Carrie in Paris: Churches, Chocolate, and... Cats?

It's been about a week since I last posted, so I think now is probably a good time to you catch you up on what I've been doing (which is a lot). I'll have to give a rather condensed version of everything, interspersed with many pictures, of course, because I haven't been lacking on activities.

I left off in the last post at my trip to the Arc de Triomphe last Tuesday. On Wednesday, I accomplished many things on my Paris to-visit list, beginning with Stainte Chapelle. Sainte Chapelle was the private chapel of Louis IX at one pointe (supposedly) housed the Crown of Thornes. The lower chapel, which was slightly more accessible to the public back in the day, had low ceilings, an altar, and of course a gift shop.

The lower chapel

Up a winding spiral staircase (Paris loves tightly wound spiral staircases) we entered the incredibly ornate chapel. The ceilings were amazingly high, and the walls were almost nothing but stained glass. As is usual in a place of worship, they are scenes from the bible, beginning at Genesis and making it's way to the end, but then, differing from the content of most stained glass in chapels/cathedrals, the last window is about the kings of France and the acquisition of the relics. The amazing thing is that you can't even see the detail on the stained glass because it's so tall. But you know it's there.

Sainte Chapelle upper chapel - it's difficult to get a comprehensive view of the entire room

After that, we went to Shakespeare and Company, an amazing English bookstore that has a cool history (check it out here) and is crazy crowded. I bought a book of short stories by James Joyce. I'm not really sure why that book, maybe to feel pretentious but also so that I could have a book stamped from Shakespeare and Co. I also bought, on impulse, a beautiful notebook.

After this, my friend Austin and I wondered the streets, and happened upon a Gothic cathedral. It was called Saint Severin, and was a really amazing surprise. Stumbling upon Gothic cathedrals in Paris turns out to be a recurring theme, because a couple days later we found Saint Eustache in the middle of the 1st arrondissement, which was much larger. Both are still used as Catholic churches, and I thought it was a funny juxtaposition to have tourists like me taking pictures of the interior, right next to tables that had brochures for normal church events.

The view down the nave of Saint Severin

Thursday, to cap off our first week of classes, most of the group met to sit in front of the Eiffel Tower and eat baguettes and cheese and drink wine as the tower lit up at nightfall. While admittedly touristy, it was a truly beautiful and magical experience.

We don't have classes on Fridays, so Austin and I made the trip up to Saint Denis, a small town just to the north of Paris. To say town, I don't really mean a whole new city. It's still on the Paris metro lines, if a long ride. Saint Denis is home to the first Gothic cathedral. It was so much larger than Saint Severin and Eustache, but moreover it has a necropolis: basically a graveyard of kings of France. We saw the heart of Louis XVII, the more noticeable tomb of Louis XIV (my favorite king of France), and many monuments to Louis XVIII and Marie Antoinette. I'm only now realizing how many Louis's that is.

Vaults (technical term for awesome ceiling). It was very tall.

This isn't even the main door! But it was still huge and elaborately decorated.

Monument to Dagobert, who was king in the 7th century and first put a
religious sight at Saint Denis. That cathedral itself was made in 1144.

Saturday I went to the Musee d'Orsay which, even though it was crowded, was magnificent. Then Austin and I went to Angelina's which has the best hot chocolate and desserts I will ever have in my life. This is not a joke. It's a very fancy restaurant, with classy ceilings and chairs, and hot chocolate that will make your heart sing. I can't express in words what my taste buds felt. Here's a picture of how excited I was:

(photo creds Austin Showen)

This may be getting a bit long, so I'll just quickly say the other noteworthy experiences:

Went to the Cluny Museum of Medieval History and saw the epitaph of Nicolas Flamel, along with other very cool and old things.
Ate mango sorbet that tasted actually like mangoes.
Went to the Bibliotheque Nationale to see an exhibit for my art history class that I have to give a report on. The building itself is large and somewhat confusing, but it's a national library of France, so I was happy.
Went to Cafe des Chats, in which there are many, many cats. To make things clear, I am not at all a cat person. Cats don't like me, I usually don't like them. But it was an underground cafe filled with animals, so it was hard to say no to that. Unfortunately, the cats didn't seem to want to hang out with us. We'll get them next time.
Attended a ballet at the Opera Garnier. The building of the opera is incredibly ornate and beautiful, and I really enjoyed the ballet. It was enchanting.