The sublime and the infernal (all in one day)

Yesterday I got to, once again, play the tourist. It still amazes me that I can wake up one morning and think to myself "I think I'll go to the Notre Dame today"...

Instead, I decided to visit the Saint-Chapelle--one of the oldest chapels in the city. It was built under the order of Louis IX, and was originally the refuge of many famous relics, most noteably, Christ's crown of thorns.


It is most well-known for its amazing stained glass windows; they certainly live up to their fame. I was fortunate enough to visit on one of Paris' few sunny days--the chapel was dancing with light.


There are two levels, the lower, which was for the servants, and the upper chapel, which was meant for the king and other nobles. Stained glass windows line both sides of the upper chapel, creating a sort of menagerie of lights and colors. One pamphlet said that this effect had become so well known that it has inspired such sayings as "wine the color of Sainte-Chapelle's windows" (:


The detail of everything here always baffles me, and these windows are no exception; each of the massive pieces are interlaid with plate after plate of scenes from the bible. Apparently these are supposed to be read left to right, bottom to top, but they are all so condensed I could barely make out what they were.

The chapel itself is actually quite small, especially when compared to the massive Notre Dame, which is practically its neighbor. It is nestled within the gates of the Palais de Justice, which is also connected to the Conciergerie, which was my next stop.
This change in location inflicted quite a change in mood, as well.

As many of you probably know, this famous prison was the last asylum of many tragic children of the French Revolution--including Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday (who killed Marat in his bathtub) and finally, Robespierre--one of the greatest leaders of the Terror, who was killed by his own precious gulliotine.


The prison is quite eerie, especially as they have set up scenes within the cells depicting the possible living conditions of the prisoners. These scenes include dummies set up in the rooms dressed in traditional garb, or props which would have been typical of the time. One room held a basket filled with fake hair, depicting the sort of reception they would have received in their final moments--their hair being shorn in preparation for the blade.
Of course most of the prision is a reconstruction, and Marie Antoinette's cell has been completely destroyed and redone into a sort of chapel, but they still have set up a scene of the situation in which she lived.

It is hard to imagine how many innocent people spent their last moments within these walls.