Les églises/Churches

Salut!
So the weather was pretty foul today, so I wanted to do some indoor sightseeing, and many museums here are closed on Mondays, so I decided to visit some churches!  There are a few big, historic ones along line 4 of the metro, so I didn't even have to be out in the rain much, which was nice.
First I visited Saint-Eustache, near Les Halles.

A giant head!

a diorama showing les Halles in the olden days, with the church in the background

Next, I headed to la Sainte Chapelle, The Holy Chapel, which I had visited before with high school, but I wanted to see it again!  It's located in the courtyard of le Palais de Justice, and there's usually a long line, but I lucked out today and got there right before their lunch break ended, so I was only the fourth person in line!  It was great.

Le marché des oiseaux, the bird market, right near la Sainte Chapelle 

Sainte Chapelle and le Palais de Justice

the lower chapel...

the upper chapel...

Even the floor was a work of art!

This part of the floor actually reminded me more of the 1960s or '70s than the Middle Ages... 

back in the lower chapel

the ceiling in the lower chapel

After that, I took the metro further south to Saint-Germain-des-Pres.  The metro station here is interesting as well!  I'm not sure why, but there are always words projected up on the walls and ceiling...

the St-Germain-des-Pres metro station

This funky statue was across the street from the church!

the spire of St-Germain-des-Pres
(Or is it a steeple?  Is there a difference?)

Then I walked to Saint-Sulpice, because it's only about a block away.  I've never walked around that part of the 6th arrondissement, so that was interesting as well, and there was a beautiful square with a magnificent fountain by St-Sulpice!

The lions on the statue looked pretty scary! 

La Place St-Sulpice as seen from the steps of the church

There was a basin like this in St-Germain-des-Pres, too.  I think it holds holy water...

I had originally planned to head home after St-Sulpice, when I realized that I hadn't been to Notre-Dame! I mean, I've seen it from the outside a bunch of times, and I visited the inside with high school, but I wanted to see it again.  And, again, there was no line!  I guess it was my lucky day--or rainy Monday afternoons aren't a peak tourist time....

This statue of Charlemagne is right outside Notre-Dame. 

So many candles!

They had this giant old candelabra on display--it was pretty cool!

the side of Notre-Dame no one ever photographs