WHAT BENNIE'S BEEN DOING: Weeks 5-6 (Scotland/England, Ireland, France!)
Part 6: Paris Cathedrals
We arrived in Paris mid-afternoon Tuesday, October 2 and departed Friday morning October 5. At this point in the journey we were absolutely delighting in all the amazing history, culture, food music, people, etc. of our travels. And, we were feeling the pace catch up with us. So, we took time to make sure we were enjoying ourselves and not just sight-seeing!
Highlights in Paris included:
1) The Sainte-Chappelle (Holy Chapel) - 13th century Gothic chapel built by King Louis IX to house Christian relics he acquired such as Christ's crown of thorns. The chapel is well known for its stunning stained glass: 15 windows, each 50 feet high depicting 1,113 from the Bible, with the final window depicting the history of the relics of Christ's Passion. The altar windows display images from Jesus' birth and death as well as John the Baptist and John the evangelist. The nave windows begin with Genesis and move through selections of the history of Israel concluding with selections from the prophets and writings.The Rose window over the entrance/exit portrays scenes from the Apocalypse of John (Revelation).
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| Altar Windows of Jesus' Birth and Passion |
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| Genesis, Exodus & Numbers Windows |
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| Rose Window (Revelation) |
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| Ceiling designed to resemble the night sky |
In addition to the mesmerizing stained glass, Sainte-Chappelle also greeted us with incredible intricately carved stone doorways displaying Bible stories!
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| Adam & Eve |
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| Cane & Abel, Noah's Ark |
2) Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) - So, one of the ways we paced ourselves to make sure we were "enjoying" what we were seeing is that we opted not to take a formal tour of Notre Dame. Rather, we just enjoyed taking in the inspiring architecture and amazing art within its walls on our own. However, we did have reservations to climb the towers, so we opted to view the inside of the cathedral on our first full day in Paris and wait to climb the tower on our second day.
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| Cathedrale de Notre-Dame de Paris |
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| Detail of the Doors |
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| View from the Top of Notre-Dame (Eiffel Tower left horizon) |
While the architecture of Notre Dame is certainly inspiring, the collection of art inside the cathedral fascinated us in ways we had not expected.... primarily because of the variety of styles, cultures and subjects represented.
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| Asian Madonna and Child |
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| Frescoes featuring Mary Magdalene |
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| Joseph and the Boy Jesus |
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| Russian Icon of "The Mother of God" |
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Life of Jesus Wood Carvings(L to R: Presentation in Temple, Boy Jesus, Baptism by John, Wedding @ Cana)
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Because we took time to pace ourselves, we thoroughly enjoyed both Sainte-Chappelle and Notre Dame. We also had other great experiences in Paris, which you will hear about and see in my next post!
Au revoir for now...
