When we got to Saint-Sulpice, there was a christening taking place. This must have been one well-known and well-loved baby, because the church was close to full. The smartly-dressed congregation was singing, the organ was playing, incense wafted through the air. We stood and listened for a while.
Imagine having your baby christened here. Quite a spectacular scene in a spooky church.
I’d read about the Delacroix murals, and we found them on the walls of the side chapel. The most famous of these are Jacob Wrestling with the Angel and Heliodorus Driven from the Temple.
Over the last few years, Saint-Sulpice has been the subject of much fascination and hordes of tourists, due to the publication of Dan Brown’s novel The DaVinci Code, which purports that the church was the centre of activity for secret societies and points out numerous features of the church as “proof”.
The Catholic church is not impressed and there’s a sign inside the church giving their side of the story. It’s worth reading more about Saint-Sulpice on Wikipedia.
Apparently Catherine Deneuve lives near the St Sulpice church. Maybe here? Beautiful apartments in a high rent neighbourhood.
Since we enjoyed our picnic by the Seine so much, we decided to find another boulangerie for baguette sandwiches and drinks to go.
We were heading over to the Orangerie museum to see the Monet Water Lilies and so a picnic in the Jardin des Tuileries gardens would be perfect.
Beauty wherever you walk. Finding a place for our lunch in the Tuleries Gardens on the way to the Orangerie.
We found our boulangerie on Rue du Bac – the “usual” jambon baguettes – it was definitely time to get more creative with the take out orders, but these were so good that having them two days in a row was just fine – and made our way over the Pont Royal to the Tuileries.
Path through the Tuleries. No wonder it's such a popular park for Parisians and tourists alike.
Just as a side note – the Pont Royal was built between 1685 and 1689. No matter how often you’ve been in Paris, I don’t think the sense of wonder at the living history ever leaves you.
Three tourists and one Monet. Inside the Orangerie, one of the world's true art treasures.
