“Irridescent splendour”

“When entering the Sainte-Chapelle, one is dazzled by the irridescent splendour of the Saint-Louis stained-glass windows which coloured reflections are displayed inside the chapel, laying here and there rainbow colours.” (p. 34, “Third Day Morning”).

Though this guide loses some points for spelling (see bolded text), it certainly gains points for its colorful depictions of sites, especially the gorgeous interior of the Sainte-Chapelle. As difficult as the magnitude of this space is to describe, the guide does its best to throw adjectives at the wall to do something to entice readers to visit for themselves amidst the busy day planned by the Guilmin Guide. The one thing that the text could never capture is the breathtaking effect of compression and release that comes from walking up the tight, beige, spiral staircase and appearing in a colorful collage of stained glass, patterned tiles, and impressively-painted ceilings (my personal favorite part).

Something that I have learned about this guide as I have experienced more of its recommendations is that Guilmin was incredibly over-ambitious in its scheduling.  Though there is no designated time table for each day, the guide typically recommends 20 or more attractions for each day, some of which are on vastly different sides of Paris (which must have been even more of a feat without the convenience of the RER). With that in mind, people following this tour may not have had time to sit and admire the “Ten thousand figured [that] animate a thousand panels” made from stained glass that dominates the space, nor delve super deep into the stories that each depicts.

Much like our own tour, the Guilmin Guide followed up Sainte-Chapelle with the Conciergerie next door.  Unfortunately, the guide is especially vague on this structure, noting only that it contains the former cells of Andre Chenier, Marshal Ney, and Marie Antoinette.