Seeing St. Denis

I am a bit overdue on blogging about our adventures on Sunday, but better late than never! Colin and I were guests of Muriel's for an afternoon in St. Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. Muriel cooked us an AMAZING lunch (seriously, I'm still drooling thinking about it) and we got a chance to meet her family. Her mom, step-dad, and brother are all such delightful people!

Fortunately, my French held out well enough to understand the gist of the dinner conversation, which quickly turned to a heated political debate. Even though I was too slow to participate, I had an absolute ball listening and watching the whole event. And seriously, did I mention the food? Oh man. Awesome.

Here are a few pictures from our afternoon.


Unquestionably the jewel of St. Denis is the basilica. Built on the site of a cemetery where St. Denis himself was interred, this house of worship is now the final resting place for all of the kings of France.

A shot of the inside, as seen from behind the altar. I love the inside of the basilica. It's just so much warmer and brighter than Notre Dame is, and yet it still showcases some amazing gothic architecture.


St. Denis also has a spring tulip festival, which we managed to miss by about a month. Fortunately, most of the tulips were still there, so we got to see the remnants of the magnificent display. The dark red tulips in this particular section are called "Ile de France" tulips.


Just trying to be artsy again. I can't help it! Colin thinks it looks like a sci-fi shot: walking through the tulip forest.


These are two of my favorite things! ;)