A Traveling Christmas Story: The Chapelle Cardon at the Musée du Louvre

A Traveling Christmas Story: The Chapelle Cardon at the Musée du Louvre

Looking for a way to take the Christmas story with you wherever you go? The 15th century German world had a solution: mobile personal chapels. Take the “Chapelle Cardon” in the Musée du Louvre: this small mobile chapel would have been used for private devotion when it was made in the early 1400s. It includes [...]

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Sainte-Chapelle: Inside and Out

Sainte-Chapelle: Inside and Out

Sainte-Chapelle is a decidedly interior space. To experience its full glory, you have to enter its depths, climbing from the lower chapel to the upper chapel. But it has an intimate relationship with the outdoors. At its origins, it was utterly dependent on the light of the sun for the stained glass to come to life. Morning light, evening [...]

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The Artsy Squares of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The Artsy Squares of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés is easily one of my favorite churches in Paris. It feels ancient; a reminder of the past in the midst of contemporary Parisian life. The structure is surrounded by two little squares, each tucked in against the church and chock-full of art. These modest parks have their own distinct character [ ... ]

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