Don’t cancel your trip to Paris
By mbrooks on April 22, 2019
The Notre Dame fire caused a tremendous loss for the city and for the world. People who had planned to visit Paris in the coming weeks, months, and years have an enormous variety of places to visit while the Notre Dame Cathedral is under reconstruction.
Sainte-Chapelle
The Notre Dame Cathedral is located on an island in the middle of Seine river. On the same island is another stunning, though smaller, cathedral.
The Sainte Chapelle cathedral was designed to be personal worship space of the king and queen of France.
This cathedral is wall-to-wall stained glass, with only enough stone pillars to hold up the roof.
It was started after after Notre Dame was started and completed before Notre Dame was completed. This means that a little island in Paris houses two cathedrals that are more than 700 years old.
The stained-glass windows portray Biblical stories, including scenes from the life of Christ.
The steeple of the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral is topped with an image of the crown thorns. This is so because that relic was originally housed in the that cathedral.
Musee D’Orsay
The Louvre Museum is far from the only art museum in the city. Inside a 100-year old train station is the Musee D’Orsay.
This museum mainly holds the impressionist paintings that were created at the same time of history as the railroad station.
A large glass ceiling allows the paintings in natural light. This freedom of sunlight to light the paintings reflects the open environment of the impressionist style, en plein air.
Sacre Coeur Basilica
While Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle is a monument to old Paris, another cathedral is a monument to modern Paris.
Looking over Paris is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. The Sacre-Coeur Basilica sits on the summit of Montmartre, the highest point in the city.
This basilica is steeped in the history of conflict in Paris. France was defeated in an 1870 war against a German kingdom, led by the state of Prussia.
The basilica was form of healing for the French. It was dedicated in 1919 to the sacred heart of Jesus.
The top of the dome is one of the lesser-known places for tourists to capture a view of Paris.
Take a trip out of city
The former royal residence of Versailles is a short train trip out of Paris. The mansion and grounds showcase the height of wealth in pre-revolutionary France. The famed Hall of Mirrors at Versailles is the location where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending the first World War. The Paris France temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a short walk from the Versailles palace.
The Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France, is another trip out of the city. Like Notre Dame, it is a masterpiece of Gothic art. Crowds are smaller at this location than at most Paris area churches.
High speed trains in France makes much of the country within a few hours reach.
The city of Nimes has some of the oldest sights in France. The Pont du Gard and the Maison Carree are two creations that date back to the Roman Empire.
