At first I thought this was a confessional, a place where Catholics used to confess their sins to a priest. Then I saw the bicycle lock on the door and started to think it was really odd... Then I realized it was... an entrance door! Silly me... It may be a gateway to heaven, or more likely a gateway to Berthillon, the most famous ice cream maker of Paris, for I took this photo in the Saint-Louis en l'Ile church.
You are forgiven. Sure you posted a bit late and I am at work and could be busted any minute for looking at your blog instead of working, but it's worth it!
ReplyDeleteUnless of course I lose my job, which is always a possibility and then . . . it will still have been worth it. Only it will be a case of "don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out."
ReplyDeleteNow, about the photo: it does look like a door to some sacred place and so Berthillon would definitely qualify.
ReplyDeleteThe four panels on the doors look like they are heavy leather. Are they? The bicycle lock doesn't exactly look burgler-proof to me. :)
ReplyDeleteDoes the church consider going for ice cream a sin?
ReplyDeleteI hope not. I love Fleur de Sel Caramel!!
It's a door built over a door. (Une port sur une port?) Were you tempted, with all these Doors, to Break On Through to the Other Side? (Sorry, American rock and roll reference.)
ReplyDeleteMy fave too, Christie. Salt AND sugar in one delicious bite.
ReplyDeleteEric -- there's that perspective I love again. You weren't looking for a confessional, were you? We think you've been a very good boy.
Oops, I forgot: Way to go, from Cali (in triplicate, no less).
ReplyDeleteGood going, Cali!
ReplyDeleteFleur de sel is my fav, too.
Maybe behind the door is a stair... errrrrrrrrrway, to Heavvvvennnnn....bang!
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ReplyDeleteCongrats, Cali! A triple scoop for you.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't catch a chill from all that lying around on the ground, Eric :) Or were you praying at the altar of heavenly ice cream? Thank you as always for your sacrifice - it's an intriguing pic!
{Sorry, I couldn't leave my first comment there with a missing question mark.}
I may be mistaken, but didn't they use that exact location as the setting for the cabinet in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"? I'm thinking of the modern remake with Paul Williams, Michael Jackson, and Susan Sarandon.
ReplyDeletethat's a good one Tall Gary...he-he.
ReplyDeleteI can't explain why but I want to see what is behind that door!
A gateway to Berthillon IS a gateway to heaven!!
ReplyDeleteIntriguing picture, enjoyed the text even more. (I love your titles too!)
Fleur de sel caramel?!?!
ReplyDeleteI have to try that ;-)
Monica -- you are SO right!
ReplyDeleteOh, great—now I have a serious Berthillon craving.
Alexa me too, I'm craving for some serious Berthillon ice cream!
ReplyDeleteBTW Eric, I sent you a short email about Moulin Rouge.
Well...like they say.."Once a Catholic, Always a Catholic"...but this time it is a case of NO EXIT as well!! Quick...20 more Hail Mary's!!
ReplyDelete(PHX: Stairway To Heaven, indeed.)
ReplyDeleteThis photo is, as noted by others, another example of the Eric Perspective. Normally, he is down on his belly taking just the perfect photo for us. But, this time, we must observe his caption. He was, indeed, looking for a confessional, and was approaching it on his knees like a true penitent!
You go into the box. It's dark, spooky, frightening. (We are 'God fearing', aren't we?) You summon up the courage, whisper some invented infractions to some unknown person, who whispers back: say three acts of contrition, ten Hail Marys, and three Lord's Prayers. Then, my son, you are forgiven. You may go out and sin again! Yeah, baby! Don't you love this Catholic thing? (Yes, it's clear, it was I, until I ran away.)
The door in front of a door is most intriguing.
ReplyDeleteJeff, you are correct of course that "Break On Through" is a Doors tune, but it's appropriate here as you must know. It may be an American rock reference but it's still Parisian, because Jim Morrison is buried at Père Lachaise.
I don't know how to do the link thing, but if you go to French wikipedia (English doesn't have any info) and put in Eglise Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile you will find some wonderful thumbnails of this church that you can blow up.
ReplyDeleteEric's door photo reminds me of the surprise of walking inside here. The outside of the church is a massive solid dark grey wall crowding right up against the narrow sidewalk and there are no windows at all streetside, just a couple of doors set shallowly into the wall with no exterior porticoes or porches. But inside, its exactly the opposite - all white and gold and confectionary with high set stained glass windows and all very, very 1675.
Petrea - I think this is a common convention in French (European?) churches. There is a vestibule with a second set of doors built out inside the building in front of the exterior door. Often there is one exterior door and then two separate interior doors, each set off at an angle in the vestibule and you can enter thru either of the two interior vestibular doors. I think it must keep the cold and noise out as people enter the church (especially during services).
ReplyDeleteCarrie - Thanks for the words to paste into French Wikipedia! It was fun to go to that site and maneuver my way around, not knowing the language. The photos inside the church were a real surprise after seeing the double doors that Eric photographed today. I would never have suspected to find all that beauty inside! :) Fun tour.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this is what Carrie had in mind.
ReplyDeleteI was very taken with the way Jeff cracked open the Doors and then PHX-CDG took that heavy airship by the hand and Led Zeppelin up the stairs.
So Lily Hydrangea, maybe this is what is outside the exit door (if you click on the "Street view" below the photo icon. Berthillon is on the same side of the street as the church but at the end of the block.
I wonder what the French is for "Forgive me Father for I have pigged out shamelessly."
Thank you for confessing that. An easy mistake, now do three Hail Marys and be off with you.
ReplyDeleteWell. One wonders what goes on behind these doors. It looks sinister to me. As feeble as the bicycle lock looks, it's probably just an early warning and, once inside, you are manhandled by huge, muscly, beefy security types, linking arms with you lifting you off the floor, your feet dangling helplessly. Er... hmm... anybody got any strong cutting tools I could borrow? ;)
ReplyDeleteLynn, I adore your imagination! giggles. I will even donate some strong cutting tools to your adventure. giggles.
ReplyDeleteEric, this is a great photo. And now I am craving pistachio ice cream. Oh la la.
Gary - I tried your link and it is a bit different.
ReplyDeleteIt goes to Wikipedia Commons rather than Wikipedia and has only images with no info on the church. For some reason I wasn't able to click from enlargement back to the page of thumbnails to select a new one.
I went first to the main Wikipedia page where there's a selection of languages. Selecting Francais, it takes you to an opening page with news and updates where you can type in a search for Eglise Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile and it comes up with an article with the history and photos together. I went from the thumbnails to the enlargements and back again easily there.
Now I'm hungry for that great Berthillon ice cream. I must have stopped there at least 4 times when I last visited Paris.
ReplyDeleteHello Everyone!!!
ReplyDeleteThis picture is cool... imagine that a boyfriend take his girlfriend to this church, the girl could be super confuse... LOL.. Are you trying to said we will marry or are you take me to buy an ice cream.... why dont you go to take an ice cream then got married??? lol.... Fleur de Sel Caramel... I will try it... if is sin.. I want it even more lol...
Besos from Mx
funny story to go with a great photo. it is startling sometimes to learn what is behind a closed door, and many times it is not what we think.
ReplyDeleteEl extraño mundo de Laury Paris, I am confused! Is Berthillon behind that door? I honestly don't get it. Somehow I got lost on this one.
ReplyDeleteIce cream!
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to have a look at PDP today..., I've just resisted ... well .. 3 or 4 hours, I've sinned once again... mdr, always the same weakness I hate from me, lol, and what am I feeling right now?... knocked out! KO 10 to 0. Maybe the next stage for me is to go directly to a madhouse... Sorry. i almost forgot to say, nice photo.
