Basilique Saint Denis

Today, my neighbor John and I went out to northern Paris to the St. Denis area, which is almost all the way to the end of métro line 13. See a map of the Paris RER and métro systems here. It was about a one and a half hour train ride with the two station changes. I was not particularly fond of the area around the basilica, but the basilica itself was worth the trip.

According to the brochure, "the basilica stands on the site of a Gallo-Roman cemetery with the tomb of Saint Denis, thought to have been the first Bishop of Paris, who was martyred circa 250 AD. This place of pilgrimage was built in the 5th century. Dagobert was a benefactor to it in the 7th century, and Pepin the Short was crowned king here in 754. It became one of the most powerful Benedictine abbeys in the Middle Ages. Most of the kings and queens of France were buried here from the 6th century onwards."

The reason I wanted to visit this particular cathedral is the fact that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are buried within. In 1830, when the ashes of Louis and Marie were returned to the royal crypt, ceremonial statues were commissioned by Louis XVIII. I was able to see those statues and many other royal funereal art, but the crypt was unfortunately closed for electrical work. (I thought about trying to sneak in. See picture.) There were many funny signs posted (not intentionally funny) such as: "Merci de ne toucher qu'avec les yeux." Translation: Thank you for touching {the artifacts} only with your eyes. Hilarious.

The cathedral was extremely cold as is it not a heated building. It was quite possibly the coldest day I have experienced in Paris due to rain and wind. However, I truly enjoyed the visit. Enjoy the pictures that John took today with his super fancy camera.









See? My hand was on the rope...but I resisted. Not sure what would have happened if I had marched in. I suppose I could have played dumb and acted like I spoke no French. However, that would have worked out about as well as the time I tried to act like I didn't understand French when the random dude in the train station was inviting me to go to Strasbourg...another story for another time, my dears.