The rest of the day

Today was Sunday. There is a giant stone church right around the corner from where I am right now. I am not a follower of the religion that supports that church. But I am a believer in history and in human spirituality. With a bow to the perhaps millions of human beings who have done so before me I attended mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. I was not disappointed, it felt pretty spiritual.

Mass was over about 9:20, Sainte Chapelle opens at 9:30, we went over to see the private chapel of Saint Louis, King Louis IX. There is a lot of history at Sainte Chapelle but the main show is the stained glass. I had my good camera and I think I got a few pretty nice stained glass photos but here is the one I think is the best.Louis IX was the richest and one of the most powerful men in the world. He was able to acquire many items of religious significance, including an artifact recognized as the Crown of Thorns. It was displayed in a reliquary in Sainte Chapelle when Louis worshiped there and one of the stained glass windows features as part of the religious story that it tells a panel picturing Jesus receiving the crown of thorns. The panel is the square one on the right. The wood below is the platform on which the reliquary including the crown of thorns artifact stood.

Here is the courtyard of the Palais de Justice on the sortie from Sainte Chapelle.I have read every time I set out planning a trip to Paris about the marche oiseaux held every Sunday on the Ile de la Cite but my schedule never permitted me to verify that such a thing actually exists. Today I attended the bird market.We rode the Metro to Madeleine intending to check out the Tour de France. The Madeleine is another one of those big stone churches that I have walked past three or four times without ever previously going inside.

We were a little early for the bicycling so we checked out the church.

Astonishing.And the view outside as Paris weather finally makes a turn towards summer.And Wireless, this one is for you. We had dinner at the auberge on the ground floor level of where we are staying. The maitre d' is an extremely friendly fellow who happens to live in the apartment next door to the apartment where we are staying. He promised the best chicken you have ever eaten in your life.The chicken was, in fact, quite good, but the presentation was exquisite.