Weekend in Paris - Part III

Are you ready to see more of Paris? If so, continue reading and scrolling as I share more of what we saw during our recent trip to this beautiful, magnificent city. If not, well... go do something else and come back in a few days when I will have stopped with all things French.

This is the Palais de Justice and Sainte-Chappelle from a distance. And here's a little closer view...
Here's Sainte-Chappelle, a Gothic chapel, very symbolic of both religion and royalty, located on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris. It was only a short Metro ride from where we were staying. From what I can understand, the chapel was originally built to house religious relics. Today it's a national historical monument, and a beautiful one it is!

Sainte-Chappelle is divided into lower and upper chapels. Here are a couple of photos of the lower chapel...
I'm in awe of the beautiful stained glass we've seen thus far in Paris!

Here are a few photos of the upper chapel of Sainte-Chappelle... Again, the stained glass is spectacular, and photos simply don't do it justice. I sure wish I could have captured the beauty of this place.
More stained glass...
And here's a closer view...


Here my son stands in front of the huge doors inside Sainte-Chappelle.
Here's another view of Sainte-Chappelle from the other side as we were leaving.
And this is the massive gate outside the Palais de Justice.

These guards are on duty outside the Palais de Justice, next to Sainte-Chappelle.

This is part of the Conciergerie, the name "given to a section of the old palace precinct controlled by the concierge (keeper) of the king's mansion. It served as a prison from the 14th century." During the French Revolution, both noblemen and ordinary citizens were imprisoned here, and most would eventually end up going to the guillotine.
The boys stand inside one of the four huge fireplaces inside the Conciergerie.

This is the courtyard inside the Conciergerie. By the way, one of the most famous people to be imprisoned and eventually put to death here was Queen Marie-Antoinette.

The windows outside the cells of prisoners had these sharp, needle-like spikes to prevent escape. And if that didn't deter prisoners, perhaps these rooftop spears would...
We saw a lot in a day's time, but there's more to see. Stand by, for next I'll show you photos of the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées as we walked along the busy street on our way to the Arc de Triomphe.