Welcome back! I hope you’ve all been at the edge of your seats waiting for what I did on Thursday. Well, here’s something you should know about me: I LOVE churches. Though I’m not particularly religious, there’s just something irresistibly beautiful about a nice catholic church. Unfortunately, in the US, most of our churches aren’t that big or good looking. Luckily for me, Paris has an amplitude of churches and cathedrals, among them the world-renowned Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle. However, on Thursday, I was feeling a bit daring, and decided to visit not just those two, but four more cathedrals in the same day! I basically spent the entire day walking around Paris from cathedral to cathedral.
I started off with Sainte Chapelle. Compared to all the other churches, Sainte Chapelle is the smallest one, only consisting of two rooms. However, what it loses in scale it makes up for in color, with gorgeous stained glass windows and ornate walls. Next up, I walked north towards Saint Eustache. This church is one of the bigger ones, rivaling even Notre Dame in terms of scale. After that, I walked south towards Saint Sulpice. This was another large one, but not as big as Notre Dame. It was full of gorgeous paintings and had a really impressive retroquire. Next, I stopped by Saint Severin, a small church that I happened to walk by on my way to another one and decided to check out. Then, I continued onwards to Saint Étienne-du-Mont, a medium sized church right next to the Panthéon. Finally, I looped back to Notre Dame. Funny thing, I almost didn’t end up going, because I was too late to buy a ticket. I had tried to book my ticket about 3 days early, but they were all taken up already. Luckily, (make sure to keep this in mind if you ever visit Paris) Notre Dame is open until 10pm on Thursdays! So I simply went in around ~7pm and was able to walk in without any line. I recommend you do the same if you’re unable to get a ticket.
Now, you all may assume that since Notre Dame is the most famous, it must be the prettiest of them all. To that I say: not at all! Each cathedral had its own unique aspect that outperformed the rest and set it apart. Sainte Chapelle has the most colorful and complex stained glass windows out of them all. Saint Eustache has some of the most beautiful columns, which really emphasized the scale of the interior. Saint Sulpice had the prettiest art, with both canvases and the aforementioned retroquire blowing the competition away. Saint Severin had really impressive arches, as the arches had smaller arches going in between them, which almost made the roof look like a spiderweb. Saint Étienne-du-Mont had lots of wooden sculptures, which none of the others really boasted. Lastly, Notre Dame has the nicest outside architecture, even with the reconstruction still ongoing, and had a collection of relics such as priest robes and scepters, golden chalices, a piece of the original cross, and the Crown of Thorns.
This was by far one of the most enjoyable experiences to date! Despite my sore feet and my camera having to take hundreds of pictures, being able to see all these cathedrals was truly a dream come true.
