Paris - Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame

Later Wednesday afternoon, I visited two of Paris’ most stunning churches: Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame. The two couldn’t have been more different. Sainte-Chapelle is full of bright colours and natural light. It is a beautifully balanced single room that is not much bigger than a typical church in Ontario (although obviously considerably taller).

One of my photos showing the floor of Sainte-Chapelle:

...and a postcard that gives a real sense of the space...

In contrast, the inside of Notre Dame is dark and unremarkable. If I remember correctly there were some nice mosaics inside, but no photos were allowed, so my memory might be fuzzy. The outside, however, was pretty stunning: unbelievably huge and detailed.

The statues outside were fascinating. Take a look at the the two photos below. One shows six of the disciples, and the other shows Jesus. I thought it was interesting that the disciples are shown standing on the backs of people, whereas Jesus seems to be standing on top of a whole civilization.

The disciples:

Jesus and a close up of his feet: