Vive la France en 2012

The Cathédrale royale de Saint-Denis is a must-see landmark for anyone interested in French royal history. It was founded in the seventh century and built on the burial site of the patron saint of France, Saint Denis. Almost every French monarch from the tenth through the eighteenth centuries were buried here in one way or another. For me, it's personal because this is the burial place of many of my French ancestors. Phillip the Bold, Phillip the Fair, and several of the King Louis are among my direct ancestors. I feel like I should certainly visit this place at offer some sort of respect to the men and women who lived so that I might live today.

Another reason why this place is necessary to visit is because this is the final resting place of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. When they were first executed, their bodies were dumped into the churchyard at L'église de la Madeleine, which was a Catholic church. Their bodies were covered with something called quicklime. I suppose that was something to make them decompose faster but I'm not certain. Eventually Napoleon took power and decided that their bodies should remain where they were. He was a young revolutionary who, ironically, became a dictator. Go figure. After he was exiled and the Bourbon Restoration took hold, orders were given for the remains of Louis and Antoinette to be located and exhumed. Only a few bones, a little tissue and a lady's garter were found. The remains were taken to Cathédrale royale de Saint-Denis and placed in a tomb with funerary monuments befitting all of the other French monarchs buried there. Later, only the heart of their son, Louis-Charles, remained after he died in prison and was buried in an unmarked grave. His heart is entombed in a wall at the Cathédrale royale de Saint-Denis.

These are the funerary monuments of Louis and Antoinette.