The French Way Blog

What am I going to do for my 50^th birthday?

Hide, throw a big party, enrol for a membership at the gym? All of these??

After much deliberation I chose to take my family to Paris in July for my big birthday. I decided against the big party – sorry to my friends! I didn’t need the gym membership – dreamer!  I didn’t want to hide, and Paris sounded perfect!

For my celebration I invited a family with children of the same age as my children – so there were to be four adults and 6 children under 19 years old – all teenagers.

So the plan was in place, and I would take everyone to a concert in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, followed by a slap-up dinner afterwards. For me the Ste Chapelle offered me the ideal way of imposing two of my passions on the teenagers present – history and music!

Ste Chapelle was the Royal Chapel built by St Louis in the early 1200s. He wanted an impressive chapel befitting of the relics he returned from the Crusades with – a piece of wood from the cross that Jesus died on, and the crown of thorns. In the Middle Ages having relics of the Holy story was great for business, as everyone wanted to see them. It was the equivalent of 20^th century tourism. The price paid for relics was extraordinary. To build the St Chapelle St Louis paid one third of the price of the relics to complete his masterpiece.

The Ste Chapelle is barely noticed by the tourist hordes of Paris, and hides amongst the austere surrounds of the Police Department only 400 metres from Notre Dame Cathedral.

Once within the chapel you are greeted by a magnificence difficult to describe. The walls of the chapel are all stained glass windows – walls of glass. As we arrived at our 7pm concert the sun had begun its late afternoon descent. The sunlight had turned the walls of the chapel in to what seemed like a waterfall of multi-coloured diamonds. There was an unequalled brilliance of light of every colour. Even for a teenager that affect made you stop breathing.

It was to this setting that Vivaldi’s Four Seasons struck up creating a precious sensory overload experience.

Before the sun had set for another day the concert was over, and we were back outside in the Police Department car park! I so wanted the young to be moved, and  had a feeling that Vivaldi wouldn’t  stand up against the likes of Britney Spears and Ronan Keating.

I hesitatingly enquired only to receive unanimous support that this was the best thing that they had ever seen.

It was then off to my birthday dinner sitting at a restaurant overlooking Notre Dame Cathedral – almost in heaven!

We are privileged to be able to experience such precious moments.

How to purchase tickets for concerts at Ste Chapelle:

Concerts are held every night during the summer at 7pm and 8.30pm. You can buy these in the week before the night you want to attend or if you turn up half an hour before you should be able to buy tickets at the door.  To pre-book tickets to ensure you get tickets I suggest you go to a FNAC store in Paris. Close by to the Ste Chapelle is a FNAC store on Blvd St Germain mid way between Blvd St Michel and the metro Odeon. Go to the shop and follow signs for “Billeterie” where you can buy your tickets – this is so much easier than standing in a long queue. Also you can purchase tickets to other museums like the Louvre or Musée d’Orsay, which will save you plenty of queuing! Enjoy the concert!!

Sainte Chapelle, Paris