of the places around town are short-staffed so it was closing early today. I decided to go later on, so I went to Notre Dame to finally take a look inside. It was packed with sightseers, but was still pretty, but gloomy.

The Sacre Coeur Pictures

Not very spectacular, there are many other better shots of the place out there, but here they are anyways. As I mentioned before, this is one of the few churches which forbide any photography inside. It does maintain a holier feel haha.

Sacre Coeur

I woke up early this morning to see the sunrise on the steps of the Sacre Coeur Basilica. It's the second highest point in the city, so I thought I would have a good view. It was a fairly quick metro ride to Abbesses station, and instead of the usual stairs you find at the other stations, this one had a massive elevator to take you up to ground level. I walked a bit to the Montmartre funicular which takes you up the rather steep hill. The regular metro tickets are valid on it, so that was nice. The dropoff is just steps from the Basilica. It was so cold! I have to buy a hat and mitts soon. Anyways back to Sacre Coeur. It's an interesting church, and fairly recently built(finished in 1914, consecrated in 1919), as Parisian churches go. The story goes that during the Prussian war in 1870, two businessmen made a vow that they would build a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ if France would be spared from the impending onslaught. Evidently their prayers worked since the church seemed quite real as I stood in front of it. Cameras are forbidden inside, so google it. It wasn't bad but not one of my favourites. I had arrived around 8:30am and it was perfect timing; I was walking out as an enormous tour group was panting up the hill(I guess they hadn't been informed about the funicular haha). On the way down I met Johnny(definitely not his real name)from Nigeria who asks for money to support the local Nigerian "artists". Yeah, scam artists. He didn't speak much French or English, but thought my Quebec accent was quite cute.


P.S: Not my picture, wish it was, but this place doesnt have a card reader, so I can't upload mine just yet.

Saint Eustache

Last night I walked past the Tuileries on my way to the Louvre to reserve a spot at their Friday night concert. Unfortunately it was completely booked, so I decided to go see the mass at St-Eustache. I walked in, and it was magnificent and very gloomy. I don't think I've seen ceilings so high. They had some scary looking statues of evil looking bishops, and some wonderful paintings on the walls(those statues alone are enough to put anyone off Catholicism). I sat down for the 6pm mass but found out that the organs and the choir are only on Sunday evenings. After 10 minutes of French church I bolted; I probably looked quite rude, but those little wicker chairs are tortuous to sit in for more than two minutes. That ended my evening at St-Eustache.

Notre Dame Part 2

The views as taken from the bridge leading into the 5e (Latin Quarter).

Notre Dame de Paris

The beautiful cathedral, flying buttresses and all.