I’m the Willing Slave of my Ever-Growing To-Do List - Sunday, 30 October

During every stay in Paris my to-do list grows. I mean, I do knock some things off my list, but always add more than I delete. Of course, this situation is exacerbated by the fact that my legs can handle only few things a day, but hey, I’ll use that excuse to keep coming back!

la Place de la Sorbonne

After church today I had lunch in a little café at la Place de la Sorbonne. It’s always a stunning location, but with today’s bright sunshine and topaz blue sky, well, just wow. I was planning to head over to the Jardin du Luxembourg after lunch (it’s just a few blocks away) to visit the statue of Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, and to catch some rays, but I got to talking with a British couple sitting at the next table who told me that the “Sainte-Geneviève Church” next to the Panthéon was a must-see.

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

So I walked over there. It was a worthwhile jaunt even though 1] it’s not really Sainte-Geneviève Church (it’s actually Saint-Etienne-du-Mont), and 2] at the time I got there mid-afternoon it wasn’t open.

What I've been able to piece together is that back in the 6th century, King Clovis built a church of Apostles Peter and Paul on this site. Saint Geneviève was in the habit of coming to pray, taking a route that is today rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève (I must tread those paving stones!). In time Clovis was buried here, as were his wife Clotilde and Sainte Genevieve. In the Middle Ages, this church was turned into a royal abbey. Various changes and additions were made to the abbey church over the centuries, but it was devastated during the French Revolution, and the relics of Sainte Geneviève were burnt.

All that remains of the abbey church is the bell tower, which is enclosed in the premises of the Henri-IV school just across the street from Saint-Etienne-du-Mont - you can see it in the middle of this photo, to the left of the Panthéon.

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont church did inherit the relics of and the devotion to Saint Geneviève. From what I've read about its interior and exterior, the church really does sound fantastic, so it’s going on my list for the next trip! And besides, it's been a religious site for 15 centuries, so it will be sure to do me some good!