Ste. Chapelle

Paris, France I read in my trusty Rick Steves' guidebook that Ste. Chapelle was pretty amazing church with lots of stained glass, so after visiting Notre Dame, we walked over to Ste. Chapelle.   It was a cloudy, drizzly day, and after looking at the rather unremarkable outside of the chapel, my parents questioned if it was worth it to wait in lines for tickets and then admittance.  I really wanted to see why Rick Steves' called it a hidden gem, so I convinced them to wait.  We entered the lower chapel, and kind of looked around, and was afraid that I made a mistake! The lower chapel feels very small and very dark. While the ceiling vaults were impressive and the paint on the walls and ceiling was rich, it left you feeling like "we stood in the rain for this".  Then I noticed people at the back disappearing off to the left and we walked back to see what was going on.  There was a very narrow circular stone staircase leading up, so we joined in the procession.  I remember the climb seeme