Saint Denis Basilica

Apparently, 1800 years ago, the Bishop of Paris was a guy called Denis. One day, he was beheaded, after which he proceeded to pick up his head and carry it for a full 10 kilometers (which is 6 miles, to all you Americans)... preaching a sermon the whole way. Now that is someone who just can't stop talking!

Anyway, the church of Saint Denis was built over his grave and eventually the Abbey and Basilica were built on the same spot. The basilica happens to be featured in Pillars of the Earth (a MUST read, by the way), making it especially fun for us to visit. In our firm resolution to take better advantage of living in Paris, we decided the now-Paris-suburb of Saint Denis deserved a drop in.

Though not as well preserved as Notre Dame, Saint Denis' gothic architecture is nonetheless awe-inspiring:

The facade was decorated in sculptures and reliefs:

It possessed the necessary flying buttresses to allow for more windows and light inside:

And it also sported breathtaking rose windows:

The exterior revealed the grime of centuries in an industrial neighborhood:

But the interior was beautiful, light, colorful, and airy:

In a side chapel was a royal crown and robe, appropriate here because Saint Denis Basilica was the coronation and burial place of France's royalty for centuries:

We visited the crypt, where Chris barely fit and we saw the tombs of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (the ones beheaded during the Revolution):

We also visited the enter-only-if-you-pay section that housed the tombs of most of France's royalty:

A common occurrence for some of the grand tombs was a praying, robust figure of the king and queen on top, with a naked, grotesque figure lying on the actual tomb... Strange contrast:

Especially interesting was the tomb of Clovis I (465-511), the first king to unite the Franks:

In retrospect, I can't believe we didn't go sooner... It was fabulous.