Historic Paris--The Cluny, Pantheon, and Sainte-Chapelle

We started...dang, which day was it? I have reached the point in the trip where I am a couple of days behind on the blogging, and I am so tired that everything is starting to run together.  Hmmm. I think this was Friday.  Friday we started at the Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages.  They have a whole room dedicated to stained glass where you can see the panels lit at eye level--a view not often available in the cathedrals.

Gabriel and his trumpet with the dead rising from their graves:

A knight beheading someone.  I can't remember the specifics of this panel, but I thought it was interesting how they used the variation in the glass to the best bloody effect.

The Cluny also had some of the original sculptures from Notre Dame. The heads are the Kings of Judah whose statues at Notre Dame were beheaded during the Revolution in an anti-monarchy furor.

One thing I could not capture with my camera was the tapestries that were displayed. They were exquisite, but they were displayed under very dim lights to minimize light damage.  After the Cluny, we strolled through the Sorbonne to the Pantheon.  I found it interesting that whatever the town, or the country, a university just feels like a university.  I wanted to find the steps where Theodore Roosevelt gave his "Man in the Arena" speech, but we just didn't have time.  The Pantheon had free admission this day.

I love that France honors her writers and scientists as much as her warriors and statesmen.  I wanted to see where Madame Curie was buried, but that wing of the Crypt was closed.  I did get to see Victor Hugo's and Alexandre Dumas' final resting place, however:

Voltaire is also buried in the Crypt of the Pantheon:

From the Pantheon, we walked towards the Latin Quarter.  St. Severin church has a beautiful flamboyant -style window. We walked in the church, but realized a funeral mass was going on, so we quickly exited.

I love gargoyles. I wish I could be there to see them spitting water from the rain:

Greg grabbing a bite to eat:

The two of us at St. Michel's fountain:

From St. Michel's fountain, we walked to Sainte-Chapelle cathedral. Sainte-Chapelle is magnificent. It was a sunny day, and we arrived late in the day, so the whole interior was lit with a rainbow of color from the windows. There are so many scenes depicted in the windows, it would be possible to spend years looking at them all.  It was stunning.

Sainte-Chapelle is located within the Palais de Justice, where the French Supreme Court is located.

I feel that I am not doing justice to the places we visited this day with my brief descriptions. It was a very full day.  My hope is to update some of these entries with additional information after the trip.  For now, I will get down what I can.