Sunday was another wonderful day. The most incredible thing about this trip was that everyday seemed to be better than the one that preceeded it. Sunday was truly extraordinary however. We started off by hopping on the metro and attending the Gregorian Mass at Notre Dame. The intro on the pipe organ was spectacular and the music throughout exquisite. If the intention of the church was to draw the mass goer towards the Almighty, it suceeded on every level.
Our next stop, after lunch at a sidewalk cafe of course, was Ste. Chapelle. It was originally built by the French king, St. Louis, to house the Crown of Thorns and a remnant of the original cross. It has now been secularized (the relics are now housed at Notre Dame) and remains quite a site. The king's chapel has some of the most beautiful stained glass windows ever seen.
From Ste. Chapelle we moved on to the Concergerie. It was part of the palace that served as a prison during the reign of terror. Marie Antoinette spent two months there prior to being beheaded on the Place de la Concorde. Ouch!
After that we decided to rest our feet a bit and took a boat tour on the Seine. This tour highlighted the major tourist attractions in Paris and afforded us our first close up view of the Eiffel Tower, the kids were thrilled. All in all quite a day!
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