PARIS DAY 5 SAINTE CHAPELLE
Our last day! I was frantic to cross off as many things as possible! We hadn’t really shopped much, other than Hermes stores whenever we walked by one, so Hillary and I stopped by Le Bon Marche in the morning, which is located just down the street from Hotel Lutetia.
I THOUGHT THIS DIOR BAG WAS FANTASTIC!
Hillary keeps talking about this off-white brand, but I’m not that interested. . .
After a quick run through a few shops, I reconnected with my husband. That man will find a bakery wherever we go. Pierre Herme was on our list, and once we found one, we found a couple more. We stopped at each one.
It was a gorgeous day, and again, we walked everywhere. On our way to visit Sainte Chapelle, we walked by Notre Dame.
We even saw some blue sky!
Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style on the Ile de la Cite in the River Seine. The chapel took seven years to build and was consecrated in 1248. It was intended to house precious Christian relics including Christ’s Crown of Thorns, which of course, is now hosted in the nearby Notre Dame Cathedral..
What makes this monument so special and memorable are the breathtaking stained glass windows. Fifteen windows, each about 50 ft tall, depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments. It is one of the most extensive stained glass collections anywhere in the world and it is truly magnificent to see.
Completely surrounded by stained glass windows from the 13th century is just awe inspiring! I have a video that I can’t upload here, but you can see it in my stories on instagram in the saved “Paris” highlight. It’s worth a look. HERE
Even the floor is beautiful!
Next, we walked to Musee de l’Armee to see the Tomb of Napoleon in the Chapel of the Invalides. We stopped by the hotel first to get tickets and to confirm the 6pm closing time.
We walked there and arrived at 4:45pm.
What I really wanted to see was the ceiling in the dome. I own a beautiful piece of photographic art by Laurie Victor Kay depicting the ceiling, and I couldn’t wait to see it in person! But when we approached the doors to the Chapel, the guard said they were closed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I think he was literally just ready to head home. No explanation given, just sorry, we’re closing.
So I stood in the doorway next to the guard and took photos of the ceiling through the glass doors :)
Here is the artwork by LAURIE VICTOR KAY from her Kaleidoscope Portfolio.
We walked back home to another gorgeous sight of the hotel against a dark blue night sky.
Classic Blue ~ Pantone’s Color of the Year 2020!
We ate dinner at a cafe on the street in an enclosed glass patio. Hillary and Keenan walked by and we snapped their photo!
The last day was fun, but I was disappointed we couldn’t get more in. If we didn’t walk everywhere, we could probably add an activity or two, but walking is part of the fun! It’s hard to feel satisfied when there is so much more to do, but the kids seemed very grateful and happy, and that made it all worthwhile.