"Sainte-Chapelle, Nouvel Esprit" (Feed Your Soul for Lent #1)

"La Sainte-Chapelle, Nouvel Esprit"

La Sainte-Chapelle
The holy chapel, medieval reliquary
Where pilgrims honored holy fragments.
In my eyes it is the glory of Paris
Not for ancient remnants, now gone 
But for the soaring stained glass
With shimmering stories of the Word
Cut into fragments of centuries old colors
Today's fresh light streaming through.

A holy chapel I want to be
With the Holy Spirit, le Saint-Esprit
Living and giving life within me
The stories of the Word, translucent
Illuminated by the Light of the World
A radiant sanctuary of the sacred
Miraculously inside this fragile temple
Holy chapel, new spirit
Sainte chapelle, nouvel esprit.























I recorded this piece, along with several others, at a classical concert in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris in October 2016. "Chaconne" calls to my mind the drama of the passion and compassion of Christ on the cross. 

You can find more music, photos and links here: La Sainte-Chapelle, the Glory of Paris.

  
Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

It is a traditional season of fasting from physical distractions. That should give us an increased focus for feasting on what feeds our souls.

I'd like to spend Lent sharing goodies to nurture the spirit: music, art, nature photography, poetry, inspiring article links. 

Along this theme of saints of the spirit, this came across my Facebook feed today. Saint Fred is an article in Atlantic Monthly about Mr. Rogers, the beloved children's TV personality and ordained Presbyterian minister who passed away on this day in 2003.

I am still pinching myself that I had this amazing opportunity to visit Switzerland and Paris with my daughter Joanna, who was presenting at a mental health conference in Geneva. I only wish I had more money to travel!  I realize that I neglected to send all of my Europe photo posts to this blog's subscribers last fall. Here are the links. 

Switzerland

• Off to Europe!
• Our First Afternoon in Geneve
• On the Shores of Lake Geneva
• All Around Geneve, All by Myself
• Sweet Sunday Morning in Geneve
• Saint-Pierre Cathedral
• Musée d'Art et d'Histoire
• On Our Way to the Swiss Alps
• O Little Town of Lauterbrunnen 
• Mürren and Gimmelwald by Cable Car
• Staubbachfall in Lauterbrunnen
• Foggy Days in Lauterbrunnen
• Trümmelbachfalle, Ten Waterfalls in a Big Swiss Cave
• St. Beatus Caves at Lake Thun in Switzerland
• An Evening in Bern

Paris 

• Eiffel Tower and Seine River Cruise
• Notre Dame Cathedral
• La Sainte-Chapelle, the Glory of Paris
• A Little Louvre Love
• Musee d'Orsay in Paris
• Arc de Triomphe and a Late Night Dinner in Paris 
• Basilique de Sacré-Cœur in Paris
• Palace of Versailles
• Gardens of Versailles in Autumn

Gardens of Versailles in Autumn (Europe #24)

A quick sandwich and a Nutella crepe from an outdoor cafe in the gardens...

 The musical fountain show...

The Orangerie...

Stairs! More stairs?!?!?! NOOOOOOO!

Nice view from above though!

We didn't leave Versailles until 4:30. We were supposed to be on the train several blocks away by then. We barely made it. We got back to our hotel, quickly gathered our luggage, hustled as fast as we could to the train station, and hopped a non-stop to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Unfortunately, the airport is in a different transport zone than our hotel. We were supposed to pay for an additional ticket. Since we were in such a hurry, we just figured we'd pay the difference when we got to the airport. When we got off the train, we looked around for a ticket kiosk. No deal. We tried to exit the train area by sticking our existing tickets into the exit machine. No deal. We looked again for a ticket machine. No deal. We looked for an employee to help us. No deal. We were trapped. Seriously?!?!

In desperation, I spotted a lady in the distance - on the other side of the exit thingy - with an airport badge and a uniform. I called out loudly and she came over. Her English wasn't fluent, but she understood enough to beep us through with her magnetic employee badge.

We hustled through the airport, grateful to find that our Air France flight was delayed and we had a little extra time. An employee stopped us and asked to weigh our carry on luggage. It was way over limit with all the souvenirs I had purchased in Paris. I looked pleadingly at him. "We're late for a flight to Geneva." He relented with a warning for "next time." Alrighty then.

