Sainte-Chappelle and La Vie Parisienne

Yesterday was another one of our very busy days.  I was up bright and early, eating breakfast, then out the door and on the RER by 9:30.  We had an outing to Sainte-Chappelle and the Conciergerie, which are located right across from Notre Dame on the Île de la Cité so we didn't have far to go.

Sainte-Chappelle is a 13th century chapel built to house King Louis IX's relics from the Holy Land, including Jesus' Crown of Thorns.

The church has one of the largest quantities of stained glass located in one place.  The walls are almost entirely just stained glass, with only narrow columns and high vaulted ceilings supporting the building.

After visiting Sainte-Chappelle, we went next door to the Conciergerie.  The Conciergerie is a former prison, the one that housed the Royal family during the French Revolution.

Both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived here until they were executed.  Charlotte Corday, the young girl from Normandie who murdered Marat, was kept here, and Robespierre spent his last few days in this building too.  Though none of the old cells are still around due to renovations, they did create models of what they would have looked like back then.  The one below is a model of Marie Antoinette's cell, complete with an awkward mannequin of the deposed queen.

After our sortie, we stopped for lunch on the way back to the Foyer, then had two classes in the afternoon.  In French Lit we continued reading La Vie Parisienne, and in French Civilization we took a test then discussed how the French government is set up.

After class I studied for my French History midterm then made dinner and got ready for the theater.  At eight we went to go see La Vie Parisienne at the Le Théātre de Paris.  Though the operetta was annoying and almost absurd when we read it in class, it was hilarious when we watched it being performed.  The actors had a modern and creative interpretation of it, beginning as a rehearsal that slowly transformed itself into the actual show.  They played all the music on stage and did a fantastic job with both playing it, singing it, and dancing.  The entire performance was hilarious, engaging, and very catchy.

After we left the theater it was only 11pm and we were pretty wide awake so we headed back to the Latin Quarter and went to a local bar that we tend to frequent on weekdays.  We hung out until 1ish, listening to music, talking with people there, and having a good time.  When we got back to the Foyer (barely making it in time for our 1:30am curfew) I hung out with a few people in one of the guy's rooms for another half hour or so then we all split up and headed to our own rooms.  By 2:30am I was exhausted and went to bed.