Today we left central Paris to tour le basilique de Saint Denis, a beautiful Gothic cathedral. Religious buildings have sat on this site since the first millenium. Some of the columns in the current structure are allegedly Merovingian.

The story of Saint Denis is this: After heathen priests beheaded the bishop on the top of Montmartre, he carried his head several miles north to the present suburb Saint Denis. It is said that while he walked, he continued preaching a sermon. This was in the 3rd century.

The bodies of the royal families have nearly all been buried here. During the Revolution, they were unearthed and dumped into mass graves. The Bourbon Restoration then attempted to return the bodies to each of their appropriate tombs.



After seeing both the cathedral and its crypt, I went by myself to le musée d'art et d'histoire. An old Carmélite monastery (built in 1625) houses the museum. In addition to the regular collection, there was an exposition on the Commune and its Communards and another on contemporary photography.