Petrea, that's the way it is with the mysteries of spiritual issues: ultimately, when we are lost, all we have is faith that behind the golden gates, there is a reward.
ReplyDeleteI can't resist another rock & roll allusion--the totally irreverent opening lines of Patti Smith's version of 'Gloria':
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
meltin' in a pot of thieves
wild card up my sleeve
thick heart of stone
my sins my own they belong to me, me
people say "beware!"
but I don't care
the words are just
rules and regulations to e, me
That's a weird door. Even more because it's an emergency exit...closed by a locker!!
ReplyDeleteHeaven, or Hell...Who knows what goes on behind closed doors, hu? ;)
Obviously. it just proves that you can't get into heaven without the proper key.
ReplyDeletePetrea... LOL I’m confused too... I will try to explain my point...
ReplyDeleteWell someone said that this door could belong to a church or a Berthillon... Imagine a couple going to there.. but the girl could be confuse if her boyfriend is taking her to get married or have an ice cream... jajajajajaja awkward situation.
Very intriguing and mysterious photo, Eric.
ReplyDeleteHeaven or Berthillon ? Same difference...
If I had a back entrance to Berthillon, I would make sure to put a bicycle chain on it too.
Petrea - I think I can explain! : )
ReplyDeleteThe leather covered doors lead to the door to the outside where you walk directly out into the main street intersecting the island.
Once outside you can head directly off to get a Berthillon Ice Cream (the best in Paris....per everyone!) and which used to be sold only at the Berthillon store right there on the Ile St. Louis, but is now carried in many locations around the city. So the door swings both ways: out for a (minor)ice cream sin, and in for mass (or marriage, I guess, if you're EEMD Laury Paris)!
Misplaced Parisian..giggle...I'm ready!
ReplyDeleteHe says: "Oh my darling. Let's go inside this church. There is something we can do here that will bring us closer to heaven. Yes, my darling, we can find paradise together, you and I, behind those doors."
ReplyDeleteShe says: "What? This is a shortcut to Berthillon's? I thought you wanted to marry me!"
Good one El extraño mundo de Laury Paris. Quite a clever idea.
He says "Oh, yeah, well right, that too, but let's get the ICE CREAM first!"
ReplyDeleteI surmise that, rather than ice cream or matrimony, Gary's character was referring to the type of nirvana observed in Paradise By The Dashboard Light.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Lynn and Jeff. It brings to mind my late brother's favorite line, "Let's get engaged, do it now, and get married later." He was rather successful with that one but he ended up getting married (and divorced) four times. Yes, my "late" brother. It's clear that marriage is a major health hazard, downright lethal.
ReplyDeleteActually, that little scenario above came about because I was thinking about what El extraño mundo de Laury Paris might have understood in a language that is not her own and what she tried to communicate in a language that is not her own. If that scenario is anywhere near what she intended then she communicates rather well in a foreign language.
ReplyDeleteShe did indeed, Gary. Et merci, Carrie, maintenent je comprends.
ReplyDeleteJeff, tres funny!
Paradise by the Dashboard Light
ReplyDeleteBarely seventeen and barely dressed? Whoo hoo!
did you take more photos inside the church? I LOVE the inside of this church! I just back last month from living in Paris for 4 months and I was living on ile st-louis!
ReplyDeleteI love this site. One day has me hungry for Hungarian food (!), another has me recalling "The Doors of Perception" by Aldous Huxley.
ReplyDeletePLUS, marvelous photos. What more could one want?
Eric, they put that lock on the door to keep me away from Berthillon's. Just SEEING the place goes directly to my 2 hips (which are currently named Ben and Jerry :-) ).
ReplyDeleteGlad to see another of your "from the pavement" shots in churches. Gives such a nice perspective.
Hope you enjoyed some rich, delicious fruity something at Berthillon's while you were in the neighborhood!
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo
Catholics still confess their sins in confessionals.
ReplyDelete