After struggling through three days of cold and rain in Belgium, it was a relief to wake up on Monday morning and see it was not raining. In fact there was actually some spots of blue sky. It was a great day to travel by train to Paris and see some sights including St. Chappel and the Arc de Triomphe.
The train to Paris leaves from the Midi train station in Brussels. We didn’t want to miss the train so we made sure to leave in plenty of time, and things went very smoothly. We even had time to get some coffee before boarding the train. Since it was not much more expensive, we chose to travel first class. The seats were wide and quite comfortable. There were two seats together on one side and one on the other. We identified our location first by the car number and then the seats. It was great, and the trip went smoothly.
I had anticipated that I would be looking out the window enjoying the scenery. However, the truth was there wasn’t much to see. It was mostly green fields, and often there were berms along the tracks so one couldn’t see beyond them.
After arriving at the train station, we had to figure out where to catch transportation to our hotel. We thought we would take a bus. However, we couldn’t figure out how to buy tickets so we finally gave up and bought tickets on the subway or Metro. That turned out to be pretty easy and worked great. We got within a few blocks of our hotel.
The hotel we were staying at was reserved for us by our son. It was a nicer hotel than we would have normally chosen. The decor was sort of a mid-century vibe, and the room was actually quite roomy. It was also close to many of the main sites of Paris so very convenient.
After checking into our hotel and getting settled, we walked over to the church, St. Chappel, This is a popular tourist attraction in Paris and requires tickets to enter. We had purchased tickets online. However, upon arrival we discovered things were not so easy. There was a large crowd waiting to get in. I stood in line while Silvette tried to figure out what was going on. Initially she decided we were in the right line, but after 20 minutes without really moving she began to investigate more and decided we needed to move to a different line. The line we had been standing in was for those without a ticket.
So we moved to a different line. However, in hearing conversation we realized we were still in the wrong line. The lines were based on entry times with one for times on the hour and another for times on the half hour. Our time was 1:30. So finally we were in the right line although we were well past the 1:30 time. Fortunately the line was moving, and we eventually got through. We then had to go through security. It was a relief to actually make it into St. Chappel .
The entrance didn’t take us directly into St. Chappel but into an alley that leads to the church. We entered in and were greeted by a rather dark area with beautiful ceilings along with some statues. A gfit shop took up part of the space. It was a small area, however, so I figured there was more to come.
After viewing the downstairs area, we climbed up a narrow, circular stone stairway and entered the main sanctuary. It was absolutely amazing. On all sides were stain glass windows that went all the way to the ceiling. They were spectacular. It was actually kind of fun to watch as people rounded the corner on the stairs and entered the room. The looks on their faces of awe and astonishment said everything.
St. Chappel’s stained glass windows tell various stories. Some were from the Old Testament such as the story of Esther. Of course there were also the stories of Jesus. Guide sheets were available for visitors that indicated which windows told what story. The problem for me was that the stories were told in a series of panels, and these panels were small and hard to identify. Of course the majority of people at the time the church was built did not read so the windows reminded the parishioners of the stories from the Bible even if they could not read them from the Bible.
Trust me when I say the photos do not do the place justice. One has to be there to experience St. Chappel in all its grandeur.
Besides the stained glass, there were also statues between the windows that seemed to depict various attributes of Jesus. An example would be Jesus as the Good Shepherd. This provided more visual reminders of who Jesus is. There were other architectural details that added to the beauty of the space. Even the floor had a beautiful pattern to it.
After spending time in the room with so much beauty, it was time to move on so we had to descend another narrow stone circular stairway back to the entrance room.
Once outside I tried to take pictures of the exterior of St. Chappel . The church is surrounded by structures that are fairly close so it is a challenge to get good photos because the angle is all wrong to get the building in one shot.
After leaving the church I noticed another tall tower that looked like it might be a church. Apparently it once was the tower of the Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie. However, now it’s just a tower in a park with a lot of history.
At this point our son called and wanted us to come to their hotel to go over some of the details of the wedding. We arrived at the room to discover an absolutely amazing hotel room. The room had two bathrooms and a huge closet which was twice as big as the one in our home.
However, the big draw was the balcony and its direct view of the Eiffel Tower. The view was amazing, and this was where the wedding would take place with this view in the background.
We had some dinner with my son and his fiance, and then my wife and I walked down the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs Elysees has super wide sidewalks so lots of people can walk down the street. From my son’s hotel it was a nice walk down the Champs Elysees. When we got to the Arc, we considered paying to go up to the top of it. However, the line was long so we decided to put it off for another time.
What we did do was walk all around the Arc de Triomphe so we could see all sides of it. The side where the sun was shining gave some nice golden colors to the Arc. It was also interesting to watch the traffic as a big round-a-bout goes around the Arc, and traffic can be crazy.
On our way back to my son’s hotel, we noted the interesting display windows along the street. Some of the better known brands had their windows filled with creative decor. One of the more interesting display windows had a brightly dressed woman figure in the window who moved. We couldn’t determine if it was a robot or an actual person acting like a robot. It was a little strange.
When we returned to our son’s hotel, we finally had a chance to meet his fiance’s family. For various reasons we had never met before so the day before the wedding, we finally met. Her family is Vietnamese, and their English is not always the best so the conversation was challenging at times. However, we could all agree that the view of the Eiffel Tower was amazing. We all stood around waiting for it to be dark when the tower would put on a show of blinking lights for five minutes. Sadly the battery on my camera died just before this so I got no photos. Silvette took this 30 second video of the light show.
With that it was time to say good night and head to our hotel for a good night’s rest. Tomorrow was the wedding so we knew it was going to be a long day.
So what’s it like to plan a wedding in Paris? Look for next week’s post as I will explain how we did a wedding in Paris. In the meantime, be sure to sign up to receive my posts in your email every Wednesday. It’s free and gives you something to look forward to in the middle of the week.
Credit: The first two photos regarding the train were taken by Silvette Lee as was the video of the Eiffel Tower