European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Continued from Pnat 77the three imposing Lowers .700 years old have seen some chilling moments for example there is a Hineson underneath whose most famous captive was trance s own Queen Marie Antoinette. V. A site was apprehended during a revolt against class privilege which ended the reign of her husband a King a fours Xvi in 1780. Hey cell and a Chapel with mementos of t he Queen Are open for viewing guided. Tours Only. .1 Here is an explanation for the Low doorway to her cell the revolutionaries barred the top to Challenge Marie s claim that they would never make her lower her head both Marie and Louis were beheaded. A. Five centuries before the Tower on Ajjie right held a prison that reputedly a a specialized in extraction of. C Onles Sions by. Torture. It is still known As tour de Bohnec. Jion Bec Means someone who talks a lot. The Palace behind the fortifications occupies the former site of a roman general s Palace. It was Home for Kings until the 1300s, when a mob murdered the Counselor to 20-year-old Charles v before his throne. He escaped giving the Palace . Royalty never lived there again. Today this Jigsaw of buildings is the site of the Palace of Justice palais de Justice or Law courts and Paris police judiciary the equivalent of Scotland Yard. The courts Are open to the Public on weekdays. But intrigue and violence Are not the Only themes on this part of the Island there Are also elegance and Art. In the 1300s, the concierge became Home to the governor of the Royal Palace. On a tour you can see the vaulted ceilings intricately carved columns and extravagant kitchens and fireplaces of its gothic Hall gothic Salle. According to travel writer Eugene a Fodor it can even be rented out for parties. Tucked away inside the Palace courtyard is one of France s great artistic achievements a Sainte Chapelle built in the 1200s to hold what was reputed to be Christ s Crown of thorns. Louis in supposedly bought the Crown from Baldwin a byzantine King who needed funds. Today the Crown is in notre Dame where it can be viewed on Good Friday outside Sainte Chapelle is an ornate Multi Spires White Stone Chapel. The inside is a jewel Box that must have taken extreme daring to build. The architect poised High peaked ceilings Oyslender columns the Walls Are stained Glass. The Chapel is spectacular on a sunny Day. Its candlelight concerts Are also famous Check with the tourist office for information. Notre Dame just a few blocks away on the East end of the Island occupies a site of worship for the first parisians and romans. The 800-year-old Cathedral using tall windows housed in High Walls was an Early attempt at brighter architecture. A a  Blue stained Glass while. Magnificent masks the faint Northern Sun. A Winter. Afternoon s walk through its dim passageways lit More by candles than sunlight reveals the frigid darkness the  look for granted. A. A. No wonder Victor Hugo based his famous Book the i Lum Hack of notre Dame Here. There could a a hardly be o More appropriate Home for the tormented soul of the deformed Cyclops quasimodo who sought in its gloom a Refuge from the scorn and ridicule he receive gtd in Paris  nether world seems appropriate in this eerie setting. Above the Middle entry to the Church grinning demons hold woebegone sinners with chains dragging them to hell. At the Bottom of this facade medieval figures including a Knight in Chain mail push open their Graves to meet Christ seated above. This is the Day of judgment when the dead Rise from their Graves and Are admitted into heaven or sentenced to hell for eternity. At Christ s right three of the eject sit in front of Abraham. They Are Stern erect and self righteous. Quot rocking in the bosom of Abraham is obviously something modesty joked Art historian Andrew Stangel on a recent  ape and Eagle like creatures Perch on the Cathedral s outer Walls. They were traditional in churches of this period meant to scare away evil spirits. These Are a relatively new addition however and did not appear until the 1800s. Notre Dame offers a few More surprises. The 28 Judean Kings above its entryways lost their Heads in the French revolution a when the Public mistook them for French Nobles the current Heads Are copies. The original pieces found in a pit near the Church almost Twya centuries later Are on display in the Cluny museum Musee de Cluny. Other remains from. Notre Dame Are in the archaeological crypt in front of the Cathedral Napoleon shocked the Pope and nobility Here when he was crowned emperor in 1804, according to Stangel. To show his superiority