Basilique Saint-Denis

A visit of the "Basilique Saint-Denis' was also squeezed in at some point over the past week: and these are some images of that visit. It's quite a stunning space to visit - a museum of an age long past where religion and monarchy very much defined what it meant to be "French'. Today the basilica hosts the bodies of France's former Kings and Queens, itself having been a sort of spiritual centre of the French nation. The neighbourhood around the basilica tells of a new France - perhaps the France of the future. Where Christianity, respect for monarchy and hierarchy were what lied at the heart of a bygone France - the largely immigrant population around the basilica foretells of a markedly different world to that which these dead kings and queens built a or envisaged. Depending on which side of the political spectrum you come from, the basilica is either a sad reminder of a romantic time long past, a reminder of how different France has become or simply a tribute to the progress France has made in distributing wealth to not only itself but to immigrants from all parts of the world, thanks to the continued evolution of the French state.