So, we made it on the plane to Geneva, overslept the next morning, and barely made our flight back to the USA.

Phew!

We've been home nearly seven weeks. I really wish I could go back and spend more time at each place in we visited in Switzerland and France. But then again, if I ever go to Europe again, wouldn't I want to spend the time seeing something different? Cathedrals! Castles! Cottages! Sigh. I've been bitten hard by the travel bug.

This is the last of the photo blog posts from our trip, though I will probably do one on international travel tips on one of my other blogs at This Mom Grows Up.

Au revoir for now!

Virginia

You can read more about Versailles here.

You can see my 15 Switzerland photo posts here: Switzerland.

You will find Paris posts here as I create them: Paris.

• Eiffel Tower and Seine River Cruise
• Notre Dame Cathedral
• La Sainte-Chapelle, the Glory of Paris
• A Little Louvre Love
• Musee d'Orsay in Paris
• Arc de Triomphe and a Late Night Dinner in Paris 
• Basilique de Sacré-Cœur in Paris
• Palace of Versailles
• Gardens of Versailles in Autumn

Palace of Versailles (Europe #23)

The Palace of Versailles is pretty much a "must see" destination when you're in France. The grand palace of King Louis XIV, opened in 1682, is a superb example of French Baroque architecture and art.

To see the royal château, the gardens, and associated buildings can easily take an entire day. I'm lamenting that we only had about two hours there. It was a rather whirlwind tour.

Yes, we got a late start, since I'd taken a quick hike up to Basilique de Sacré-Cœur and then we'd stopped for brunch. We still would have had more time if... Well, here's the story.

We had taken a Metro train to the Invalides train station. We were waiting on the platform for an RER train when an employee suddenly appeared and demanded that we leave the platform immediately. "The train is broken!" We asked how long until we could get on. He said 15 minutes. I was mystified as to why we needed to exit the platform. Why couldn't we just wait there? But they shooed us out. And then five French soldiers with machine guns blocked the entrance. We waited and waited and waited. By now I figured out there was more to the story. I spotted an information booth. The lady there said the train would not be leaving anytime soon, and to take a different train which would get us to the same general area. Apparently someone had left a suspicious backpack on a train. This is Paris. There is a constant threat of terrorism. Better safe than sorry.

So, we got on the other train. We arrived at the other station. There appeared to be another train from there that would take us to the station closer to the palace. I wasn't so sure. I wanted to just take an Uber right to the palace and not mess around. But as it turned out, we got on this other train, and almost instantly regretted the decision. It was taking the LONG way in the opposite direction. Eek. At that point, we decided to get off at the next stop, which was unattended and practically in the middle of a cornfield.

We called an Uber, which appeared within minutes. It took us over a half hour to get to Versailles. On the bright side, I noticed a highway sign for Nanterre, which I recognized as a city where many of my ancestors had lived. I wished we'd had time to explore there. But I was also thinking that maybe I was amidst some of my very distant cousins walking around Versailles and Paris. Cool thought! Even if not that, how many of my ancestors had visited the same places I did, or maybe had even helped construct them?

By the time we got our tickets and got in the door at Versailles, it was after 2 PM. We needed to be back on the train by 4:30 to get back to the hotel, collect our luggage, take a train to the airport, and catch our flight to Geneva that evening. Oy. Not much time at all. It's what we call a whirlwind visit. Better that than nothing at all!

So, without further ado, and with very little more commentary, here are the photos of the palace. I'll save the garden photos for the next blog post.

You can read more about Versailles here.

You can see my 15 Switzerland photo posts here: Switzerland.

You will find Paris posts here as I create them: Paris.

• Eiffel Tower and Seine River Cruise
• Notre Dame Cathedral
• La Sainte-Chapelle, the Glory of Paris
• A Little Louvre Love
• Musee d'Orsay in Paris
• Arc de Triomphe and a Late Night Dinner in Paris 
• Basilique de Sacré-Cœur in Paris
• Palace of Versailles
• Gardens of Versailles in Autumn

On to the gardens!

Virginia