Concerts at Sainte Chapelle

Hi Suzanne, here's the site for ordering tickets - https://www.classictic.com/en/concerts_at_la_sainte_chapelle/10055/255686/.

Very easy to order and print at home. Wonderful venue. Hope you enjoy the concert!

I bought tickets for concerts this past June at both Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame on the site that Donna posted. They were easy to purchase, as well as to use.

Ditto, easy to purchase and use. You have to go through security to enter Sainte-Chapelle, so don't bring large bags or other paraphernalia.

Frankly, I was appalled at the deteriorated condition of Sainte-Chapelle's interior when we visited last year. I had been there in the 1980s and been utterly charmed by the deep blue and bright gold colors, which are now badly dulled by accumulated dust and soot from air pollution. The interior has apparently not been cleaned or restored in a long time (unless they've been since spring 2015).

The musical quality of the Sainte-Chapelle concert we attended was also not that great. It was a chamber orchestra and the 1st violinist was much more of a showman than a musician -- waving his bow around wildly, gyrating, etc.

Not to say you shouldn't go. I still would. Just mentioning what realistic expectations might be. Oh, and another bit of advice: if you haven't fully adjusted to European time, take a short afternoon nap (15-20 minutes sleep) and don't drink alcohol before the concert, otherwise you may find yourself nodding off.

You can also buy day-of across the street at the cafe.

Yes, that's a good tip from Sam, buying across the street at the little cafe. We bought ours earlier in the day. I'm surprised to read the place needs cleaning already, after the extensive restoration that has happened on the windows from about 2012-2015 or thereabout. Twice when we've visited there was scaffolding obstructing some of the windows, but I heard it's all finished now. Does anyone know for sure?

All of the renovation work has been completed at Sainte-Chapelle, including the restoration of the stained glass windows. It's a beautiful site, with or without the concert. There is no entry during lunchtime, from 12 to 1 PM, so don't bother standing in line too early.

I'd buy tickets online, which is much easier. Print and bring with you, no need to show ID.

We bought tickets online in advance for a concert at Sainte Chapelle this June. We enjoyed a wonderful children's choir and a couple of other performances which were being filmed for (I think) a German television station. We still had quite a long wait in line before they let us into the chapel. When we were there in 2013 less than half had been cleaned and there was still a lot of scaffolding but this June, it was all clean, no scaffolding, and it was breathtaking.
You do not need to buy tickets in advance for the concert at Notre Dame. Larger venue. We stood in line for just a few minutes and bought our ticket there. We actually waited less time than those who bought their tickets in advance.

I apologize for leading anyone astray about the deteriorated conditions. What I recall from May 2015 was not the stained glass windows -- they might have been just fine -- but the blue & gold ceiling. If it has now been restored, as a couple of you have testified, that's great news.

I'd probably wait until a day or two before the concert. The stained glass is at its best on a sunny day. The seats aren't reserved. The middle price is fine. Get there when the doors open and you'll have time to get good seats and then wander around, looking at the windows and taking photos befoe the concert begins. For more detail, bring opera glasses or binoculars. You won't have access to the lower part of the chapel, but you won't be missing much, and you will be saving the waiting-in-line time.

Supposedly this site will save you euros over the sight above. I find Donna's site is easier to figure out which concerts are on which dates. Once you have that, it's possible to choose the concert from the list on the other site and pick the date. I didn't see concerts going out to when I plan to be there. I haven't purchased a ticket yet so it may be like many online concert ticket vendors where, after service charges, it works out to be about the same (they may both add service charges).

The prices on Donna's site were 33, 38 and 58 euro (the highest is in the first ten rows and includes a glass of champagne). The prices on digitick site are 27.50, 33 and 44 euros respectively.

http://www.digitick.com/la-sainte-chapelle-paris-css4-digitick-pg5-si1286.html

Edit: A little more research suggests prices can vary according to the concert. It's probably worth checking both sites for the tickets you're interested in to see if there's any savings.

From my last concert there, a few years ago, the 1st tier tickets are very close to the orchestra. The acoustics are fine so they're an unnecessary expense unless you want to watch the violinist's fingering. The 2nd tier tickets are about in the middle of the room, so perhaps easier to see more of the stained glass than the 3rd tier seats, but certainly a lot more than the 1st tier.