Basilica of Saint-Denis

If you watch rugby you will have heard of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. It was built for the 1998 football World Cup. I went to Saint-Denis, three stops north of Gard du Nord on the RER, on Monday morning to see an older building.

Churches at least are open on Mondays but the Basilica of Saint-Denis was not crowded, although it deserves to be. The site is of some antiquity. Saint Denis is supposed to have been buried here after he was beheaded by the ruling Romans circa 250. In 632 Dagobert I, King of the Franks, expanded the church and shrine into the Abbey of Saint Denis, a Benedictine monastery, and is the first king to be buried here.

The Franks may not have ben aesthetes but calling their time in the sun the Dark Ages is frowned upon today; the Early Middle Ages is preferred. Anyway, another King of the Franks to be buried at S-D, in 768, is the delightfully named Pepin the Short. Nobody has heard of him because everyone has heard of his son – Charlemagne. More than thirty-five kings have been buried here, starting with Clovis I in 511 and continuing until Louis XVIII in 1824, and a plethora of members of their families. The Church Monuments Society could spend many enjoyable days here.

The abbey church was much altered in the 12th century into what you see today; you notice the scaffolding? The spire was 282 feet until it was dismantled in the 19th century. This was a tiddler compared to Salisbury, 404 feet, but it is being rebuilt. Work started in 2022 and might be completed in 2029 and it might cost € thirty-seven million.

The nave is an early example of Decorated Gothic and alone is worth the journey but it is well worth paying €11 to see what lies hidden from the west end.

There was so much to admire that we did not get to lunch at Le Voltaire until 2.15. This is a serious restaurant, replete with dark panelling, discreet, not flashy. The website is one page only, no menu, no strollers, no prices. It is a destination that caters for the rich. I first came in the 1970s for a business dinner and return whenever I feel rich and hungry – the helpings are huge. I had a salad of endives and Roquefort; ris de veau with mountains of potatoes and vegetables and baba au rhum.