THAT, my friends, is BEAUTY.
Honestly the Sainte-Chapelle is so incredibly beautiful, when I looked at my pictures for the 5th time, I still just said, "Wow." The lower level was beautiful because the ceilings are a deep blue with golden fleur de lys painted over it.
But then you go up the stairs, and you you immediately come upon those windows.
We're talking about medieval stain glass; in fact 2/3 of the windows are authentic. That means that over half of the windows are originally from the 13th century. Plus, the colors are just so rich. It's like being surrounded by a painter's palette.
After Sainte-Chapelle was the Conciergerie, which was also impressive. Like the Tower of London, it served as a palace and prison. What drew me to the Conciergerie is the fact that Marie Antoinette was a prisoner here before she was killed. Because her cell no longer exists, they have an excellent recreation.
What was her cell is now a chapel; unfortunately it's just for show. I wish it had a space for you to pray but oh well. The chapel is painted deep deep blue, with silver tears painted on that. There's a memorial to Louis XVI, his sister Madame Elisabeth, and then there's a space featuring three paintings depicting Marie Antoinette's separation from her children, Marie Antoinette in her cell, and lastly, Marie Antoinette receiving Communion for the last time.
It was incredibly moving, and all the more makes me feel for her. I can remember reading my first book about her in elementary school in 5th grade. The book was in the series called The Royal Diaries. It was by the same folks that published Dear America, My Name is America etc. Pretty much the only books that were out there for kids that pertained to history, and even then, most of the books were geared towards girls. The books about boys took a while to catch on, but when they did those were great too. But I loved reading about a different character in a different time period. To me, it didn't matter that they were girls. What mattered was that you felt like you were reading the diary of someone who was your age, and they were describing some of the most amazing moments in history: whether as a passenger on the Titanic, working in the mills of Lowell, living through the Civil War, surviving day to day during the Great Depression. You were instantly captured and taken into another world.
And The Royal Diaries, well, is the reason why I'm obsessed with royalty. It was because of these books that I fell in love with Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, Anastasia, Elisabeth of Austria, and so many more. Some of these women led the most incredible, complex, beautiful and tragic lives. And now I'm in Europe, where I can easily access where they lived, entertained, worshipped, died, and where they rest.
Okay, Memory Lane trip done.
Later that night a group of us saw Moliere's "Les Precieuses Ridicules." You can google the plot, but it involved laughing at people's expense, which is always a good time. The play was shown at this very local black box theatre. It felt so wonderful to see a show! Even if it was in rapid fire French, I had a ball.
Oh, and I leave for FLORENCE, ITALY next Tuesday. Huzzah for me.
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