My Favorite Paris Building: The Conciergerie

Jun 25, 2023

I first came to Paris in the 1980s, but I was so poor, I couldn’t go out to eat or buy anything or visit many museums. I remember wanting to know more about this castle on the Seine: The Conciergerie. I vowed that one day I would visit, and, to be honest, it’s one of the reasons I came back to France. Marie Antoinette was kept here before she went to the guillotine.

The Conciergerie (“Lodge”) along the Seine.

The worst part of Marie Antoinette‘s imprisonment (and there were a number of awful things that happened to her in the 76 days she spent in the Conciergerie) was that her nine-year-old son was tortured (this seems to be disputed by some; he may have “just” been kept in solitary confinement) in the cell next to hers. His interrogators said his mother had molested him, and so not only was she accused of political crimes, she was also accused of incest (this charge was eventually dropped). Still, she was sentenced to death, after her husband and son had died.

Marie Antoinette’s life was filled with heartache and while she may have been well dressed, she was probably miserable much of the time.

This is where she would have been prepared for the guillotine, which by the way, was not put out of use in France until 1977!!!!!!!

Before visiting The Conciergerie, I went to Saint-Chapelle, which is one of the most gorgeous churches in the world. It appears to be constructed entirely out of stained glass held up by stone, and various Old and New Testament Bible books are told in each of its windows. Each panel is a scene from one of the books. It’s unbelievable, although it’s not very big. It was built to house the Crown of Thorns, among other relics of Jesus. Some of the books included in the windows are two of my favorites: Exodus and Esther.

My camera couldn’t do it justice.

*Here is one panel—Noah’s Ark—from Genesis.*

*The stone work is as amazing as the glass.*

*These cats(?) appear to be melting in the heat. Like me.*

The Conciergerie had an exhibit on French food, and so I feel compelled to show you what I had for lunch. One thing I love about Paris is that the portions are properly-sized and you have hours to enjoy your meal. However, if you watched the most recent season of Top Chef, you may have come to realize, as I did, that Americans prefer their foods saltier than Europeans. There was no salt on this dish (and it needed it) and there was no salt on the table. It was still delicious.