La Sainte-Chapelle

I have been to many grand churches in the past and I could say for sure that Sainte-Chapelle is by far the most magnificent. Originally built to house the relics from the True Cross and the crown of thorns, the chapel is near Notre Dame de Paris, by the Palais Justice and Conciergerie complex. It might be much smaller than the grand churches of Paris, and the exterior is modest and fairly simple, but the interior is an overwhelming vision of light and color.
I once read parts of Alice Steinbach's travel memoir Without Reservations and it made mention of Sainte-Chapelle, as one of the most unforgettable sights in Paris. "You must stand in the light." I knew I had to go.

The big crowd did not allow me to bathe in the light and immerse in the place's grandness and stillness, it was still so lovely nonetheless.

The stained glass windows contain 1,134 scenes depicting the Christian story, from The Creation to The Apocalypse. To me they do not appear visible enough to be viewed from the ground level, perhaps one needs to stay in a better vantage point.

It still looked extraordinary even with half of the panels under restoration-- notice that the other half is darker than the right. Thankfully no scaffolding when we were there.


Photos from the lower chapel.


Sainte-Chapelle
http://sainte-chapelle.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/
Open every day
1-Mar to 31-Oct: 9:30am to 6pm
1-Nov to 28-Feb: 9am to 5pm
15-May to 15-Sept: last admission at 9 pm.
Cashdesks close 30 minutes earlier
Admission 8 euros, covered by the Paris Museum Pass

Musée du Louvre

The Louvre is one of the world's biggest and most visited museums with a massive 35,000 piece collection. It will take you 100 days without any breaks to look at each piece for 30 seconds.

We transferred accommodations and now stay at the Chatelet area, 1st arrondisement, which is much closer to the Louvre but thanks to our bad sense of direction, we still got lost on the way to the museum, wasting an hour or two trying to figure out how to get there.

We finally reached the museum, stayed for a bit outside to take pictures and people-watch.


La Pyramide, and La Pyramide Inversée, made popular by Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. The Carrousel du Louvre is by this area, below the Louvre. Plenty of gift shops, an Apple store, McDonald's, and a really fancy paid WC which I really liked.


Really not credible enough to provide definitive directions, which piece can be found in which floor or wing, Denon, Richelieu, or Sully... the place was disorienting to say the least, we just walked around semi-aimlessly prioritizing a few pieces we want to see.

The Grecian pieces. Venus de Milo (Aphrodite, 100 BC) is one of the most popular sculptures. Found in 1820 in the the Greek island Melos (now Milo) - it is one of the few rare Greek originals, as most Grecian statues are actually Roman copies.

Another one of the most popular Greek originals - The Winged Victory of Samothrace (Nike of Samothrace, 190 BC). The windblown details of the gown, and the stance, I find so striking. We spent a long time gazing at this piece. Said to be created to commemorate a naval victory in Rhodes. One of the detached hands are also on display at the Louvre.


Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, and his Mona Lisa.

These are the people photographing the Mona Lisa (La Joconde)

A couple viewing the massive painting opposite the Mona Lisa - Paolo Veronese's The Wedding at Cana. The scene where Jesus turned water into wine.

I really wanted to see this Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (La Liberté guidant le peuple), from the Coldplay record cover (ha-ha). It also inspired the Statue of Liberty.

Other pieces I wanted to see but we couldn't find them: Cupid & Psyche, The Code of Hammurabi, Egyptian antiquities.

After seeing another dizzying number of art pieces, rested at one of the benches at the Jardins des Tuilieries, just outside the Louvre. Watched a pair of lovers sprawled like so.


Musée du Louvre
Open everyday except Tuesdays, 9AM - 6PM
Wednesdays & Fridays 9AM - 9:45PM
75058 Paris - France
Métro: Palais-Royal Musée du Louvre
+33 (0)140205317

Shakespeare and Company

From Notre Dame we crossed the bridge to the Left Bank to get to Shakespeare and Company, the cosy little English-language bookshop in the academic Quartier Latin.

Shakespeare and Company has been around since 1951, and since then the bookstore has been hosting writers in exchange for a couple of hours of voluntary work. It has provided shelter to some 50,000 people now.

The shop is full of new books as well as used ones. Apparently, there are also 8 makeshift beds all over the place, for the writers to sleep in.

A is one of the biggest literature lovers I know and she purchased a hardbound book here. I confess that I am sort of a mild hoarder of books, mostly of the travel and food literature variety, but I find the prices here rather steep, perhaps the markup is mostly because of the location and nostalgia. At this point, I'm perfectly fine scouring the Booksale outlets back home.

One of my favorite movies, Before Sunset, filmed here so it makes the place quite special as well.


Shakespeare and Company
http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com
37 rue de la Bûcherie 75005 Paris
Weekdays: 10am - 11pm; Weekends: 11am - 11pm
Metro: St. Michel / Cluny / Sorbonne
Facebook || Twitter

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

The Notre Dame Cathedral is possibly the other iconic structure defining Paris, next to the Eiffel Tower. Located at the small island Île de la Cité in the middle of the Seine, it is literally at the center of Paris. Notre Dame means "Our Lady" in French, and it is one of the first Gothic cathedrals in the world. Its construction began in 1163, only to be finished almost a hundred years later.


Point Zero and our matching granny socks (it was cold out the day we visited). The center of France and the site where all distances are measured.

The facade and view from the side-- the flying buttresses support the roof.

The cathedral interiors. It is ten stories high and can fit 6,000 worshippers.


During the Second World War, it was feared that the Germans would bomb the church and destroy the stained glass windows, hence they were taken down during the war.


The nave (L), and one of the side aisles (R).


There is no admission fee to go inside the cathedral, however it costs 8€ to go up the tower (covered by the Paris Museum Pass). It is 400 steps up, no lift. If you are fit enough to go up the stairs, you shall be rewarded with a nice view of the city from Paris's center. Pictured, Eiffel and environs, and the Sacré Cœur on hilly Montmartre.


Quasimodo's friends. The chimera / chimères, from the Galerie des Chimères are not to be confused with gargoyles. They actually function as rainspouts.


One of the more popular chimères, Stryga

Angel watching over Paris, another chimère


Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris
http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/
Metro: Cité / Hotel de Ville / St. Michel
Rue du Cloître Notre-Dame 75004 Paris