Time to St. Denis?

About how long would it take me to get to St. Denis from the Latin Quarter? I don%26#39;t need an exact time, just approximate. I%26#39;m trying to squeeze a trip there into a tightly packed day.

Also, is the Cathedral near the station?

Thanks.

AKat

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The cathedral is near the station - Take line 13 and exit at Saint Denis basilique. From Gare Saint Lazare, it takes 12-15 minutes.

It is well worth the visit, a wonderful place. Full ot history and statuary. If you go on a Sunday you can enjoy the market and food and people from the 5 continents or so it seems.

Check your metro map and see where you can catch line 13, you most likely do not have to Gare Saint Lazare (my neighborhood).

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Not knowing exactly where in the Latin Quarter, it%26#39;s a little difficult to give you a good answer. Probably your easiest route would be to take the Métro Line 10 (from e.g. Cluny-La Sorbonne, Odéon, Maubert-Mutualité) Direction Pont de St. Cloud to Duroc. Change there to Line 13 Direction St. Denis-Université and get off at the Basilique St-Denis station. The Basilica (not a cathedral, BTW) is no more than a two minute walk from the station.

The entire trip should take around 40 minutes.

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Hi... last time I was there I was staying literally diagonally across the entire city from St. Denis. It%26#39;s up on the northwest-ish corner and I was southeast-ish. I went on a Saturday morning, took an early train and it was only about 30 minutes.

IF I remember correctly, you turn to your left after coming out of the station and stay on that street. There should be a plaza on your right (where they were having a flea market when I came back out later.) There will be signs that say %26quot;basilique%26quot; and it%26#39;s about 3 short blocks from the station.... again, if I%26#39;m remembering correctly. Trying to do this from memory and I have %26quot;sometimers.%26quot;

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Thanks, all! I may be able to make it then. I am signed up from a tour from England and only have one unescourted day in Paris. I want to go to the Cluny, Pere Lachaise, and, fingers crossed, St. Denis. My main objectives are historical -- I want to go to the cathedral where Mary Tudor (Henry VIII%26#39;s sister) was crowned queen of France in 1514. I think I will be able to make there. If not....well, it%26#39;s a great reason to come back next summer :-)

Thanks again, all.

AKat

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Did you also know that, after the death of Louis XII, Mary was kept a virtual prisoner in the Cluny palace by his successor, François !?

It was in the chapel of the Cluny palace that she was more or less secretly married to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, whom she loved. François I connived in this marriage as he was anxious to avoid Henry VIII%26#39;s marrying her off to a Hapsburg prince.

After she was safely married he allowed her to leave and she returned to England.

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IrishRovr,

Oh, yes, yes, yes, I know that. That is soooo why I am going to the Cluny the first chance I get. That is my first priority in Paris, even though I took French in high school and college and have been looking forrward FOREVER to going to France. I will be at the Cluny when they open my second day in Paris.

My trip this October is starting out in London where I am going to various sites relating to Mary. I am trying to arrange an expedition into Suffolk to Bury St. Edmunds where she is buried in St. Mary%26#39;s Church and to Moyses Hall Museum where they have an actual lock of her red hair. Also I am planning to go to Windsor at St. George%26#39;s Chapel where Charles Brandon is buried. I am going to be soooo busy on this trip!

Sorry to bore everybody with my journey in search of Mary Tudor. I will post the whole saga on my website and give you all a link to it if you are interested . Mary and I share the same birthday, March 18, and have a few other items in our lives in common, so I can%26#39;t resist this trip.

AKat *also a redhead%26quot;

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Please go and see the basilique of St.Denis - it is a marvellous masterpiece in gothic architecture. You can enter the church free of charge from the square, but then you will not be allowed to the burial area. In order to go in there you should take the entrance to your right. I believe I paid 8 (?) euros - so it is not cheap, but worth every centime.

My 3 favorite churches in Paris:

St. Eustache

Ste. Etienne du Mont

Basilique de Saint Denis

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oh,forgot to tell:

Instead of just taking the metro back, follow the %26quot;mainstreet%26quot; down through the town of St.Denis - and as some other forumist wrote: you will meet people from all 5 continents -and a few aliens too.... Follow it to the end with the smaller church, follow the tramway-rails to the left-side of the church, go straight ahead, cross the bridge over the Seine, and take the RER D back to Paris city.

You will feel that you have been really, really off the beaten track out there ! And the RER ride back to Gare du Nord or Chatelet is much faster than the metro.

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