Paris France - La Conciergerie  

We left the Louvre museum and walked backed down along the river Seine towards Notre Dame - we are on the Right Bank. In order to attract tourists this summer (2003) the Parisians dumped sand along the banks of the Seine and called it "The Beach of Paris". Along with the sand they put out umbrellas and sprinklers for the bathers.

We are heading for Sainte-Chapelle, the spire of which appears in the center of this picture. Sainte-Chapelle is on the Ile de la Cité, which is located in the middle of the river Seine.

The Ile de la Cité is the cradle of Parisian civilization. It was here that the Parisii tribe lived; the Romans, led by Caesar's lieutenant Labenius, conquered the Parisii in 52 AD and set up camp. The city was given the name Lutecia, from the Latin lutum meaning "mud". During the barbarian invasion, Lutecia's inhabitants, galvanized by the young Sainte Geneviève, took refuge on the easily defended Ile de la Cité. Clovis, king of the Francs who bested the Romans, made the island his capital. It stayed the area's center of activity throughout the Middle ages.

Sorry about the picture on the far left - I suggest you tilt your head. We walk along the Beach of Paris.

It reached 104 Fahrenheit this particular afternoon - these spray areas felt great to walk through. This summer was officially the hottest European summer in the last 500 years.

We are now on the Ile de la Cité about to go down some stairs into La Conciergerie. Part of the first palace of the kings of France (They later moved to the Louvre palace), La Conciergerie became the first Paris prison in 1391. La Conciergerie became famous during the 1789 French revolution: in 1793 and 1794, 2780 men and women were sentenced to death and detained in the Conciergerie until they left for Concorde square where they were beheaded. Marie-Antoinette, queen of France and sister of the king of Austria, was among them.

The Conciergerie well deserves a visit for its history and Gothic architecture. It includes three superb Gothic halls from the 14th century. This picture of the Cavalrymen's room (left) - one of the halls - turned out great.

La Conciergerie, as previously mentioned, is where Marie Antoinette was held prior to her execution during the French Revolution. The original rooms she occupied were destroyed when parts of the prison were re-configured.

During the night of 29/30 October 1793 twenty one deputies may have waited for their deaths in this chapel. Condemned a few hours earlier by the Revolutionary Tribunal, they belonged to a group called "Girondin". Some of them, including Brissot, Vergniand and Gensonne', were famous and had led the revolutionary movement for a while (up to 31 May 1793). According to tradition, they gathered together on their last night for a fraternal banquet, probably in the prison chapel, while one of them, Dufriche-Valaze', lay dead after committing suicide by plunging a stiletto in his heart. The following century the Romantic movement was inspired by this legend. The picture isn't very good - sorry.

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Walk to Louvre   Louve museum   Louve museum 2   La Conciergerie   Sainte-Chapelle   Notre Dame   St Michel / Left Bank Eiffel Tower   Museum d'Orsay   Champs Elysees   Arc de Triomphe   Sacre Coeur   Montmartre District   Versailles   Colonne de Juillet
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