Beautiful Churches on a Lovely Day

Notre Dame

August 23, 2016 -- While I love to look at Notre Dame from the outside, I admit that other churches in Paris have interiors that intrigue me more.  One of those is Saint Séverin.  Part of the reason is the forest of columns in its ambulatory, especially the twisted column.  Somehow this twisted column represents exuberance to me.  The expository plaque in the church suggests that it represents the “Tree of Life,” and how “good overcomes evil and the Resurrection of Christ is a wonder.”

Twisted column in the middle of the ambulatory and modern stained glass windows in the absidial chapel of
the Saint Severin church.

This section of the Saint Séverin church dates back to 1489 to 1495.  Another plaque in the church states that this part “is the triumph of Parisian flamboyant gothic style.”

Flamboyant.  I like it.  I also deeply appreciate the modern stained glass windows near the twisted column.  They are part of what is called the absidial chapel.  The windows were created by Jean Bazaine (1904-2001), and were installed in 1970.  They exude life in this otherwise fairly somber church.

The history of the church as explained on plaques in the church differs a little from the history contained in Wikipedia.  Today, I’ll go with the church’s version.  (Maybe someone from the church should correct the Wikipedia article?)

Folklore says that on this site was an oratory erected in ancient times, near the tomb of a hermit named Severin, who died in 555.  But information in the church states that it is dedicated to a different Séverin, one who started the Agaune Abbey in Switzerland.  A church was most likely constructed here by the 11^th century, but it is long gone. 

The Saint Severin church, as seen from the rue Saint Jacques, in the 5th arrondissement.

The Saint Séverin church that we see now began in the 13^th century.  Like so many of these old churches, it was expanded and modified in the centuries that followed.  Wikipedia claims that a fire destroyed the old church in 1448.  Whoever wrote the church plaque information isn’t so sure.  The plaque states that the destruction could have been due to neglect during the Hundred Years’ War.

We left Saint Séverin to wander through the part of the maze of medieval streets where that corner of the 5^th arrondissement meets a corner of the 6^th arrondissement. 

The Abbey Bookshop

As always, we walked by the quaint Abbey bookshop on the rue de la Parcheminerie.  As always, the shop was jam-packed with books – almost all in English.  The shop is run by Brian, who is a friend of our bibliophile friend who owns the apartment where we stay.

We didn’t stop in the bookshop because our dinner reservation time was fast approaching. 

Dinner was at yet another of the former Chartier bouillons:  Bouillon Racine, on the rue Racine, near the Odéon national theater.

We’ve dined at Bouillon Racine at least once a year for the past decade or so.  We know that it can be very good. 

The Abbey bookshop, rue Parcheminerie

Last night, the results were mixed.  The crabmeat starter course looked beautiful (except for terribly wilted lettuce scattered “decoratively” around the edges of the plate).  But the taste was bland.

Our main courses, duckling for me and steak for Tom, were absolutely delicious – but only just barely warm – almost cold.

For some reason, Tom ordered two desserts – a dish of ice cream, and a chocolate fondant with a scoop of raspberry sorbet.  I liked the sorbet, but I left the rest of it to him.  I guess he was taking full advantage of the Lafourchette.com 40% discount (food items only; not beverages).

The restaurant is a gorgeous Art Nouveau wonder.  But near us the coat closet “door” was a tattered and dirty curtain – a far cry from the lustrous blue velvet curtains at La Vagenende.  Then again, La Vagenende does not offer a discount . . . .

We had taken the metro out to the 5^th arrondissement, so we decided to walk back, part of the way, to the Sevres-Babylone metro station.  If it were daytime, we would have walked the whole way home.  But we were tired.  Our bedtime was approaching.

So we enjoyed the evening stroll through the elegant Place de l’Odéon, by the national theatre, and through the familiar streets of the 6^th until we reached our metro station near the Bon Marché department store.

The upstairs dining room at Bouillon Racine, on the rue Racine.

Today begins a 5-day streak of hot weather.  So I took my walk early this morning, solo, through the neighborhoods alongside the Champ de Mars.  When I was almost home again, at about 8AM, I slipped into the bakery to buy a baguette for Tom.  He was thrilled to have a fresh baguette in the morning as he had his coffee – none of that toasted stale bread today!