The long day was magical. When a day ends up greater than planned, there is a ring in one’s heart. Taking a travel day as it comes, taking advantage of every “AH and OH” makes the traveler feel like he is being tossed and turned in a sea of unparalleled fun and happiness. Well, that was our day yesterday. We met at our front door and headed out as if on a safari, right down the heart of Ile St. Louis, past all the shops filled with trinkets, fine sculpture, and painting. The crepes were on offer as were the “corques” and hot chocolate and baquettes. Walking past a boulangerie takes great courage, but sometimes we happily indulged–especially when I spotted my favorite rum baba with that decorative cherry. Yummy! We crossed the bridge to the Ile de la Cite, walked past Notre Dame, and on to the Sainte-Chapelle. The line went quickly, and we were inside my favorite monument in all of Europe: the 1242-1248 Sainte-Chapelle, a reliquary of St. Louis, Louis IX. His purchase of the Holy Relics which had belonged to the emperors of Constantinople since the 4th century made this reliquary the “New Jerusalem” and hence the second capital of Christianity. 
We visitors entered into the Sainte-Chapelle on the ground floor and found exquisite wall painting and glass inserts throughout the room, but the arches in the ceiling were breath-taking. My camera was dancing.
When I was a young boy, I came to the Sainte-Chapelle. When I first climbed the small winding stairs to the second floor and entered the room, the scene before me took my breath away. I had the same response yesterday as the immense flamboyant Gothic filled with enormous panes of glorious stained glass depicting the tales from the Bible glistened in the sun. It was a room filled with jeweled glass–it was indeed a reliquary filled with wonderful jewels. The Rose Window at the back of the room is exquisite; but the blue in the glorious walls of glass brought immense smiles on our faces and incredible admiration to our eyes. I stood there in total disbelief! I come to Paris about every two years, and I never tire of this very spiritual place. While we were standing in the Sainte-Chapelle, we saw the poster for a chamber performance of romantic music TAKING PLACE LAST NIGHT. We rushed to the little ticket box downstairs, and sure enough–we could obtain three tickets on the 5th row! We were ecstatic. We finished our visit and regretfully moved on to our next site, The Musee d’Orsay.
Long before the amazing building was a museum, it is the Gare d’Orsay where I used to catch the train to go to Tours and Orleans where I lived for a year. When it became the Musee d’Orsay to house the immense collection of paintings and sculpture in storage, I knew that space would be perfect. AND IT IS. When we arrived at the museum, I was sad to see all the posted notices NO PHOTOGRAPHY. My conscience began to bother me because I knew I was going to break the rules–but just thrice! Contraband! Oh, goodness,what I do for my readers. Remember, these photos were taken from my camera hanging on my hip with no opportunity to focus. It was a holiday in Paris yesterday, so there was no entrance fee. We walked into the museum, and I snapped a “perspective” photo of the immense open space–not a very good photo, but it is at least my “illegal” shot. I had two other targets: THE GREAT CLOCK which I remember since a child. The next target was Haussman’s model for the “new Paris.” At the far end of the main gallery is housed the model for the Paris Opera House. It is the most amazing exhibition–fabulous! But in front of the model is a glass floor over the top of a reconstruction model of the City of Paris–Haussman’s “grand design.” It is amazing. My photo is poor, but you can get the idea. Fabulous. The walls of the Musee d’Orsay are dripping with the most fabulous Impressionist Paintings by Degas, Cezanne, Renoir, on and on… After an exhausting visit, I went upstairs and sat down for just a moment. Well, I was sitting next to a German couple who just happened to catch my camera as I fell asleep. It was a moment of drama and excitement, but the lovely couple came to the rescue with an immense smile! Fabulous. We found a little cafe and decided to have crepes and an egg and cheese quiche. We were building up our energies for the chamber concert back at the Sainte-Chapelle. The Chapelle was full of anxious people, and you could hear a pin drop. And the chamber music began to fill the room. It was the most amazing sound: violins, cello, base, viola–and that incredible featured violinist. This is the fun about traveling! Running into an experience which had not been planned and surpasses all expectations. We walked home, down the main street of Ile St. Louis, stood in front of our building door, and just grinned from ear to ear about our fabulous day! Wow! This was glorious–far greater than we had planned. Beautiful. Tear!
Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
