Let there be light

Started our day at Sainte-Chapell.  This church was built in 1242 to house The Crown of Thorns (a relic that cost six times more than the cost to erect a suitable church to display it in). It's no longer used as a  church (and the crown of thorns moved over to the Notre Dame treasury)-but this building is a stunner. First the entry hall.

Then a stained glass filled chapel. 

Remarkably, 2/3s of this glass is original-surviving wars, the French revolution, even a visit from Adolf Hitler.  Napoleon was unappreciative and used it as a storage facility.  He's the one responsible for the missing glass.  The huge panels are made up of 100s of smaller panels showcasing stories from both the old and New Testament, along with a little royal pomp.

Here are a few in close-ups to show the detail of the glass panels.

Sorry- I could go on all day.  This was truly breathtaking.

Next a bit of exploring in the Latin Quarter -and beat poet and Paris expat author-Meccas "Shakespeare and Company." 

Passed some shops and boutiques on our way to lunch. This gorilla carved from chocolate at Patrick Roger.

And these edible delights at Larnicol

Where I acquired my first French macaron (passion fruit- yum!).

I have some spare pots and pans at home-maybe I should make one of these?

On to our first luncheon crepes at Breton style Breizh Cafe.  The entrée buckwheat crepes were delicious-and lunch included a cup of hard cider as well. 

Then, thanks to a before I left walk-to-the-Xerox-parking-garage with Glenda, who extolled the virtues of the Orsay Museum, we decided to add it to our afternoon itinerary. This gallery devoted to mostly impressionists is housed in a former train station.  Between the light from the windowed ceiling

and the light radiating from these impressionist canvases

this was a nice contrast to the weightiness of the Louvre. If you were paying attention earlier in my blog-below is the original of the Monet picture that was on my very own freshman dorm room wall.

It was a great museum - thanks Glenda!

By this point, our phones were dead, our camera battery said it was exhausted, and hey I was a little exhausted too. Even some lounging in the funky Orsay couches wasn't enough. Time to head home for a break.

After a little break at the hotel, we headed to our dinner reservation with a little stop at one of Paris's covered shopping streets and some peeping at Christian Louboutin shoes.  A nice thing in Paris is that the prices for everything you see in the window must be displayed - so I was able to see exactly how much I can't afford them!

Dinner also had a Xerox connection, and we loved the suggestion.  Thanks Kate!

PS - they brought me an emperor-sized portion of rice pudding with caramel sauce.  That rectangular dish on the side could have fed rice pudding to the entire restaurant.  Let them eat Rice Pudding!

If you're thinking of coming to Paris, I can only quote Audrey Hepburn. "Paris is always a good idea."