55, bd. JOURDAN

The Cathedral of Saint Denis. Wow was this place ever impressive.

We decided to make the trek out on Friday afternoon after having what could only be deemed a breakfast crêpe party — I bought mix and nutella and had all those bananas from last market weekend to fry up (it was delicious).

Outside of zones 1 and 2 on the Paris Metro, you could tell that Saint-Denis has a different vibe going for it. The stores aren’t quite your average boutiques, the shoppers aren’t your typical Parisian flâneurs, and the accents of the fruit-vendors get even thicker than one thought possible, but despite all of this even as you turn the corner of a rather unassuming square … you happen upon an ancient cathedral that hosts the tombs of all the kings of France.

I think the distinction is worth pointing out.

Ancient history versus an empty market square.

Either way, after just generally being awed for about an hour, we decided to tag onto a tour group being given in French. The guy was pretty cute and his accent wasn’t too hard to follow, so we figured we’d give our comprehension a-go. Turns out this was a pretty good idea as there are some things about Saint-Denis I would have never known — for instance:

1) Saint Denis the saint — Not only was he martyred by being beheaded, but the real miracle came from the fact that he was able to walk roughly 6km from Montmartre to the current site of the Saint Denis Cathedral and establish a hundreds year legacy. Pretty impressive.

2) Charlemagne is not buried at Saint Denis, but rather at Aix-la-Chapelle. However you can find both the resting place of his father Pepin (Pippin) and younger brother Carloman I at Saint Denis. Good deal.

3) Getting into the French Revolution, both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette have a tomb within Saint Denis, but it’s uncertain whether they both are actually interred here. After the revolution they were buried in unmarked graves and it was only after the restoration in 1815 that their remains were recovered. Because of witness accounts (and the fact that Marie Antoinette wore satin tights) her remains were easily identified … but the remains of Louis XVI were most likely misidentified and brought over only for political reasons. Oops.

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