Alone inside a holy kaleidoscope: The Sainte-Chapelle of Paris
The jewel box of Paris... all to myself
The problem with the Sainte-Chapelle, as far as I’m concerned, is that it’s too popular. It’s a small chapel and it doesn’t take many visitors for it to feel crowded.
On top of that, there’s always a line out the front, which sort of takes away the magic for me. The Sainte-Chapelle is not a secret gem - and secret gems are what I’m all about.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that millions of people have visited this Parisian icon over the last 800 years and I’d wager that most have been wowed by it. But the Sainte-Chapelle never really left me gobsmacked.
That is, until I visited it when it was totally empty. Look, that’s me below, scratching my head in sheer wonder.
The full story: A company called Walks invited me to try their “VIP Alone in the Saint Chapelle” tour earlier this year. The idea was that a tour guide would show a small group of people inside the chapel right before it opened to the public (and then after, around the Conciergerie next door).
I have no idea how this tour company managed to convince someone at Sainte-Chapelle to let them in early, but I was glad to accept the invitation.
So, I went along and I broke away from the group while the guide was chatting to them all out the front of the chapel. I went through those breathtakingly ornate doorways, and then, just like that, I had the chapel all to myself.
Suddenly, it seemed massive.
I was inside the jewel box of Paris, the holy kaleidoscope.
And it felt awesome. And I mean awesome as an adjective, not an informal adverb. This was truly awe-inspiring. A little daunting, or, as I said on this week’s podcast, a bit frightening. I felt like I could feel eight centuries of French history coursing through me.
I was alone with the biggest collection of 13th century stained glass on earth, a truly incredible feat of engineering. And did you know it was built to house Jesus’s crown of thorns? Well, his alleged crown of thorns, it was more likely some Venetian weeds, according to our guide.
Weirdly, the thing that really struck me about being alone in there wasn’t the stained-glass windows - but the floor. This beautiful stone floor, trodden smooth over the centuries, with faded patterns of blue, red, black, and white. To think of who had walked here. This floor was somehow as captivating as the glass.
Or perhaps the floor wasn’t so much impressive to look at, it was more the realization that people could only ever see the floor if the chapel was empty, and that meant I was in the middle of a very special occasion.
With all this in mind, I wandered about a bit, inspecting the floor and the stained-glass windows. A little lost in my own thoughts. I even recorded an echo-y intro for the podcast (which you can hear below).
Then I headed back to the tour to learn about the chapel’s history. Before long, regular tourists raced in to try and have their own quiet moment, and, within minutes, the chapel was packed as usual. That’s when we left.
But what a magnificent treat, and, I think you’ll agree, some incredible photos. A memory for life.
Now, if you want to learn more about the Sainte-Chapelle and see more of our pictures, click here for this week’s Earful Tower blog post.
If you want to know more about the tour I took, it was the VIP “Alone in the Sainte-Chapelle” tour, which seems to be unavailable for the foreseeable future. The same company, Walks, also offers a Sainte-Chapelle skip-the-line tour on this link, or you can book a timed entry to the cathedral to avoid waiting in long lines.
Out of curiosity, have you been inside the chapel?
So anyway, that was that. I was really touched to read some of your comments on social media this week. Our pictures of the chapel on Facebook here and here and Instagram here really seemed to bring out the nostalgia in many of you. How lovely. And to round things out, I made an extra little video, below.
Why did I visit Sainte-Chapelle?
In case you’re new around here, I visited the Sainte-Chapelle quite simply because it begins with the letter S.
It’s part of The Earful Tower podcast’s ABC-son, where I’ve selected a topic to go with each of the alphabet’s letters. Next week will be something Parisian, or French, beginning with the letter T. But what will it be?
I asked Patreon members in the new mobile chat feature to guess what T could be, and there have been 45 incorrect guesses in a row so far. From TGV trains (no) to truffles (no), Tuileries (no) to tutoyer (no). T is for Too Tough, by the sounds of it. We’ll all find out on Monday, wherever you get your podcasts.
Other news from Paris
On another note, but still on the letter T, we have been doing loads of walking Tours of Paris recently. To make matters very easy, I’ve been personally leading a semi-private tour of the Marais every Monday morning. Check these reviews and tell me you’re not interested :) Here’s one from this week:
We have been to Paris many many times and have taken many different walking tours. We can honestly say your tour was the best we have experienced by far.
Also: one of our top guides is leading a semi-private Montmartre tour every Friday afternoon. If you want to jump aboard either, or both, here’s the link to book. You can also book a totally private tour if you prefer that VIP feeling.
If you’re in Paris right now, we just delivered 120 children’s books to Shakespeare and Company. Grab them while they’re hot! If you’re not in Paris, you can order them from my online shop here, where each book is 25 euros with postage included.
That’ll do for now, have a lovely weekend.
I’ll Take off, Thank you, and let you Think about what Terrific Thing could Take place on Monday.
Oliver
Years ago we attended the chamber concert in the late day and were able to observe the chapel as the sun set and the colors of the glass changed. You were allowed entrance 30 minutes before the concert to walk around and take your time taking in the beauty of the glass jewel. As I remember the number of attendees was low and it was a most special experience. I’m hoping these concerts are still available- my daughter went there for the concert in 2013 and it was her favorite of all of Paris!
The thing that struck me most about Sainte-Chappelle was the floor. I stood there, simply entranced, thinking about all those who had walked on that floor before me, looking at the uneven wear in the stone and marveling at how the colors had lasted through time.
Oh, yeah. The glass ain't bad, either.