Following in the Footsteps of the Saints, Part 6: Sacré-Cœur, Sainte-Chapelle, and Seine River Cruise

November 8, 2025

Our final day in Paris was filled with a perfect blend of spirituality, culture, cuisine, history and adventure! Our day started out taking the cog rail up to the highest point in Paris – Montmartre (The Martyrs’ Mountain). Montmartre’s name itself has quite the history. Saint Denis (Bishop of Paris during the third century) and his two companions were very successful evangelists. Their success at converting agnostic worshipers to Christianity quickly got the attention of the pagan priests. This attention led to their arrest, torture and eventual martyrdom by the Romans around 250 AD. Legend has it, following his beheading, St. Denis picked up his head and continued preaching the gospel until he collapsed and died several miles away. Today, Saint Denis Basilica stands at the very spot Saint Denis died!

Looking up at Sacré-Cœur

Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart) Basilica sits on top of Montmartre. Construction began in 1875 with ten million donors having made it possible. Amazingly, St. Therese of Lisieux was one of these people. She donated her gold bracelet which was used to make the basilica’s large monstrance used for perpetual adoration.

Sacré-Cœur is accessible via stairs (left) or cog rail!

The highlight of visiting Sacré-Cœur Basilica was twofold. Going to Mass in the intimate chapel located in the lower level of the basilica was an amazing opportunity. Once again, Fr. Chinna was our celebrant. For each Mass we celebrated on this trip, the readings, homily, petitions… were all centered on the holy site we were visiting and this was no exception.

Fr. China blessing treasures from Sacré-Cœur

Stained glass of Sacred Heart

The monstrance holding Jesus' precious body

The other highlight was having the chance to join fellow worshipers in adoring Christ! Perpetual adoration has been going nonstop at Sacré-Cœur since 1885! Every day. Every night. Wars came and went, but adoration continued. Throughout COVID, when the world shut down, adoration continued. When we lived in Hastings, Minnesota, we belonged to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. They also have perpetual adoration (they just celebrated 20 years of perpetual adoration) and our hour was on Tuesdays from 5-6 pm. It was always such a blessing to be able to spend a quiet hour in the presence of our Lord. I know God is everywhere, but there is something special to be in the presence of His actual, precious body as you give Him gratitude for our many blessings, ask for help with prayer requests, and seek rest from the crazy world we live in today. This was a great reminder for me.

The scene painted in the art piece we purchased! Amazingly, this photo was captured before we encountered the art piece!

On a clear day, you can see sites 20 miles away. Maybe next time!

We looked for the famous accordion cat man of Montmartre, but it seems he was waiting for the weather to improve a bit! Once again, maybe next time!

The artist we purchased a piece from!

Following Mass, we had free time to explore Place du Tertre Square and find a little lunch. The square was filled with artists who had their easels, canvases, paint and brushes busy at work. It’s easy to understand why this is a popular site for artists to create, as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir are a few of the many artists who once lived, worked or hung out on top of this hill! After taking a stroll around the square and viewing the artist’s works, we couldn’t resist bringing home a piece that captured the essence of the square! Surrounding the square were little shops and cafés. We found ourselves drawn to Chez Eugene. My father’s name was Eugene. I believe I got my love of travel from this wonderful man. He would have loved everything about this pilgrimage, including the tasty crêpes and coffee we enjoyed at Chez Eugene!

Street side lunch along with fellow travelers Aaron and Crystal

The next destination of the day was Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel). This beautiful gothic-style chapel was built during the 13th century by King Louis IX. King Louis IX was a very religious man who had acquired many relics from the Passion of Christ, including the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True Cross. Having acquired these precious relics, his next move was to build a proper place to house them. I can’t imagine anything more fitting than this stunning chapel. What’s most amazing about this chapel is its stained glass. The walls of this chapel are almost entirely made up of stained-glass. It was quite the engineering marvel of its time! Even more impressive is the art contained in the windows. The enormous walls of windows that surround worshipers inside the chapel contain over 1,100 scenes from the Bible. The scenes cover stories from Genesis to Revelation, essentially pictorially covering both the old and new testaments of the Bible!

Photos simply don't come close to capturing the beauty.

The Crown of Thorns was displayed in the raised altar pictured.

Did you know gargoyles make a sound very like someone gargling as rainwater moves through it?

Following our time in Sainte-Chapelle, most of our group took the bus back to the hotel for some free time before dinner. Dick and I couldn’t resist taking advantage of the beautiful weather and decided to walk the 3.3 miles back. As we started off, we were stunned when we rounded the corner to find Notre Dame (translates to “Our Lady”) standing in all her glory only a couple of blocks away! It’s disorienting for me when I’m on the bus. I lose all sense of direction and get completely turned around. Regardless, this turned out to be a lot of fun in addition to getting some good steps in. Dick had been hoping to find a Paris t-shirt and there just happened to be some shops in the neighborhood selling them. Check that box off the list! Having walked along the Seine River on a couple of our other walks, we decided to cut through town this time. It was interesting to get away from more of the touristy area of town and into more of the local scene. Favorite stop: a patisserie shop where we treated ourselves to an éclair. Make that a pistachio éclair for me! No surprise that Dick chose the chocolate éclair.

Wait, Notre Dame is right there?!!!

Our final dinner in Paris was a group dinner quite different from any of the other meals we enjoyed together. This meal was aboard a boat while cruising the Seine River! This boat kept with the “glass walls” theme of the day. Rather than the stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle, we had picture clear glass that provided beautiful views as we cruised past Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty and other scenes along the Seine River. Seating was unique as well in that the three rows of stadium seats ran parallel to the windows, allowing everyone a clear view during the cruise. It was a treat for the eyes and the taste buds as the scenery and the meal were both wonderful. What we didn’t realize until after we disembarked from the boat was that we were about to have a treat for our ears as well! It so happened the daughter (Madeleine) of a couple who were on this trip with us (Kenan and Kathi) sings for the opera in Munich. Madeleine had traveled to Paris and was able to join us for the cruise. If it wasn’t enough of a treat to meet this sweet woman, she surprised us by singing “Ave Maria” on the bank of the Seine River shortly after we disembarked from the boat. WOW!!! It was such a powerful moment. I think we all had goose bumps and watery eyes. What a way to end our time in Paris. Thank you, Madeleine!