How Many Saints Does One Need?

The Hutchinson family, minus Charlie, likes church tourism. So since Charlie was finishing up his last couple days of assistantship at Le Cordon Bleu I decided to take the remainder of the clan around for such tourism in his absence. I planned out a walkable route during which we could see four churches, two major and two minor, and the Pantheon in one afternoon.

First we started at Sainte-Chapelle, the impressive private chapel built exclusively for Louis IX (a.k.a. Rich, Flashy, Selfish A-Hole). The place was gorgeous, known for its blue paint and immense stained glass windows. Even on this cloudy day we could appreciate the work that went into its construction.

 The understated exterior

 The upper chapel

 Tall window

 Close up

 Bling bling

 No idea what this represents, but it looks scientific and is, therefore, cool.

 A very old place wouldn't be complete without spiderwebs.

 Blue paint

Next we walked a few blocks to Notre Dame, which I have previously shown you, so I'll keep my description brief and just give you one new interesting shot.

Mossy-backed gargoyle with a plant growing out of his butt

¡Que viva México and her Virgen de Guadalupe!

We went inside the church while mass was going on. Having seen and photographed the interior already and in the interest of sparing my feet, I decided to sit with the congregation while Charlie's family made their way around the cathedral. Unfortunately, I decided to do so right at the moment that the priest began the consecration of the host so, out of respect, I had to stand with the rest of the congregation. But I also got to partake in my favorite moment of mass where the priest says, "Peace be with you," and then everyone turns to their neighbor to shake hands and wish one another peace.

Then it was time for lunch, so we wandered into the Quartier Latin where restaurants abound. Unfortunately, because it is so close to a large tourist destination, quality does not necessarily abound. We ended up in a "traditional" French restaurant whose owner felt the need to continually touch Charlie's sister, Emily. The sorry excuse for French Onion Soup was watery and bland and contained a small piece of soggy bread and a stingy sprinkle of cheese on top. Proper French Onion Soup should look like this and taste like heaven. The rest of the food, save the delicious, impossible-to-mess-up duck confit, was just meh.

Having had our fill of tourist-trap food, we wandered quite literally around the corner to the beautiful little church where I first heard an organ played in its proper setting, Saint-Séverin. The first time I went in this small neighborhood church there was a mass in progress, so I didn't feel it appropriate to take pictures. This time I took full advantage.

The façade, barely obtainable photographically thanks to the church being crammed into a tiny plaza among several other buildings.

 Big empty space

 Prayers to the saint

 "The poor are our masters." Sometimes I think the larger, gold-laden cathedrals need to remind themselves of this.

Next we made our way through the Sorbonne University district and up the hill to the Pantheon, where the bodies of notable people such as Voltaire and Marie Curie have been laid to rest.

Down the hill from the giant structure

 Round and arch-y

 Foucault's Pendulum... for real

 Tapestry and tiles

 Monsieur Voltaire is in that box.

The labyrinthine halls of the crypt

Finally, despite the rain and everyone's level of fatigue, we braved our last church. This one, Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, lay just behind the Pantheon and was well worth a look.

Rood beam and pulpit

 Flashy gold altar

Noah's Ark

After this we were totally spent so we hopped on a bus and headed for home to meet up with Chef Charlie for a dinner of Croque Monsieur, courtesy of Chef Tony.

But wait! There's more! ... Just not today.