Over the Church Napoleon took the Crown from Pope Pius Vii before the pontiff could place it on his head and crowned himself. The artist commissioned to record the scene Jacques Louis David found the moment too outrageous to paint. Instead he portrayed Napoleon a few moments later crowning his wife Josephine. The Pope gives a . David s painting Napoleon crowning the Empress Josephine 14865-1807 hangs in the louvre. I is 387 Steps up notre Dame s. North Tower where you la get a closer look at the gargoyles actually Rainwater drains and one of the most Scenic views of Paris. With a map you can pick out the City Borders at the time the Cathedral was built. According to historian Vincent Cronin the Walls made a Circle from the louvre the Palace Down the Seine to your left along the main Boulevard Rue de Rivo Iacross the Island out to Luxembourg gardens Jardin due Luxembourg and Back to the louvre. Across the River off the Petite Pont and Rue Saint Jacques stands Saint Julien Lepauvre an unpretentious Square Church of White Stone blocks that looks like a warehouse. Possibly the oldest Church in Paris it dates from the 500s and has. Witnessed the founding of Paris University and at least one scandalous love. Affair.  �.-. A �.�"�. A a a a a Quot a y Quot the Man responsible for both was Peter Abelard born in 1079. He became a theologian at notre Dame school which existed before the Cathedral. Abelard had a unique idea for his time that Man s reason and experience have More value than religious statues. We should believe because it seems logical not because god tells us to he said. Forced to leave notre Dame because of his beliefs he set up a new school near Saint Julien. A  Abelard was dynamic and articulate his reputation glittered. That is until he began tutoring Heloise the attractive 17-year-old Niece of. A notre Dame Clergyman Abelard was nearly 40. Heloise and Abelard had a passionate secret affair Heloise had his child and moved to a Convent. According to Abelard autobiography the Uncle sought revenge by hiring thugs who castrated him. A a fortunately for Paris Abelard continued teaching i cold hard logic and speculation were his schools i specialities he came into conflict even with the Pope. But following his death his school received papal accreditation As a University. Only Bologna Italy disputes Paris claim of having the oldest University in a the world. A. Saint Julien became the official Church because it was near Abelard s school. Scholars from All Over Europe attended. In warm weather they heard outdoor lectures in Back sitting on Straw for which the Street Rue Fourre is named. The history on this spot goes Back even further. The plaque on a Small Wall right of the Church Marks one of the romans main roads via  2,000 years ago it led from this Point to Orleans France. The half trunk of an acacia tree propped with boards is supposedly the oldest tree in Paris. From this spot you get an excellent View of notre Dame the Cluny museum is two blocks up Rue Saint Jacques. It is a monks mansion from the 1400s, and a window to France s past. One of its colourful tapestries demonstrates the delicate Art of attracting a Unicorn. If you get a Virgin woman to lure it by showing his reflection with a Mirror lie will come out of the Forest and put its head in her Lap. It helps if she is Young and pretty. This is just one of five scenes in the lady with a Unicorn collection Dame a la Lacorn scholars guess to be nearly 500 years old. Quot medieval Volkert torching medals Quot As Stangel Calls. Them remain from popular pilgrimages such As one that went from the Saint James Church Tower tour Saint Jacqueson the right Bank to Santiago de Compostella the site of Saint James martyrdom in Northern Spain. Y seventh Century jewelled crowns of. Visigoth Kings Cut from hammered sheets of Gold show the primitive artistry of the dark Ages. A ,. The ruins of a roman Bath Here before the a a cloister hold a 2,000-year-old altar to Jupiter engraved with gods of both the romans and first parisians. It originally stood where notre Dame is today. A ��.�. A a Quot a /�?T����.�?T/. I Quot a it is a Jolt to remember modern Paris swirls around this silent Oasis. Just outside on any weekday evening people pick up dinner items and hurry Home from work dodging packs of rumbling cars that fill the air with noise and exhaust fumes. Tourists peruse the Quarter s Middle Eastern restaurants. Students learn to j discuss politics and philosophy with friends in cafes j in hours you have travelled far from our modern 1 civilization and have returned. Amp a stripes nil gazing february 7, 1991