Thursday evening Sumi and I met Anne-Marie in front of Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Pres. We were going to hear the Voix d'Hommes de Corse, du Pays Basque et de Russie sing. We had some time so we walked to find a nice French restaurant. On the way Anne-Marie pointed out Eglise St. Sulpice. She said that there is a sign in the church that reads "It is not here". We found a nice restaurant and made a reservation to come back in an hour. It was a pleasant dinner. We sat outside to eat and watched the people in the neighborhood coming and going.

Christian met us at the church in time for the concert. Saint Germain-des-Press is a Romaneque Church consecrated on 21 April 1163. It was built on the site of a 6th century abbey, and was the dominant chuch in Paris until Notre Dame was built. It has been altered many times, but the chapel de St. Symphorien, to the right as you enter, ws part of the original abbey and is the final resting place of St. Germanus (AD496-576), the first bishop of Paris. The Merovingian kings were buried here during the 6th and 7th centuries, but their tombs disappeared during the Revolution. The Belfry is the oldest in Paris. It is a solid square tower, begun at the beginning of the 11th century. Entrance: It has a 17th century porch. After the portal was damaged in the 17th century, an arched narthex was constructed. The modern door opening into the church is wrought iron; Nave: Romaneque 11th century nave with five bays, separted from the side-aisles by square pillars leading to four imbedded columns, crowned by illustrated capitals which clearly show the strong but temperate art of early romanesque sculpture (copies of the originals may be found at the Cluny museum). Descartes is one of the persons buried there. The Men's Basque and Russian Choruses gave a lovely program. The church was full. After the concert we made a dash to find a taxi again. What fun.