July 6, 2010
Today Welc was off to Amsterdam and after a day of work there he will fly to Italy before he rests his head to sleep. This morning the boys and I were off to the Conciergerie which has been both an impressive Gothic Palace and a prison. It is probably most famous as the prison where Marie Antoinette was held as she was tried and then taken to be beheaded. Yesterday we stood at the spot in which she was executed and today we stood in the prison where she awaited her execution at the guillotine. We walked through the medieval kitchen and torture chamber. In the prison we saw the cells that held condemned prisoners which were categorized as poorest (reduced to sleeping on straw), prisoners who could afford to pay (received a cell with a bed), and "high class guests" (ha ha) were allowed a desk and lamp.
Right next to the Conciergerie is the Sainte-Chappel which is written to be the "most beautiful church in Paris." Fifteen incredible stained glass windows 50 ft high (each) depicting 1113 biblical scenes. It takes your breath away. I had never been to the Conciergerie and Sainte-Chappel before. Oh what I have missed!
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