DAY 16: Monday, March 24, A Latin Quarter Walk and a Prison Visit

PARIS

We visit a church and then later pay our respects to a queen.

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Hôtel de Buci's breakfast room

May I bring this place home and live in it?

The hotel's wallpapers are wonderful.

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I visited the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés very near my hotel. Who doesn't love a Gothic parish church? I had hoped to hear the pipe organ, which is said to have a beautiful sound. Alas, they hold regular concerts only on Sundays. The church itself is not my favorite. It struck me as being a little shabby, maybe because of its great age. An abbey and later a church have occupied this spot since the sixth century.

The Pulpit

Parishioners lost in World War I...

...and in World War II

Walking around the neighborhood, I found many small
plaques on buildings commemorating war dead.

.

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There is something about Paris that makes me want to buy things.

Aside from some frig magnets from the 
National Gallery in London, I haven't bought anything
on this trip. 

Then there are the restaurants!
So many.

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Remember the Paris Olympics opening ceremony? You may recall one moment, both grisly and kinda funny, when dozens of figures depicting Marie Antoinette holding her own head stood in the windows of the Conciergerie. That ancient building housed the doomed queen for about 40 days. There, the Revolutionary Tribunal prosecuted her for treason and sentenced her to death by guillotine. And that was that. I've always felt sorry for the woman, particularly after seeing Sofia Coppola's wonderful movie. So I visited the Conciergerie to see where Marie Antoinette spent her final days. 

Hall of the Men-At-Arms from the 14th century.
They held banquets here.

Look closely at the date on this pillar. 
It shows how high the water rose when the Seine overflowed.
If you're interested, here is a link to a Wikipedia article about the event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910_Great_Flood_of_Paris

Marie Antoinette's cell is through these curtains.
It was smallish. I could live in it, though, 
except for the purported smell. And the rats.

One of her tiny shoes

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Having paid homage (or whatever) to MA, I left the Conciergerie and walked to see the apartment house where Ken and I stayed in 2011. Coincidentally, my friend Robin and her husband stayed in the same place a few years later.

It doesn't look like much, but...

...it has this view.



RANDOM SHOTS OF THE DAY:

The crowds around Notre Dame are intense.
I don't think I'll see the refurb. You
can't see everything, can you?