Louvre Pyramid

After yesterday's minor disappointment regarding markets, we found that there is another flea market, out at Porte de Montreuil, to the East of the city.

This was a very different scene; regular market tables,heaps of clothing, some rails of clothing, household goods and the essential bric-a-brac stalls, just like markets at home. I did manage to get one or two things to take home.

Rather than walk we took the metro over to Chateau de Vincennes, which was begun as a hunting lodge in the C12 and a keep built nearby. The original house no longer remains but the keep, the surrounding wall and the C14 Holy Chapel, with buildings added over the centuries, cover a large area. The chapel itself is modelled on the Sainte-Chapelle, still on our to-do list, so after an excellent lunch we aimed back into town.

We were fortunate as we arrived just as the last intake was allowed in. Sainte-Chapelle was built in the C13 to house the relics of the Passion of Christ, in particular the Crown of Thorns, for which King Louis IX (later Saint Louis) paid more than the cost of the chapel. The tour began in the lower chapel, where the palace staff worshipped, then to the Upper chapel, where the great shrine would have contained the relics (now removed). The chapel has the most breathtaking stained glass windows.

On our way home, when it began to rain, we cut through the Louvre and saw the new glass pyramid against the sun and dark clouds. Not stained glass but very effective (try looking in large).