07/25/2025
Day 10 Euro 2025: Today we discovered Wallace fountains, the 150 cast-iron drinking fountains all over Paris. These iconic, working fountains are a memorial to philanthropic urban design, combining social welfare with urban beauty. They were commissioned by philanthropist Sir Richard Wallace after the Franco‑Prussian War (1871) destroyed Paris aqueducts, so Wallace sought to provide free, clean drinking water - especially to the poor whose only safe beverage choice then was cheap alcohol.
Our visit to Sainte Chapelle was crowded & awesome: tucked inside the working Palais de Justice complex, it’s hidden from the street. One of Paris’ most breathtaking places, it’s a heavenly space of light and color, a Gothic jewel whose slender walls and soaring ceilings create an atmosphere of spirit and beauty. Built in the 1240’s part of a royal palace complex, it’s 15 towering stained glass windows (each 15 meters high) depicting Biblical scenes. Despite crowds, the experience inside is like being inside a kaleidoscope of medieval light — it’s the world’s largest collections of 13th-century stained glass.
After all that heady beauty, we hit the stylish Bar de la Dame des Arts rooftops bar (by reservation, elegant attire only, please). You can see almost all Paris, with sweeping views of Notre-Dame, Panthéon, Eiffel Tower, and Sacré‑Cœur. Though we didn’t stay for the sunset DJ set, I imagine it would be a chic place to catch golden-hour light and stay until nightfall to see the Eiffel sparkle…
