No, this post isn’t about me. Amazingly, the children aren’t tired of visiting old churches, bless them. St. Sulpice is kinda special because it sent a mission to Canada in the 1600s and was granted a Seigneurie that extended eastward from Montreal. Within that domain was an area called Lavaltrie and the parish of St. Sulpice proper. That’s where my original ancestor settled in after serving 25 years in the King’s army after being granted a slice of land bordering the St. Lawrence.
This church, originally built in the 13th century and rebuilt over the centuries, is remarkable but in need of attention. It’s paintings are dark with time and need some TLC to restore the original brightness to them. Some priceless Delacroix paintings hang in the front chapel and other wonderful sculptures, frescoes and paintings adorn the church.
One striking feature is the organ, built by François-Henri Clicquot in the 1700s, it is a work of art in itself. We didn’t get a chance to hear it but it is rumoured to be one of the finest in France. But wait, there’s more! If you’re a fan of Dan Brown and his novel The Da Vinci Code, you might recognize this church as the one that figures prominently in the story. Indeed, the church has a brass line inlaid into the marble floor running at an odd angle through the church. According to Brown, this line was a meridian line that, along with other clues in the church, proving that the mysterious and ancient Priory of Scion actually existed and was in a mortal battle against Opus Dei.
The real story is less compelling…the line was designed to help the clergy to figure out the summer and winter solstice. Brass plates in the floor, long the line, trace the path of the sun and mark points in time from which Easter can be calculated. Not quite as exciting a story…but Google didn’t exist back then. After this it was lunch time.
We checked out the intriguingly named Frog and Princess restaurant but couldn’t bring ourselves to fork over 24 dollars for a burger. Instead we found a nice little place with air conditioning and ordered croque-monsieurs. On our way to visit the Medici Gardens, we across a sign pasted to the side of a church that discourages public urination with the slogan “it might be a relief to you, but it’s disgusting for others.” Which is all good and well but someone needs to remind Parisian authorities that replacing smelly but speedy public washrooms with modern ones that lock themselves up for 5 minutes is bound to increase the urge towards non-standards ways of relief.
The next place on our visit was the Palais de Luxembourg originally constructed by Marie de Medici, widow of Henri IV. She never actually lived in it but it’s a pretty impressive little cottage that, after the Revolution, was turned into the French Senate. The grounds are still open to the public, where you can feed the ducks or sit on chairs or even lounge by the Medici Fountain. Be careful where you sit because certain areas of the lawn are verbotten.
Security guard: “Monsieur, it is not permitted to be on the grass”
Monsieur: “Oh, sorry. I didn’t see a sign…”
Security guard: “There is no sign.”
Monsieur: “Then how do we know it’s not permitted?”
Security guard: “Because if it was permitted, there would be a sign…”
Ah….I see.