Marche de Puces, Saint Suplice and Saint Chapelle

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Paris

For lovers, like myself, of antiques and brochante (the French word for bric a brac), I guess no visit to Paris would be complete without a forage through one of the many marches de puces (flea markets) for which the city is renowned. So, awaking on a Saturday morning, I decided that we should go to the one at Clignancourt, perhaps the best-known flea market in the world. Again, I have heard and read about this wonderful place for years and had always wanted to go to it “on my next visit to Paris”. So, since we were here, hell why not, I thought. The best part of having Llew as a travel companion is that he is generally game to do such half-brained things like this with me and so off we went after Jack insisted we eat breakfast at home: toast with fruit and tea (I had taken them a variety of teas in Harrods’ signature wooden box and we enjoyed one of these).

How very mistaken I was! When we arrived at Clignancourt, after a ride in the Tube that involves two changes, I found it to be very different from what I had imagined. In fact, I had thought it would be something along the lines of the Bermondsey Antiques Market in London: a number of dealers setting up their wares on make-shift carts—all very casual, very friendly. Well, this Paris place was nothing like that at all.

This market is made up of several separate marches (each specializing in a different category of item—such as antiques, vintage clothing, etc.). I headed for the Marche Biron and then to the Marche Serpette, both of which were located at the very end of the road from which we had approached via the metro station. These were a series of upscale shops, I mean regular shops—there was nothing make-shift about these. The wares inside were equally upscale and I could see nothing that I could wrap up in a bag and take home in a suitcase! The furniture varying from Louis Quinze to Beidemeir and Art Deco were the sort of solid buys that could only go overseas in a container! While there were some shops with silver and art glass and French porcelain, these were rare, in the most perfect condition and, therefore, very expensive. Still, I have to say despite the fact that I could tell within fifteen minutes that I was unlikely to go home with a souvenir of my visit to the marche de puces, it was a very interesting visit and I am glad I went.

Both en route to the Metro and leading away from these permanent markets, are loads of stalls run by black African immigrants from countries like Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire selling all manner of clothing imaginable from cheap T-shirts to American military uniforms! Being ravenous and with the sun stating that it was almost noon, Llew and I found a lovely Creperie that sold the most marvelous jambon and fromage stuffed crepes which we ordered and then watched fascinated as the expert chef swirled his little baton around his flat pan to make the delicious meal. This was swaddled in a paper cone and handed to us and filled us up very well indeed for the next few hours.

We returned home to the Champs Elysses as Llew had promised Jack that he would cook him his magret de canard in a typically Indian way, using a variety of Indian spices. The Andersons love Indian food and Llew found the recipe he usually uses for his Thanksgiving turkey from my website. So we bought ourselves a few ingredients from Monoprix (as Jack has a well-stocked spice pantry) and went back home to make the yogurt-based marinade in which to bathe the breasts of duck for a few hours for our dinner later than evening. Julia had left to spend the weekend in Normandy which left just Jack and us for dinner.

Two Famous Parisian Churches-- Sainte Suplice and Sainte Chapelle:
Having accomplished that task, it was time for us to take in the sights of the city and we headed to the center of town to see the Church of Saint Suplice that was made famous by Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Again, I have to say that in my ignorance, I expected it to be a church in which the Pink Rose Line actually could be discerned, even if faintly, on its flagstones! Well, call me crazy, but there was nothing to distinguish the Church of Sainte Suplice from any of the other many European churches I have seen in the past one year.

Well, perhaps the Rose Line does exist in the church but there was no one to point it out, or explain anything about it nor was there any literature available at the entrance of the church in English that might have led us to it. At the end of the day what I got out of our visit to this church was an opportunity to see two marvelous frescoes at the entrance in the Chapel of the Angels done by Eugene Delacroix. The rest of the church is notable for its beautiful sculptural statues of saints that are to be found in the chapels and the May Day paintings that were gifted to the church on May 1st each year.

