The Basilica of St. Denis

The Basilica of St. Denis is off the beaten tracks, and seldom covered in Paris tourism books. To reach it, you go to the second-to-last stop on the 13 metro line. The neighborhood around it is a bit dodgy: not scary, but edgy enough to make you keep your purse close and leave before dark. The metro disgorges into a mall of cheap shops and greasy smells, and once you clear those and round the corner of the market square (junky swap meet on Tuesday mornings) you arrive at the church.

The church doesn't have the most interesting facade - like many gothic structures, it is resplendent in sculpture, flying butresses, and stained glass - and I find it amazing that I could become so matter-of-factly blasé about gothic architecture in such a short time! I suppose the steady diet breeds a little familiarity. But all that aside, St. Denis has some truly lovely gargoyles, and many of them were accessible with a decent zoom lens. As a gargoyle enthusiast, I found these ones to be very interesting in that many of the scary gargs were paired with or holding onto pious humans. I've not seen the pairings before. There were also numerous little critters at the junctions of arches and under the feet of standing figures. This is the church where many French royalty were once buried, complete with stunning carved figures atop ornate tombs that are still there - one was a kneeling, sculpted Marie Antoinette in marble ermine, jewels and lace.

The inside of the church is a wonder. Alexis and I both agreed that this was our favorite so far, better than Chartres for arches, better than Notre Dame for glass. Perhaps it was because we shared the space with barely two dozen people instead of the bustling thousands in the more renowned churches. Notre Dame seems like a circus in comparison. The side entrance of the church opens to the bluest stained glass rose window I've ever seen. You know the blue - so rich and cobalt that it strikes a chord in you that makes you drop your jaw and gape.

Luck was with us as we wandered... many of the stained glass windows were reflecting kaleidoscopes of color across the interior. We caught a couple on camera before they fleeted away.