Well, it was only a short walk along the lovely streets of Paris towards the Church of Sainte Chapelle and we made that our next destination. En route, we passed by the BGV Home Store at the Hotel de Ville where we bought one of the very unique can openers we saw Jack use at home. Not only does it open cans easily and effectively without leaving a jagged edge but it opens them in such a way that the top becomes a lid that can be re-used so as to almost hermetically seal the can again. I marveled at the ingenuity of this design and decided to go out and buy one for our home too.

At the Church of Sainte Chapelle, we were put through a thorough security search as this building stands within the precincts of the Palais Royale, part of the administrative heart of the modern city. It’s spire can be seen reaching out towards the clouds, not too far from the Church of Notre Dame as Sainte Chapelle also stands on the Ile de la Cite. It was a private chapel constructed by Louis IX to house the sacred relics that he acquired from Constantinople such as the thorns from Christ’s Crown and a piece of the True Cross. This acquisition placed Paris on par with Constantinople as one of the most important centers of Christian pilgrimage in the medieval world and the high altar that was created to house the relics included a grant old chest that can still be seen on it though the relics themselves have been moved to the Treasury in the Church of Notre Dame. It is a very tiny but most exquisite space and there is nothing in it that I had seen in any other church anywhere else. There is a hefty entrance fee (8 euros) to see this place but believe me, it is worth ever cent.

You enter the church through a lower level that is itself quite beautiful. This portion was meant only for the worship of the servants of the palace and the common people. Constructed in a form of Gothic style that is highly decorative (called royannte), the fan vaulting is the most distinctive part of this church, but it is the vivid decoration that most singles it out. The left sidewall is decorated with a fresco of the Annunciation that is reputedly the oldest wall painting in Paris. A marble statue of Louis IX graces the far end of the church that is surrounded by columns each separated by a pictorial depiction of a saint whose halo is studded with glass and semi-precious stones.

And this is only the bottom half. Climb the rather plain and very narrow spiral staircase at the back of the church and you ascend, it would seem, to Heaven, Indeed, it was not for nothing that the common folk called this church a Stairway to Heaven. When new, it must have quite dazzled the beholder for at this point in time its effect is still quite mesmerizing indeed. The entire church is surrounded by stained glass windows each depicting a separate book of the Old Testament, each panel separated by columns upon whose plinths stand depictions of the twelve apostles, all executed in elaborate style with vivid paint and lavish gilding. The high point in this from of decoration is reached at the altar where the wooden carved angels, again painted vividly and finished in gold leaf, form an arch to lead the eye towards the chest that once contained the relics. It is difficult for the eye to decide where exactly it should rest in this amazing receptacle of Gothic design and I have to say that Llew and I felt quite overwhelmed by what we saw. Never having seen the Church of Sainte Chappelle before, we felt fortunate that we had included it on our itinerary during this visit for it was certainly one of the high points of our visit to Paris.

Once out of the church and while walking past the bridges that line the Seine, we found a Hagen Daz ice-cream parlor. Quite exhausted by our sightseeing, we settled down to a massive sundae each and gosh, were we glad for our sugar high! It gave us the energy to continue on our rambles for truly Paris can best be seen on one’s own two feet. When one has seen the churches and the palaces and the museums, there is still plenty of street side enticement to draw one ever further into the heart of this architecturally perfect city whether it be a design store featuring the newest trend in faucets or yet another bistro whose menu boasts the country’s best known culinary delights such as steak hache or Coquilles St. Jacques.

We returned to our digs at the Champs Elysses, surprised again to find that it is only tourists today who seem to inhabit the area. In the many café trottoirs that line the street and the power house megastores that proclaimed the recent death of Michael Jackson by announcing new albums and books, there was a great deal to take in. But we were tired and though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, and we had to return to the Andersons so that Llew could cook his Duck Dinner. Indeed, our duck breasts had marinaded beautifully and with the oven pre-heating, Llew set to work. It was just scrumptious and the three of us enjoyed it very much indeed as we ate a salad for starters and finished off with one of Jack’s signature fruit salads with raspberry sorbet that received a huge kick by the generous addition of a cup of Bordeaux which made a lovely sauce as it melded with the melting sorbet! Jack even sprinkled some coconut over the concoction to make it more tropical.

And on that lovely gastronomic note, we called it a day, having enjoyed another evening of food and conversation with our compelling and very generous host.